Product Description

The Hindi Script - called Devanagari - is a beautifully logical writing system. Its phonetic arrangement makes it quite easy to learn, and once you know the basic four dozen (or so) characters, you will be well on your way to reading the signs, posters, notices, street names, signposts and advertisements that are part of the everyday scene in North India.



'Beginner's Hindi Script' introduces Devanagari in the traditional order. The characters are introduced one by one in phonetic groups, steadily building up your ability to read and write. The book also gives you some information on the cultural orientation of the language, explaining where Hindi belongs in the history of Indian languages, and showing where its words come from. There are hints for authentic handwriting skills and plenty of exercises throughout so that you can practise what you've learnt. Examples from real-life signs, notices and advertisements show you the language in context.



The book is intended for beginners who are starting to learn Hindi from scratch, and who need guidance in pronunciation as well as in reading and writing. But it can also be used by those who already know something of the spoken language - perhaps learned from family or from Hindi films - and who wish to add an ability to read and write.



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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #109640 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

About the Author
Rupert Snell is former Reader in Hindi and Chair of Department of the Languages and Cultures of South Asia at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

Customer Reviews

Theory, practice and real life examples - all you need!
As someone who has spent quite a lot of time in India, this book is the first I have come across that tackles the complexities of written Hindi so well. It is suitable for anyone wishing to understand written Hindi and to learn to write themselves. Whether you just want to understand a little or master the language this book is for you.

The book starts by introducing the vowels and consonants of the Hindi alphabet and introduces ahort reading exercises using the letters learnt so far. In the early stages the The Hindi pronunciation is shown Roman script (i.e. with the same letters as English) alongside the Hindi script but as you progress through the book the Roman script is omitted. There are a number of test yourself exercises along the way with answers at the back of the book which are useful for checking what you have learnt and what you need more practice on.

One of the best things about this book is the real life examples that are used to illustrate situations where the rules of written Hindi are often broken in practice by native Hindi writers. This resolves some of the frustrating experiences I have experienced previously - particularly when trying to interpret signs in India. There is also a good number of pictures of shop advertisments and signs scattered throughout the text for the reader to translate and the translations are also provided to check your understanding.

Anyone wishing to understand written Hindi should be able to progress quite quickly using this book. Once you have started to make sense of the script and read your first few words this book will remain invaluable as you develop your skills.

Well organized, motivating, inspiring and enjoyable book that HAS TOUGHT me how to write and read in Hindi
Rupert Snell`s "Beginner's Hindi Script" was the first book I bought meaning to start learning Hindi from the stage of an absolute beginner. I have a visual memory so script was very important for me because it helps to remember Hindi words "in pictures". So, in a result, after a month or so I've learnt how to read and write in Hindi. It was really easy and fun; the book has 8 units and I used to learn 1 unit in about 2-3 days. The author explains how to use the book, tells the history of Devanagari script and other languages and scripts of India, also compares Hindi and Urdu. There is the Devanagari syllabary in the book, each sound thoroughly explained, there are very clear hand written examples of how to write Devanagari, then I also learnt how to conjunct two or more consonants (which is when they change their form). The book includes exercises where we can check how good we've learnt the unit and there are answers at the end of the book. I also loved there were loads of black and white pictures of Northern Indian shop, road or bus signs where we are supposed to try and read them (everything includes answers). I think the book was very well organized and I loved the way it was. It is good not only for those just starting to learn Hindi, but also for those who know Hindi but need to improve their reading/writing. Each unit also includes an amount of, in my opinion, very useful Hindi words which help to build our basic vocabulary. At the end of the book, there was also a Hindi text written in Devanagari, Roman transliteration and English translation. Rupert Snell teaches us not only Hindi script but also builds our confidence and love for the language, it really motivates, increases one's interest and leads into the further studying. The best first book of Hindi learner I could ever want!!! The next books of Hindi I bought after studying this one were the same author's "Teach Yourself Beginner's Hindi" (with 2 CD's) and "Teach Yourself Hindi Dictionary". It was the best Hindi script book for me and I hope you'll find it as useful and helpful as I did.