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Summary: It is a superb book!
Review: a very well designed book
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Summary: Great Intro to Spoken Hindi
Review: An excellent book for beginners, like the title implies, it is mainly a course in Colloqial Hindi, and almost omits the Devanagari syllbary entirely. There is only one chapter on it, but that chapter is very helpful all the same. The tape that comes with the book is a necessary element; it is integrated with the exercises in the book quite nicely, so make sure you get the cassette as well. The romanisation scheme is weird, but it's not too difficult. As an introduction to spoken Hindi, this can't be beat. For a better knowledge of the Devanagari syllabary, I would recommend Snell's "Teach Yourself Hindi".
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Summary: wow!
Review: As an indian wanting to learn my mother tongue, this course is amazing!
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Summary: a nice book but not the best
Review: I actually looked forward to receiving this book. As English is my native tongue, and I had studied French/Japanese at school, I was looking for an easy book that would teach me the hindi alphabet and provide me with some easily referenceable vocabulary. Whilst this book provides some assistance on both, I didn't find the layout to be very useful. I would have also preferred more attention on how to write the characters.I'd still recommend this book, but a little more visual assistance (the book is a bit dry, as it is predominantly textual) would have enhanced my learning speed, as well as more romanization of hindi words, especially for beginners such as myself.
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Summary: Whoa!
Review: I felt Colloquial Hindi was like teacher inside a book teaching me. I learned so much about the Indian culture, food, and Hindi. For example, I never new the swastika was the Indian sign of hope and prosperity. Not only did this book teach me Hindi quite thoroughly, but the culture as. It was like going to India and learning Hindi there!
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Summary: Very useful for me (expecially for the audio support)
Review: I found it clear, gradual and (most over all) aware of the non-linguistic rules related to conversation. I disagree with the "London reader": I found the romanization good and easy to follow... maybe it's 'cause I'm italian or 'cause I was teaching myself Hindi just for pleasure, so I wasn't expecting nothing more than an aid!
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Summary: I beg to differ! Best book for Beginners out there!
Review: I have been learning hindi for the past two years, and I have been using many books in the process, including Snell and Weightman, an older book by Misra and Fairbanks, another book by Surendra Gambhir, and this one by Bhatia. For those starting from scratch, this book is the best option. Snell and Weightman move way too fast and you quickly find yourself in way over your head (unless you already have a background in hindi). I found this Bhatia's romanization excellent because it emphasized the difference between english and hindi sounds, and most importantly, Bhatia was consistent throughout (though hopefully some of the typos towards the end will be fixed in a future edition). His pronounciation introduction is also the best I've seen as far as emphasizing and drilling Hindi vocal nuances. The pacing of the book is very comfortable for the complete beginner. Bhatia also does not take anything for granted. A lot of important questions left unanswered by other books are treated thoroughly in this text (like the compound use of "lena", "jaana", and "dena"; the frequent ommision of the "a" sound in the middle of words; and the fact that words like "mahal" and "kahana" are pronounced "mehel" and "kehena"; just to name a few...) You are really able to digest everything as you go along. Bhatia's word list and grammatical summary in the back are god-sends, and his mnemonics like "nerd nouns" and "laal adjectives" are clever and effective. He also puts his lessons in a cultural perspective that is crucial for using your hindi socially. One criticism I would make is the lack of emphasis on the devanagri script. If you use this book, you should really take the initiative and learn the script. It will help you as you progress to more advanced books. It seems like the few who gave this book a bad wrap are educators who are used to hindi being taught in a certain way. I think the things that make this book different also make it the best. My recommendation is start out with this book, then go through Snell and Weightman, using the early lessons as review, then go through Surendra Gambhir's pricey but excellent "Spoken Hindi" set. All these books have their lessons on cassette. I transferred all the lessons to CD, which made my studying much more efficient. Also get McGregor's beautiful Hindi-English Dictionary which will be a cozy campanion throughout. If you can even find the Misra and Fairbanks book, don't bother. It is quite antiquated and impractical, and the tapes are a nightmare. Happy studying!
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Summary: another brick i have to carry to the surface
Review: I'd rather shoot myself than lean from this book again.
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Summary: Only useful as a backup to Snell and Weightman
Review: If a textbook for Hindi must use some romanistion then it should use the same system as R.S.McGregors' Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, as "Teach Yourself Hindi" does. The authors of that title, R.Snell & S.Weightman, teach Hindi at London University's School of Oriental and African Studies. Further this textbook relegates the devanagari script to the rear of the book and includes no devanagari at all for the tape dialogues. As a final black mark the standard reached in the course is way short of Snell/Weightmann. This is partly a product of having 10 lessons instead of 18. Recommendation : Get Snell & Weightmann, and then McGregor's Dictionary and Grammar. Use Bhatia if you need extra tape practice.
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Summary: Interesting and educational
Review: If you are looking for a simple way to learn Hindi, this book is a great help. The author provides a great way to understand the structure and the material is extremely useful. Strongly recommended for those looking for a book to learn to use the language for surprising "native" speakers.
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