Why Learn Hindi – Historical Perspective
Posted on December 10, 2009
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A historical perspective on Hindi is very useful to those who are thinking of learning the Hindi language.
Juggernaut, Sherbet – these are just some words which English has borrowed from the Hindi language – yet many people perceive it as a language distant from English. While we all know that Hindi is India’s official language. Countries like Nepal and Pakistan use Hindi broadly, as do a number of other countries or areas in South Asia. It is also the second language in many countries, such as Surinam, Fiji, Mauritius, and Trinidad, as a result of many migrant workers being imported to those countries during a period of the British Empire, and then staying to form communities.
The election of the first Indian prime minister in Fiji let to one of the more recent coups by indigenous Fijians, but in Fiji one loses count of all the coups. The most recent coup, which was driven by the military, related to a desire for more recognition of equality for the Hindi speaking community. But that is enough of the politics.
After English and Mandarin, Hindi is the third most spoken language in the world. The structure of the Hindi language is very logical and defined, making it quite an easy language to learn. No capital letters exist in the Hindi script. 33 consonants and 11 vowels make up the alphabet of Hindi. While many languages have two tiers of address, formal and informal, Hindi goes one step further and has three – formal, familiar, and intimate.
Hindi has been enriched by Persian, Turkish, Farsi, English and Portuguese.
Pakistan’s official language, Urdu, is very similar to Hindi. While many of the words have been softened for general speech purposes, most come from equivalent Sanskrit words. Classical works of literature about in this epic rich language.
Learning Hindi is essential as a gateway to one of the oldest civilizations. Without understanding Hindi, it is next to impossible to grasp the unique elements of Indian civilization.
It was only in 1949 that Hindi was mandated for Government official use in India, and 1950 when it was written into the constitution as the official Indian language, which might surprise those who view it as an ancient language.
Bollywood has made Hindi movies hugely successful in popular Hindi culture.
In conclusion, for those seeking to understand Indian culture, and to study a language steeped in epic and classical literature works, Hindi is the correct choice. Additionally, with the Indian economy booming, particularly with outsourcing endeavors where other countries are exporting projects because of the low labor cost and relatively high educational standard and broad knowledge of English, Hindi can be a useful language to learn from a business perspective.
The author operates a Language website. You are invited to view his Learning Hindi Language Recommendations.
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