Foundation Hindi

Item as described, in as new condition. Arrived promptly.

In the past I've tried different courses and approaches to learn Hindi, always with the same results: I could "learn" the basic rules of grammar but I never got round to really speaking. The "Foundation Hindi" course finally got me to speak the language with very little effort, and much fun — I quite enjoyed Bakaya's tongue-in-cheek humour. He introduces new words gradually, is particular about correct pronunciation and helps you construct new sentences, from simple to more complex ones. Very quickly I was able to express coherent thoughts and feelings in Hindi! I love this course.

Thank you Hachette UK.Reached very quickly.& thanks for team Michel Thomas too.Excellent method.RegardsSevrine

MICHEL THOMAS===============I'm sorry to break this to you...but Michel Thomas died in..... 2005!So this is the 'Michel Thomas method.WHAT'S THAT===========Well it's a method that he said it's important not to make notes. He also said that don't try to memorise lists of vocabulary.The format is two students (usually one Good beginner (usually a women) and another stupid beginner (usually a man) try the language with the help of the teacher)So it's good that it's about communication. As the teacher says, you learn to cook in a kitchen not from a cook book.Repetition is the key. The more you practise the language, the better you will become.DID IT WORK===========Well, I know how to say what? (kia) wow- (va) Go (challow) Spiced (masala) tea (chai)I can say some basic sentences. But I couldn't say anything complex. So it's a good starter course.It's also quite enlightening as the Indian language doesn't distinguish between V and W, so that's perhaps why a native speaker can sometimes say Vhat do you mean rather than What do you mean.HOW KIDS LEARN================If you think about it. Kids learn all the rules, all the vocabulary at a very early age. For example they initially say 'I run' in the present, and perhaps I runned for the past, then learning I ran (as it's an irregular verb)So this is good that it helps you learn the format of a sentence. Where the verb and noun go.PROS=====Good starterGood for practiceThe teacher is goodGood if you need hindi in businessCONS=====It's a tad dear, but it's probably one of the best to get started.

The Michel Thomas courses are great if you want a taster and a feel for a language. You will learn how to build sentences surprisingly fast and the effort is always on the similarities with English rather than focusing on differences - which many more traditional courses did.This means that you can quickly work with quite a good vocabulary - this of course is easier with languages that are linguistically closer to English than Hindi, but once again in this course the focus is on similarities where they are and then listening carefully and repeating enough times yet with enough challenges that it stays with you.In this course we have a teacher and a student and the student learns along with us. I did the Michel Thomas Portuguese foundation course as well and there they had 1 teacher and 2 students and 1 native Portuguese speaker, so this setup is tried and tested, and it's actually comforting to learn along with others (and also not being the only one to make mistakes).The main thing once you go away from a course like this is to keep trying and being brave enough to make mistakes, yet try out new sentences and words based on the teachings. They will give you the basics and then it is all about practice practice and practice and the idea is that by getting you to talk and interact as soon as possible, you will learn faster.The usefulness of these courses, however, is still very much down to what you need them for. This, of course, will not be sufficient if you want to understand grammar and rules of the language. That is simply not touched upon other than what is strictly required for speaking the sentences. It is deliberate as they want people to have the freedom to speak and learn freely. This means that if you want to be able to write and possibly interact in a more professional setting, you will have to take other courses as well that have more focus on those parts.But as a foundation course into a completely new language and if you just require it for a basic understanding of the language, this is a great place to start.I will have to say I find it a bit pricey for what it is, but again that is down to the requirements of the student.