|
 |
Indian Languages | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| chris777 Newbie United States Joined 6318 days ago 6 posts - 8 votes Speaks: English* | Message 1 of 35 09 August 2007 at 5:40pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Hi everyone, my name is Chris and I'm a 20-year-old college student from Austin, Texas. I have always had an interest in cultures and enjoy learning about languages. As a student I have had to contemplate what I want to do after I graduate and I've been forced to do a lot of thinking about life in general. I feel that I have a good knack for languages and would like to use a foreign language in my career in some capacity or another. Here is my dilemma:
I began learning French 10 years ago and can converse on a near-fluent level. I have done the whole living in Paris thing, etc. However, to tell you the truth, I have absolutely no interest in France or French culture. I feel very comfortable speaking the language, however, it bores me to death. Due to my impending graduation I have wanted to have some language skills under my belt for the "real world," and I have been contemplating either: A. Making my French flawless. Or, B. Learning a new language. I am leaning toward B. I would like to work in a business-related or even a diplomatic field after I graduate and have been doing a lot of research into BRIC countries. I have been to China and Russia, however, never to Brazil or India. My father recently went to India on a business trip and was raving about what an interesting country it is. Indeed, it seems like India has a lot to offer: A diverse modern society melded with ancient cultures, a growing economy, a wide use of English, etc. I would love to visit. However, before I delve too deep into things I would like to learn a bit about the language situation. If I wanted to do pursue the Indian business option, I assume English alone would suffice as I know its knowledge is widespread among the educated. However, if I were to go the extra mile and learn an Indian language, which one should it be? Although Hindi is the official government language, outside of the 5 states where it's officially spoken, is its knowledge widespread? Would it be best to learn something like Hindi (which can be parlayed into Urdu *good for the diplomacy route*) or something like Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali, or Marathi? Do all Indians at least have some rudimentary knowledge of Hindi? Are local languages used in any business capacity? Thanks a ton! Chris 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6869 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes  Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 2 of 35 09 August 2007 at 6:57pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I think it depends on the region you are interested in, although I don't know that much about India or its varied culture. If I had to choose just one, it would probably be Hindi, though.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| asad100101 Diglot Senior Member Pakistan languagel.blogspot.c Joined 6456 days ago 118 posts - 137 votes Speaks: Hindi*, English | Message 3 of 35 10 August 2007 at 12:22am | IP Logged | ||
|
Chris. Your English ability is enough to do business and roam around with no problems especially in the subcontinent. You should go for another language if you want to. If you still want to learn the language, and are interested in the communication part, then I must say that learning Urdu is the way to go and you can easily communicate with Indians, Pakistanis and Bangalis. I am grown up with Bollywood movies and music. Infact, I am listening to one of indian songs right now in my computer. I can understand it fully. I am telling you this from my experience.
I am a native speaker. I can offer you a bit of conversation recording if i find some spare time so you can judge by yourself whether you are interested in the sound of the language. I am teaching urdu to Dave Maswary(who is an american from new york) on the phone who is also a member of this forum. And I can tell you that it is not that easier to learn for an English speaker because of different masculine/feminine nouns and pronouns for each person. It is totally different from English in every respect. Edited by asad100101 on 10 August 2007 at 12:25am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Shinn Trilingual Tetraglot Groupie India gallery.takingitglob Joined 6413 days ago 61 posts - 69 votes Speaks: English*, Hindi*, Oriya*, SpanishB2 Studies: FrenchB1, Japanese, Irish | Message 4 of 35 16 August 2007 at 1:43pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I'd recommend Hindi over any of the regional languages anyday. Hindi is understood pretty much everywhere thanks to movies, TV shows and music in that language. Although I have heard that in Southern India not many people would be as comfortable with Hindi, either because its use is not as widespread and also because of a certain sense of linguistic pride. In any case, most business dealings would be in English so you should be okay with knowing just that.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| anjamu Diglot Newbie United States Joined 6333 days ago 7 posts - 10 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Portuguese, French, Hindi Studies: Gujarati | Message 5 of 35 16 August 2007 at 4:03pm | IP Logged | ||
|
As an English speaker, I highly recommend Hindi.
The arrangement of the Devanagari script made learning all of the sounds associated with Hindi very easy, and I have been able to apply that knowledge to the other languages I speak. I hear that the Urdu script is more difficult because it relies on inherent vowels, but the spoken languages are more or less the same. I am planning to use Hindi as a jumping-off point for Gujarati, and you could do the same for Punjabi or Bengali. Marathi doesn't require you to learn a new script, which is nice. There are also films readily available for Hindi, plus newspapers and that sort of thing. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Shinn Trilingual Tetraglot Groupie India gallery.takingitglob Joined 6413 days ago 61 posts - 69 votes Speaks: English*, Hindi*, Oriya*, SpanishB2 Studies: FrenchB1, Japanese, Irish | Message 6 of 35 17 August 2007 at 2:34am | IP Logged | ||
|
I wouldn't recommend using Hindi as a jumping point for Bengali. They have different scripts and although the vocabulary might have tinges of similarity they're still two different languages; although Punjabi is far more similar to Hindi than any other Indian language. Even when two languages have essentially the same script like Hindi or Marathi, they may still have their own idiosyncrasies and even a unique letter or two.
2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| FlorentT Triglot Senior Member Belgium Joined 6321 days ago 119 posts - 120 votes Speaks: French*, English, Italian Studies: Portuguese, Flemish, German, Hindi | Message 7 of 35 17 August 2007 at 4:53am | IP Logged | ||
What I'd like to ask you is a little off topic for this particular section of the forum, however fits well with other discussions I have seen here: I am interested in you telling us more about the fact that you can combine fluency in French and no particular interest for the country or culture (which spans over more countries than France). Make no mistake: I am not asking that because I am French, which you can obviously see in my profile so I can't hide it, however I read recently on this forum some posts that pointed out that the more you learn about a language, the more you will find yourself attracted by its underlying culture. I tend to agree with that as this reflects very much my experience with English, moving from a being clueless Anglo-Saxon "hater" in my teens to an interested Anglo-Saxon culture "lover" while building English fluency over the years. Can you elaborate please based on your French experience? How could you reach fluency without an genuine interest for culture, or maybe have you lost it along the way? Edited by FlorentT on 17 August 2007 at 4:55am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| chris777 Newbie United States Joined 6318 days ago 6 posts - 8 votes Speaks: English* | Message 8 of 35 18 August 2007 at 6:39pm | IP Logged | ||
|
Hi Florent, I would be glad to go into my French experiences with you. No doubt my disinterest with French is not solely the result of the language or the culture, however, based on my personal life experience I have come to the conclusion that I no longer want to invest the time and energy keeping up my fluency in the language.
I began learning French when I was an 11-year-old private school student in Texas. Given the choice between Spanish and French, I chose French because Spanish was for the slackers who had no interest in languages--French was elegant and refined--for the smart kids. For the next 6 years I had French class 3 days a week. Outside of memorizing La Marseillaise, singing "J'aime bien le biftek," and fantasizing about dining at the restaurants in the latest Guide Michelin, I had little to no direct experience with French culture. I could express myself in French, however, it was a rote, robotic understanding of the language. When I was in high school I developed a passion for photography. After graduation I moved to Paris to work as a stagiere at a photo agency. Although I had been to France before as a tourist, living in Paris as an 18-year-old by himself was not an easy experience. Coming from sunny Texas to cloudy and rainy Paris was a shock to me and I soon lapsed into depression. Work was going great and I was learning a lot and speaking French everyday, however, the Parisian experience was taking its toll on me. I became even more depressed and spent the majority of my money at a neighborhood pub. I didn't wash my clothes for weeks on end. I was miserable. I was too young to be living in Paris by myself. I wasn't interested in museums or the Eiffel Tower or Versailles or French philosophy or literature, I wanted my bar-b-que and TexMex food, not baguettes and Camembert. To say the least, I was homesick. After 2 years of working I came home to Texas thoroughly disgusted with life in Europe. Due to my tainted adventures trying to survive in Paris as an 18-year-old American, I have developed a disinterest for the French language and culture that probably can never be repaired. Please understand that my experiences are my own based on my own individual and unique situation at a difficult and confusing time in my life. I have no doubt that French language and culture has its merits, however, it is simply not for me anymore. I hope this answers your question. Chris Edited by chris777 on 18 August 2007 at 6:51pm 3 persons have voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
