I have started to learn how to speak, read and write Hindi. ( Andrew and the boys are not on board yet but I am trying to encourage them). The lessons are once a week but I reckon two would be better. I now have a greater admiration for Indian people, especially small children who are also learning English and their regional language of Kannada. It is so hard to follow Hindi.
The word order is jumbled up. The verb is at the end of the sentence (like in Latin ,which I did to A -level so I should at least have some way of being ahead!)
The rest of the sentence is also jumbled so ......
The bag is on the table -----equals---- bag table on is (there is no "the")
Like in French the words are feminine and masculine and the verbs agree with the gender too.
I now spend my time by the pool practising talking out loud to myself and writing the letters I have learnt so far.
क ग घ ख - these are the letters I can write so far ......( not a,b,c,d but Ka KH G Gh ??)
I also take any opportunity I get to practise with real people so the other day it was a delivery boy and the lady toilet attendant in the hotel. They smiled politely and patiently as I counted to ten and told them my name !
It may be a while before I am fluent.........
Homework
The boys have been back at school for a number of weeks and I am already fed up with homework. Even I roll my eyes when I see how much they have to do, including Milo. Quite a bit of it is research which is fine in small doses and if the handing in time is lengthy but we have less than a week to do work that I would give for about 3 weeks. There is research, second language, English language and Maths for Milo. The other day, for research, Milo had to answer the question - How was the Galaxy made? The information from the BBC site was given with the explanation from Dr. Brian Cox!
Milo is 9 not 19! He had to read the information, understand it and then write it in his own words for two sides of paper. He then had to write for another 4 pages on both sides with further information. It took me an hour to do two sides and I know what to do. I don't want to cast aspersions but I think maybe a lot of homework may be the work of a few pushy parents ........... I also wondered if we could be silly and write about how the chocolate bar was made!
Local supermarket
The small supermarket on the estate, which was very handy, closed down. There is another small supermarket down the road within easy walking distance that sells a lot of international things so I set off there the other day when Andrew quite inconveniently needed Arjun for work. It was a pleasant but dusty walk there and back. Imagine my horror when Max texted me a few mornings later with the news that it too had closed down.
How was I going to source the tins of Heinz baked beans now? Milo's only condition that he would live in India was if he had access to baked beans or he would get a plane home! The big supermarket that Arjun takes me to is not much further but when the sun is out that distance becomes a bit daunting and uncomfortable and they only do barbecue flavour beans. Luckily, on our journey out yesterday ( when I got Arjun back) we found the store had moved down the road the other way and still within walking distance. All is saved and Milo will be stopping a bit longer. It's strange, I used to have a job where I thought about quite intelligent things ........
Birthday
It was my birthday and I had a lovely day. I went shopping with Andrew and we all went out for an evening meal (where I practised my Hindi with the toilet attendant!) The next day, Sheetal, our immediate neighbour invited me round for a coffee. When I got there, there were a few other ladies there for an afternoon tea/coffee party with a beautifully made birthday cake and candles. It was a lovely surprise and so kind.
The word order is jumbled up. The verb is at the end of the sentence (like in Latin ,which I did to A -level so I should at least have some way of being ahead!)
The rest of the sentence is also jumbled so ......
The bag is on the table -----equals---- bag table on is (there is no "the")
Like in French the words are feminine and masculine and the verbs agree with the gender too.
I now spend my time by the pool practising talking out loud to myself and writing the letters I have learnt so far.
क ग घ ख - these are the letters I can write so far ......( not a,b,c,d but Ka KH G Gh ??)
I also take any opportunity I get to practise with real people so the other day it was a delivery boy and the lady toilet attendant in the hotel. They smiled politely and patiently as I counted to ten and told them my name !
It may be a while before I am fluent.........
Homework
The boys have been back at school for a number of weeks and I am already fed up with homework. Even I roll my eyes when I see how much they have to do, including Milo. Quite a bit of it is research which is fine in small doses and if the handing in time is lengthy but we have less than a week to do work that I would give for about 3 weeks. There is research, second language, English language and Maths for Milo. The other day, for research, Milo had to answer the question - How was the Galaxy made? The information from the BBC site was given with the explanation from Dr. Brian Cox!
Milo is 9 not 19! He had to read the information, understand it and then write it in his own words for two sides of paper. He then had to write for another 4 pages on both sides with further information. It took me an hour to do two sides and I know what to do. I don't want to cast aspersions but I think maybe a lot of homework may be the work of a few pushy parents ........... I also wondered if we could be silly and write about how the chocolate bar was made!
Local supermarket
The small supermarket on the estate, which was very handy, closed down. There is another small supermarket down the road within easy walking distance that sells a lot of international things so I set off there the other day when Andrew quite inconveniently needed Arjun for work. It was a pleasant but dusty walk there and back. Imagine my horror when Max texted me a few mornings later with the news that it too had closed down.
How was I going to source the tins of Heinz baked beans now? Milo's only condition that he would live in India was if he had access to baked beans or he would get a plane home! The big supermarket that Arjun takes me to is not much further but when the sun is out that distance becomes a bit daunting and uncomfortable and they only do barbecue flavour beans. Luckily, on our journey out yesterday ( when I got Arjun back) we found the store had moved down the road the other way and still within walking distance. All is saved and Milo will be stopping a bit longer. It's strange, I used to have a job where I thought about quite intelligent things ........
Birthday
It was my birthday and I had a lovely day. I went shopping with Andrew and we all went out for an evening meal (where I practised my Hindi with the toilet attendant!) The next day, Sheetal, our immediate neighbour invited me round for a coffee. When I got there, there were a few other ladies there for an afternoon tea/coffee party with a beautifully made birthday cake and candles. It was a lovely surprise and so kind.
