Job Discussion Forums

banbanzista · Joined: 01 Aug 2005 Posts: 10

Hello, I�m currently teaching English in Central America and am interested in visiting (possibly working) in India because I want to learn Hindi.

Curious about how people have felt about learning Hindi. Do you find that people are willing to speak Hindi with you or are they more insistant on practicing-speaking English with you? I�m sure it�s hard to generalize but for example: In Latin America I have really appreciated how many people will speak Spanish with me, even though many of them are more fluent in English. I have known people for weeks and didn�t even know that they spoke English! I have heard from a friend in Vietnam that many Vietnamese people have gone out of their way to help her with her Vietnamese - giving her little lessons on the street, etc. I�ve read on the boards that learning Japanese or Korean seems to be made more difficult by the fact that people will refuse to speak any language other than English with you.

Also, a question for all the English teachers in India - What are some of the common mistakes people make when they speak English?

In Latin America it seems to be the simple past, irregular plurals (ie. childrens), and pronouncing TH.

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

Henry_Cowell · Joined: 27 May 2005 Posts: 3352 Location: Berkeley

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

Bear in mind that out of a population of 1 billion under 300 million speak Hindi/Urdu and that other languages are spoken in the three places you are most likely to get a job, Bangalore, Chennai and Mumbai.

One way Indian English is influenced by the autoctonous languages is in the omission of the definite and indefinite article.

Another influence to bear in mind is that of the sources of Indian English. It has been said that the two main sources were the minor public school and the parade ground. The result is some startlingly inappropriate uses of register. The best known is that of a student at a top Colombo school who introduced his father to his teacher with the words, "Sir, this pater bugger".

The influence of "style guides" should not be discounted. I often hear of "positions in your esteemed institution lying vacant under your kind consideration", though only once did I receive an application addressed to "Respected Sirs , and Magnificent Madams". Henry will no doubt note the inappropriate use of the space before the comma, which is the result of the interference from Hindi.

Henry_Cowell · Joined: 27 May 2005 Posts: 3352 Location: Berkeley

banbanzista,

Please PM me if you want me to summarize some of the findings of Learner English about Indian languages in North and South India. I have a copy on my shelf.

banbanzista · Joined: 01 Aug 2005 Posts: 10

Thanks for the replies. Wondering if anyone out there could speak of their experiences learning Hindi............

travelingirl68 · Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 6:37 am Post subject: Hindi and Indian English

I started taking Hindi a few months ago through my company, and was sad to find that the teaching methods used were very 'old school' - rote memorization, out of date word usage, and sadly without structure in the program. While there are, I am sure, other teachers who use newer methods, I have yet to find one - but have not given up the search!

I am in Bangalore currently, and while a decent population within the company speak Hindi, the city itself seems to be in rebellion against the language as Kannada is the local language. As was pointed out, Chennai also has a different mother tongue - Tamil, and Mumbai has a mix of Marathi, Gujarati and Hindi.

What I have found is that Indian English has its own set of rules and phrases that sound wrong or unfamiliar to other speakers of English. Learner English is a great resource for the reasons for this, but a few examples that I have seen:

To answer the phone: "Tell Me!" (in the imperative form, quite jarring at first)
Different usages of prepositions: "Let's discuss about..."
Use of present continuous verbs: "I am calling you since this morning..."
Use of more formal/old-fashioned phrases: "Kindly send the required documents..."
Mother Tongue Influences: "Let's make a move!" (Let's go!), "Do the needful", "Let's do one thing"

Depending upon the MTI, the patterns of speech vary widely as well: Punjabi tends to make everything sound staccato in English, etc.

I have noticed that Hindi/Urdu is a river of languages with words in Arabic and Turkish flowing in and German words, etc. have a root in Sanskrit. It is great picking up pieces here and there, but I would recommend Delhi and other Northern cities to speak some form of Hindi.

Good luck, India is a great place to live and travel!

Henry_Cowell · Joined: 27 May 2005 Posts: 3352 Location: Berkeley

travelingirl68 · Posted: Tue May 23, 2006 4:31 pm Post subject:

Yes it does, isn't it? Smile

Henry_Cowell · Joined: 27 May 2005 Posts: 3352 Location: Berkeley

Sorry, I am at office now. Cool

travelingirl68 · Posted: Wed May 24, 2006 9:40 am Post subject:

Ok ok, sir. Call me later so we can discuss about.

Oh Gawd! This could go on forever and ever!

banbanzista · Joined: 01 Aug 2005 Posts: 10

oh, DO go on......

thanks for all the replies. travelgirl, good to hear from you! if anyone has advice on looking for a job, i{m all ears...

cheekygal · Joined: 04 Mar 2003 Posts: 1987 Location: China, Zhuhai

Few months too late. Have you managed to get to India?
Anyway, there is a site www.word2word.com you can get familiar with the language structure offered in free online courses. Helped me a lot with my Portuguese and Spanish. Sorry, I never taught in India. But I visited 3 times and I learned hindi on my own (just had someone to explain me the writing part and a bit of grammar). Through the site I started learning Tamil but there is no way I could practice it much in China. So I stopped for the time being Cool

Cheers