Not every Indian citizen is fluent or knows Hindi. The Indian census 2011 indicates, only 43.63% of India’s population calls Hindi their native language.
Overall, Hindi and its main dialect, Hindustani (combination of Hindi, Urdu and other languages) are spoken by about 697.41 million worldwide.
Hindi is the national and official language of India since 1950. Earlier, it was a language peculiar to parts of individual states in northern and central India including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Chattisgarh among others.
The region was called the Hindi Belt. Since Hindi is now the national and official language of this country, learning Hindi is imperative.
If you hail from states where Hindi is not commonly used or want to master it for any reason, here are some time-tested and proven ways to acquire skills in this language.
In fact, it is effortless to learn Hindi in India.
How To Learn Hindi Quickly
1. School
The curriculum of Indian schools can be very confusing. Parents enrol their children at schools where English is used as a medium of instruction and opt for their native or regional tongue as a second language.
In vernacular medium schools, parents opt for English as the second language. Some schools and educational boards also stipulate a third language in the curriculum.
Should you be studying at schools with English medium of instruction and subjects include a regional language, you can easily study Hindi too.
Generally, students have to opt for a third language as their subject when studying from Standard-V to Standard-X. Choose this language instead of a foreign or another regional language.
Every Indian school has Hindi language teachers. Once you opt for it, you will be taught this language a part of your school curriculum.
Also Read: How to Speak Spanish At Home: Complete Guide
2. Junior College
Just in case you have not opted for Hindi as a subject for secondary school studies, there is nothing to worry. Junior college- Standard XI and Standard XII students also have an option of the second language.
Generally, junior colleges use English as a medium of instruction. Hence, you can learn to speak Hindi as a second language.
Understandably, learning Hindi at a junior college can prove difficult. Especially if you live in states where the language is not commonly used.
You can overcome this problem by joining a coaching class specifically to learn Hindi. You will find several coaching classes in your neighbourhood where basic Hindi is taught to beginners.
3. Private Coaching Classes
It is possible to grasp Hindi at any stage of your life. There are countless private coaching classes available across India that teach Hindi.
You can enrol for their beginner course and move to advanced levels. Generally, these coaching classes are patronised by adults of non-Hindi speaking states or where the language has a low prevalence.
People learn it for various reasons. Most learn Hindi to enjoy Bollywood movies.
Others need to develop Hindi language skills to communicate with various departments of the state and Central governments.
Thousands of students learn Hindi language at private coaching classes as preparations for various entrance exams including Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service, National Defence Academy & Naval Academy and others.
These private coaching classes have high standards of teaching Hindi due to the profile of their students.
You can register at any of these coaching classes. Generally, their faculty will consist of native speakers or those very well versed with the national language.
Also Read: How to Speak French On Your Own: A Complete Guide
4. Government Programs
Central Hindi Directorate that functions under India’s Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) have a comprehensive program that allows government and other employees to study speaking Hindi.
The program is implemented across India in collaboration with state-run colleges and universities.
Find which course best suits your needs for speaking this language easily from the website mentioned above. You can write to Central Hindi Directorate to find details about the nearest locations where the course is conducted.
You will find several classroom study courses within your town or city to learn Hindi quickly. Courses offered by Central Hindi Directorate are generally free of cost.
They aim at propagation of Hindi as the national language of India. Hence you will find these courses almost everywhere, especially in states where it is not commonly used.
5. Online Courses
There are several free online courses available to speak Hindi fluently. Register yourself at HindiiPod101.com is easy.
You can also signup using a Facebook or Google account. Hindiipod101.com has won several prestigious awards for its free courses.
Upon registration, you will gain instant access to over 880 audio and video lessons. You can receive vocabulary training tools, detailed PDFs of lessons, participate with other learners in debates, group discussions and competitions.
HindiiPod101.com also offers an app that can be downloaded for Android-based smartphones and iPhones.
Economical Online Courses
Udemy offers professional courses to learn to speak Hindi. They are very economically priced at Rs.830 per session.
Professionals and native Hindi speakers create Udemy's online courses. Hence you are assured of joining the best online course to master Hindi.
Udemy offers a variety of courses to master this language. These range from Basics for Beginners to advanced classes such as Writing Tips and Techniques.
Each course is priced at Rs.830 only and can be taken from the comfort of your home. Since these are online courses, you enjoy the flexibility to study at will.
Also Read:
6. YouTube
By every standard, HindiPod101.com is the best YouTube channel to master Hindi for free. Qualified and experienced Hindi language teachers create videos on this channel.
With HindiPod101, you can learn to converse in India’s national language while acquiring great comprehension, reading and writing skills in the language.
HindiiPod101.com has scores of videos that suit every level of learners. You can start by watching videos for beginner to learn Hindi.
Once you are conversant with basics of Hindi language, watch other videos. HindiiPod101.com also has videos that allow testing of your skills in Hindi.
7. Swayam
Swayam is a free online course launched by Ministry of Human Resources Development. However, it does not cater to beginners.
If you have basic skills in Hindi languages such as reading and comprehension, take the free online Swayam course.
Swayam offers secondary school level Hindi. It is ideal if you want to learn a slightly higher level of this language.
You can register at Swayam website as a student and take the course. Students of Swayam can also make an exam to test proficiency in this language.
8. Self-Study Books
There are countless self-study books available to assimilate Hindi language. You can buy them at any good bookstore across the country.
Additionally, they can be ordered online too. Look for books that come with CD/DVD and contain audio-visual lessons on how to speak Hindi.
Equip yourself with an English-Hindi dictionary too since it will come handy when you stumble across difficult words. The learning books are reasonably priced and hence, affordable.
9. Watch Bollywood Movies
If the above methods sound boring, just watch Bollywood movies. Thanks to their popularity, Bollywood movies come with subtitles in your native language.
Hence, you can pick up quite some bit of Hindi vocabulary by watching these. Thousands of foreign nationals- especially in countries of the Arabian Gulf and the Far East- have learned Hindi merely by watching Bollywood movies.
10. Read Hindi Newspapers
Before you embark on reading Hindi newspapers, get hold of an excellent English-Hindi dictionary of one that translates Hindi into your language.
Also, you will need some basic knowledge of this language and the Devanagari script. Reading newspapers will not teach you how to speak or write Hindi quickly.
Instead, reading newspapers augments your abilities when you assimilate the language through other resources.
To Sum Up
There is nothing to be ashamed about if you cannot communicate in Hindi despite being an Indian citizen.
As I mentioned earlier, the prevalence of this language was very low until it was designated as India’s national language.
Millions of Indians cannot speak Hindi, despite being the official lingua franca of this country. However, you can easily overcome this handicap and learn fluent Hindi using any of the methods given above.
