Hedonologist Posted November 29, 2013 Report Share Posted November 29, 2013 I'm sure many native English speakers, that learn Hindi will find that when they speak to native Hindi speakers they seem unusually formal, because so many Hindi speakers use English words frequently in their speech.Even in another thread one poster mentioned how 'namaste' is being replaced by hello/hi. If I where to say 'namaste' to a young Hindi speaker they would probably think it strange and be aware I am a learner. To avoid seeming overly formal, is there a set of words where I should just use English, as the native Hindi speaker would use it as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meera Posted December 2, 2013 Report Share Posted December 2, 2013 Hi Hedonologist, your question is kind of difficult to answer. There are english words that would sound more natural to Hindi speaker than the actual Hindi words themselves, but unless you have a feel for the language, its kind of hard to say which ones. There is also Indian english which has usage diffirently than American english. Some rules I go by are that a lot of modern words are used in English, for examples things like office, hospital, bank, train, and things like this are mostly said in English. I've heard many scientific words are usueally said in english also. It depends you really need a feel for the language first, I would suggest learning proper Hindi/Urdu first and then gradually start throwing in the english words. They usueally give the common english words used in Hindi phrasebooks also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hedonologist Posted December 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2013 On 12/2/2013 at 3:46 AM, Meera said: They usueally give the common english words used in Hindi phrasebooks also.I don't actually own any Hindi phrasebooks but I was hoping that this would be the case. It certainly makes sense for a language known for it's high use of code-switching. On the other hand if I use too many English words, they may simple assume I am not proficient, it's a difficult conundrum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hinglishite Posted October 4, 2016 Report Share Posted October 4, 2016 Namaste being replaced by Hi/Hello is a common example of the influence of the extensive use of English in India. As a result, Hindi conversations usually include a number of English words. Mostly because it is easier to use English phrases such as Thank you, please or sorry rather than their Hindi equivalents Dhanyavaad, kripya and kshama respectively. It is not that native speakers do not understand those words but simply use English terms out of habit. Another set of examples for such use of English terms is technical terms like television, computer, trains, aeroplane, butterfly, tube light, Doctor, etc. Translations of these words in Hindi is either too complex or has fallen out of use. Also, a bulk of people in India study/ studied in an English medium school where most subjects and terms related to them were taught in English. Thus, Hindi translation of words like Congruence, Mitochondria or Capitalism is rare in spoken language. When formally writing Hindi, more emphasis is given on usage of correct Hindi words (for eg:- Geography in Hindi is "Bhugol" which should be used while writing a paragraph,etc on geography). However, English words with same pronunciation written in Devanagari script is also widely accepted. This mixture of English teems in Hindi is often called Hinglish or "Khichdi Bhaashaa". I hope I have answered your question well. If you have any further queries, do continue the thread. linguaholic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linguaholic Posted October 5, 2016 Report Share Posted October 5, 2016 On 10/4/2016 at 12:06 PM, Hinglishite said: Namaste being replaced by Hi/Hello is a common example of the influence of the extensive use of English in India. As a result, Hindi conversations usually include a number of English words. Mostly because it is easier to use English phrases such as Thank you, please or sorry rather than their Hindi equivalents Dhanyavaad, kripya and kshama respectively. It is not that native speakers do not understand those words but simply use English terms out of habit. Another set of examples for such use of English terms is technical terms like television, computer, trains, aeroplane, butterfly, tube light, Doctor, etc. Translations of these words in Hindi is either too complex or has fallen out of use. Also, a bulk of people in India study/ studied in an English medium school where most subjects and terms related to them were taught in English. Thus, Hindi translation of words like Congruence, Mitochondria or Capitalism is rare in spoken language. When formally writing Hindi, more emphasis is given on usage of correct Hindi words (for eg:- Geography in Hindi is "Bhugol" which should be used while writing a paragraph,etc on geography). However, English words with same pronunciation written in Devanagari script is also widely accepted. This mixture of English teems in Hindi is often called Hinglish or "Khichdi Bhaashaa". I hope I have answered your question well. If you have any further queries, do continue the thread. Expand Sounds like a great answer! Thank you Hinglishite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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