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I couldn't find any information about this posted elsewhere in the forum but apologies if this has already been covered. My partner and I will be travelling to India in…

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Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:57:02 +0000

I couldn't find any information about this posted elsewhere in the forum but apologies if this has already been covered. My partner and I will be travelling to India in a month or so and I was wondering if anybody can recommend anywhere in London (preferably Central or South-East) where we could take Hindi lessons?

Since we don't have much time, I'm not really interested in committing to a long course or forking out for private lessons but I'd appreciate information about any course which is shorter, like a week long course in the basics or something.

Thanks for your help!

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Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:49:24 +0000

If you can't commit to a course at somewhere like SOAS, try the language swap section of Gumtree.

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Tue, 06 Oct 2009 10:32:34 +0000

Where in India will you be? Will you be spending most of your time in places where Hindi is more common than English?

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Mon, 12 Oct 2009 11:48:02 +0000

Thanks for the tip, stormboy.

VinnyD, I'll be travelling all over India for a few months. I know English is widely spoken but, aside from being interested in Hindi as a language, I understand that being able to speak a few words or sentences is highly appreciated by local people and contibutes to a good atmosphere. Am I right? Does anybody have any experience of this?

Cheers!

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Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:40:58 +0000

I understand that being able to speak a few words or sentences is highly appreciated by local people and contibutes to a good atmosphere. Am I right? Does anybody have any experience of this?

Hindi will not necessarily be highly appreciated or contribute to a good atmosphere in the Dravidian South (eg Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala etc.). I'm not sure what the situation is like at the moment (worth checking on the India branch) but in the past there has been downright opposition to Hindi. Of course, many people still have a good command of Hindi and may be more comfortable in Hindi than English - you can always assess this by trying out your English first. Basic greetings in Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam etc. would certainly be appreciated.

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Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:41:49 +0000

I agree with stormboy. If possible, try to at least cover both 'major' languages, i.e. Hindi and Tamil. Tamil for the south, Hindi for the north.

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Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:51:13 +0000

Great advice, stormboy and orangutan. I'll try and find a resource for some basic greetings. I guess there are so many languages spoken in India and probably it'll be easier to guage which ones are most useful to a tourist once I get there. Thanks again.

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Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:02:08 +0000

No worries, emale. I'm not an expert, but I think languages like Malayalam and Tamil etc are quite closely related so as a tourist maybe learning the major ones will do. The people of South Asia or 'Asians' as you call it in the UK who I've come across mostly speak Hindi.

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