One of the most entertaining ways how to learn Hindi is by using mass media. It's much more fun than a Hindi course! Watching films, reading newspapers, listening to radio shows and enjoying other forms of media is a great way to learn any language. You hear the language spoken by native speakers at a natural pace. You hear it spoken in different voices and maybe different accents. You gain cultural awareness by being exposed to the same issues and information as native language speakers. You learn current, colloquial vocabulary and informalities of speech like contractions. Exposing yourself to Hindi language media is a formidable supplement to your Hindi course and a great way how to learn Hindi.
As the internet grows larger and the world grows smaller, it becomes ever easier to access mass media in different languages. As a Hindi student of the twenty-first century, you have a wealth of resources available online to help you in your efforts how to learn Hindi.
Newspapers. There are Indian newspapers online in a number of languages, including Hindi and English. Although reading an English language newspaper from India won't directly improve your Hindi skills, it will give you valuable cultural insights. A search of "Indian newspapers" or "Hindi newspapers" returns a number of aggregators, so that you can go to one site to click on links to a variety of papers.
Movies, TV and Radio. You can easily find lots of Hindi-language movies, TV shows and radio programs on the internet. Some sites are paid membership sites, but if you keep looking you will be able to find lots of good stuff available free. Do a simple search, such as for "Hindi movies online," and you will come across sites that give you access to a variety of mass media options. The same site may offer movies, TV shows, kids' TV, cricket matches, music videos and even more. Even the free sites may require registration. Be aware that you may need to wind your way around various pop-over surveys, sit through introductory commercials before the videos begin or try to turn off automatic audio ads before you actually get to the good stuff.
Podcasts. Do a general search, like "free Hindi podcast," and you will get returns of various sites with podcasts ranging from news to entertainment to a Hindi course. I will warn you that some of the sites are a little thorny. You may find broken links or sites so confusingly laid out that you may not know where to go for the podcast link. Also note that a lot of the entertainment podcasts are in English. But at least you get a hearty dose of Bollywood gossip.
If you are taking a Hindi course, you really should supplement your classroom learning with the vast amount of mass media available on the internet. Since so much of it is free, there is really no excuse not to take advantage of it. And it is a great advantage, to learn the language by native language speakers, speaking real vocabulary at a conversational speed, and to get cultural, political or sports news at the same time. This material is easy to find, so just do a Google search and you will find tremendous resources for how to learn Hindi.
As the internet grows larger and the world grows smaller, it becomes ever easier to access mass media in different languages. As a Hindi student of the twenty-first century, you have a wealth of resources available online to help you in your efforts how to learn Hindi.
Newspapers. There are Indian newspapers online in a number of languages, including Hindi and English. Although reading an English language newspaper from India won't directly improve your Hindi skills, it will give you valuable cultural insights. A search of "Indian newspapers" or "Hindi newspapers" returns a number of aggregators, so that you can go to one site to click on links to a variety of papers.
Movies, TV and Radio. You can easily find lots of Hindi-language movies, TV shows and radio programs on the internet. Some sites are paid membership sites, but if you keep looking you will be able to find lots of good stuff available free. Do a simple search, such as for "Hindi movies online," and you will come across sites that give you access to a variety of mass media options. The same site may offer movies, TV shows, kids' TV, cricket matches, music videos and even more. Even the free sites may require registration. Be aware that you may need to wind your way around various pop-over surveys, sit through introductory commercials before the videos begin or try to turn off automatic audio ads before you actually get to the good stuff.
Podcasts. Do a general search, like "free Hindi podcast," and you will get returns of various sites with podcasts ranging from news to entertainment to a Hindi course. I will warn you that some of the sites are a little thorny. You may find broken links or sites so confusingly laid out that you may not know where to go for the podcast link. Also note that a lot of the entertainment podcasts are in English. But at least you get a hearty dose of Bollywood gossip.
If you are taking a Hindi course, you really should supplement your classroom learning with the vast amount of mass media available on the internet. Since so much of it is free, there is really no excuse not to take advantage of it. And it is a great advantage, to learn the language by native language speakers, speaking real vocabulary at a conversational speed, and to get cultural, political or sports news at the same time. This material is easy to find, so just do a Google search and you will find tremendous resources for how to learn Hindi.
