Alphabet
You can start speaking Hindi quickly by reading the romanized version of the Hindi characters, but this has its challenges as well. Not everyone will romanize the letters in the same consistent way. Sooner than later, you can solve that problem by learning to read, write and say the letters and their sounds. Reading Hindi is not as hard as you think. You'll be excited with how quickly you can starting reading and recognizing words.
​
Words are written left to right, same as English.
​
Click on the links below for pdf files you can save on your computer and/or print.
Watch this video to get an introduction to how to read and say each letter in Hindi. The most common letters are covered first. There's also an explanation of what "aspirated" means since some Hindi letters blow air, and you'll have to practice this.
- 10 minutes
Watch this video to get an introduction to Hindi punctuation and how Hindi vowels are added to consonants. A "maaTraa" is the short form of a vowel. Learn how they are added to consonants. and learn how a dot creates a nasal "n" sound to vowels.
- 9 minutes
This video is designed for children, so the pace is slower. Get your paper ready, and start writing the letters with the video. Stop the video as often as you need to.
- 23 minutes
This video practices writing 12 vowel letters in their long-form, and their sounds.
(Notice, some think there are 11 vowels sounds; others say 12.)
- 8 minutes
This video practices writing 5 consonant letters and their sounds
k, kh, g, gh, ng
- 4.5 minutes
This video practices writing 5 consonant letters and their sounds
c, ch, j, jh, yan
- 5 minutes
This video practices writing 5 consonant letters and their sounds
t, th, d, dh, n
Notice these are "retroflexal" letters - in other words, you curl your tongue and put it to the roof of your mouth to make these sounds.
- 4 minutes
This video practices writing 5 consonant letters and their sounds
t, th, d, dh, n
Notice these are "dental" letters - in other words, you put your tongue on the back of your teeth
- 7 minutes
This video practices writing 5 consonant letters and their sounds
p, ph, b, bh, m
- 6 minutes
This video practices writing 7 consonant letters and their sounds
y, r, l, w, sh, sh, s
- 14 minutes
Are you having a hard time remembering which letter makes which sounds, and when to curl your tongue to the roof of your mouth?
​
- Check out the 2016 course videos that teach you your letters.
Here's the PDF document that summarizes the stories in these videos to help your memory remember each letter and its sound.
Now that you've practiced writing your letters and saying their sounds, it would be helpful to practice recognizing their sounds and shapes. We need to practice our hearing skills, along with where to put our tongue, so we're better at copying sounds correctly.
​
- Check out the free program called - Duolingo. The first lessons will help you practice your letters, then you'll move ahead with learning words and putting them in sentences.
