Search for Hindi Resources

Hindi is the official and link language of the multilingual India and after Chinese is the second most widely spoken language in the world. Its homeland is in the north of India but it is spoken and understood throughout the country. Hindi is written in the Devanagari script, which is also used for Sanskrit, Marathi and Nepali. Hindi has a special relationship with Urdu because they share the same grammar, basic conversational vocabulary and expressions. On many college campuses in the US, Hindi and Urdu are taught as one language under the title Hindi-Urdu. The two languages, however, use different scripts and have different preferences when it comes to borrowing new formal and literary vocabulary. Although Hindi has had many Perso-Arabic words but recent borrowings in Hindi have been more from Sanskrit in the written style and from English and Urdu in the spoken style.

Hindi has a rich literary tradition that dates back to the eleventh century. Early literature, which was predominantly poetry, was written in a variety of Hindi dialects such as Braj and Avadhi. Modern literature is mostly written in Modern Standard Hindi that has developed from Khari Boli, a dialect of Hindi spoken around Delhi. Hindi literature consists of all genres --poetry, drama, short stories, novels, and essays.

These days, there are many impressive literary magazines available free of charge on the Internet. There are several good Hindi magazines and newspapers on line that help learners to access the authentic language and India's culture without leaving their dorms. Hindi is the primary language of entertainment, media and journalism in India. Bollywood films and songs have particularly popularized Hindi at home and abroad. Modern pop Hindi music is highly popular with Indians settled around the world, including in America, Canada, London, Fiji, the Caribbean area, parts of Africa, and many countries of the Middle East. Film music has almost become an identity shawl for overseas Indians, many of whom love to sing and dance at the tunes of Hindi songs on social and cultural events.

Hindi is taught as a foreign language at many institutions of higher learning in the United States. Students learn it for academic, business, career, and/or personal reasons. The government of the United States considers Hindi as an important language as a part of its foreign policy and national security.

What follows is a database of brief reviews of the some of the best resources available in Hindi as a second/foreign language. A wide array of exciting materials is currently created or rehabilitated and we will continue to update these resources as more resources are published. The focus of the current resources is books, tapes and online materials for the four skills for different proficiency levels. In order to nurture the targeted language skills, vocabulary and grammar books are especially supportive and they are also included in here. We sincerely hope that these resources will be useful to both teachers and learners.

The members of the Hindi Board have selected these resources and have made decisions regarding style, content, transliteration and the usefulness.

Surendra Gambhir (Board Chair)
Herman van Olphen (Member)
Vijay Gambhir (Member)
Ilieva Gabriela (Member)
Susham Bedi (Member)

Search for Hindi Resources