If you want to teach Hindi to your child age
1 through 16, you may want to use one or more methods listed
here to make it a fun activity. You can also use this approach
for any of the other Indian languages.
Talk to them in Hindi as much as you can. They will pick
up English from their interactions with the outside world.
The conversations you have with them will be the best practice
in Hindi they will get.
It is okay if they talk back in English to you. Even
listening to you speak Hindi in front of them is helpful
for them to pick up key words and phrases.
Watch Hindi movies together with them. Hindi movies from
Bollywood have an amazing ability to mesmerize and attract
children as well as adults. The best type of movies for children
are light comedies or movies with a lot of songs and dances.
Pick up the movies which are fun (typical masala movies)
rather than ones which are intellectual or art movies (boring
for kids). If you have picked the right movie, your child
will want to watch it again and again.
Some all-time favorite comedies are Padosan, Chupke
Chupke, Golmaal, Choti si Baat, Munnabhai MBBS.
Some great song and dance based movies are Sholay,
Lamhe, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gam, Don, and Lagaan.
Not all movies are appropriate for all children, so
choose something that your child enjoys and appreciates.
youtube is a
great source of Hindi television and Hindi movies.
Many of the movies are now available in full from
youtube.
If you have service in your area, subscribe to Hindi television
channels. Many cable companies offer Hindi channels and they
are available on satellite systems. Watching some Hindi sit-coms,
or other interesting shows with your children teaches them
Hindi interactively.
We have observed that our kids enjoy shows that have
kids singing songs or dancing to the tune of Hindi
songs. There are many competitions on channels of this
nature.
Most channels show Hindi movies so you can watch the
movies with your children as well as per the bullet above.
If the kids are small, read to them at bed-time. You may
want to pick up one of the leveled books on this web site
(choose according to your child's ability) and read it to
them. You can also tell a bedtime story in Hindi to them.
Kids from age 1 to 10 usually love bed-time stories.
Listen to Hindi Songs on your CD, or play selected Hindi
songs collections on your DVD. You can be more selective
here about the type of songs and pick the ones your child
likes and enjoys. They may love to sing and dance to the
song of "Chainya Chainya" from Dil Se, or Deewanagi
Deewanagi from Om Shanti Om, but may find the movie too
violent.
Do fun activities with them that involves reading or writing
Hindi. When you bake a cake with them, write their name in
Hindi. When they make a greeting card, have them sign their
name in Hindi or write the wishes in Hindi (you may have
to write it and they copy). Kids usually like to do such
type of things.
These are just a few of ways in which you can make it fun
for kids to learn Hindi, and they will ask you for more.
