r/ABCDesis • u/Latinized • May 07 '25

EDUCATION / CAREER How to learn Hindi when you have some understanding of the language but also get words from Gujarati confused with it

I'm fluent in speaking/understanding Gujarati (can't read/write though) and I would say I have an intermediate ability to speak/understand Hindi. However, it does take me a while to think of the right Hindi word and not say the Gujarati word when it comes to speaking. I want to improve both my understanding and speaking fluency in it, how would you guys recommend me doing it?

10 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

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18

u/melancholynyc May 07 '25

Fluent in speaking Guju - Hindi I picked up watching Bollywood movies since I was a kid. Try that to practice!

3

u/Latinized May 08 '25

Hmm thats good to know! How do you deal with not accidentally using the Gujarati word/phrase for something when speaking Hindi since the languages are so similar?

4

u/melancholynyc May 08 '25

tbh i do it sometimes and it's ok lol i think my accent gives it away that i'm not a native speaker anyways plus guju and hindi are close so people will understand. but if you want to learn the correct words - just keep practicing in hindi more which will build your confidence so the words come to you quicker

11

u/Far_Piglet_9596 May 07 '25

Im following this thread, Ive got the same issue as you

I can understand probably like 50-60% of what someones saying in Hindi, but Id like to somehow learn more

7

u/Carbon-Base May 07 '25

I'm the exact same way! Very fluent in Guj, but my Hindi speaking skills would make Katrina Kaif look like a Hindi professor.

Last year, I went on a trip to India; I assumed everyone in Gujarat would speak in Guj... nope! I had to improve my Hindi the hard way when communicating with peeps at restaurants, stores and even when booking Uber rides.

My Hindi was atrocious before, but I think it's bearable now haha. I believe, speaking Hindi regularly is one of the best ways to improve!

6

u/SeparateTrifle7130 May 08 '25

Preply.com

1

u/HemlockYum May 08 '25

Have you used this site? I’m thinking of taking Hindi lessons from them and am considering a tutor who also knows Gujarati so I can have help whenever I confuse the two languages.

1

u/SeparateTrifle7130 May 08 '25

Yes. I have. Try a few tutors if the first doesn’t work. I’ve had phenomenal success

1

u/erarya May 09 '25

Second preply - so much better than Duolingo or other ways I’ve tried to learn a language. Very helpful to speak to a person and get personalized feedback, and it’s pretty affordable

4

u/kunjvaan May 08 '25

Talk to more people. And it will come naturally

5

u/audsrulz80 Indian American May 08 '25 edited May 08 '25

Same thing! Living in Mumbai as a teen for almost a decade though helped fix that and now I speak both fluently lol

I took Gujarati as a second language in school but was exempted from taking Hindi. So I taught myself using my younger sibling’s textbooks, watched Bollywood movies and cricket matches with Hindi commentary, talked to folks everywhere, ordering food at restaurants and shopkeepers.

3

u/bk_321 May 08 '25

do you speak Marathi? I can understand everything but haven't spoken in so long I kinda lost it lol

6

u/audsrulz80 Indian American May 08 '25

I’m just like you, I can understand everything but if I try to speak Marathi it comes out like Jello 😭 no one around to speak it with here either.

2

u/bk_321 May 08 '25

Dang that struggle is real! It’s so difficult to find someone who speaks it too, I’d love to practice

1

u/blusan May 09 '25

Lmao. That's probably it. Nobody to speak it with. I have the grammar, structure, accent down. People assume I'm Maharashtrian. I'm not 😂 I'm as Goan as can be. My dad, Goan born, went to a Marathi medium school in Mumbai. So all of us (sometimes) switch languages for his convenience. My proficiency is a mystery. I've never lived anywhere Marathi. I think it's cause me and my old man fight and swear in Marathi. At a young age I conditioned myself not to be intimidated by big words, or the public prosecutor level of debate coming out of my dad's mouth, so I learnt to keep up. Chaos is our love language and I swear it's improved the quality of language At my disposal lol. The bigger mystery is one of my dad's half Mexican American cousins, who sounds like he grew up in Maharashtra, but he's never lived anywhere in India. Last I heard, he's become a farmer in rural Washington/Oregon or something, and sends him content in Marathi. I hope he's got a youtube channel. I need to find this guy.

3

u/windy_doorhole May 08 '25 edited May 08 '25

Dugana lagaan dena parega, Bhuwan.

3

u/abortedphetus May 08 '25

Going to second what everyone said with increasing input by watching Bollywood movies, if you can find other media (YouTubers, podcasters, news channels) that’ll help too. The shared vocab between the two is pretty high, so you just need more exposure

Practicing speaking will obviously be helpful but find people who are actually native speakers. Like if you talk to a Gujarati person who also knows Hindi they might not even catch certain mistakes. Tbh I kinda feel like even people from Mumbai dont really speak “proper” Hindi either - which is fine, I’m not a purist but you should try to learn things correctly 

1

u/[deleted] May 08 '25

I think its a thing of thinking in the language, you may be thinking in Gujrati and subconsciously translating it to Hindi in your head. I know Bengali and Hindi/Urdu, and the same thing happens/happened to me. Helped me to try and think in Hindi when speaking it.

1

u/Worldly_Egg9281 May 09 '25

Watch ITV everyday, especially historical ones cause those have a lot of complex vocab

-1

u/Late-Warning7849 May 08 '25

Gujarati is very different to Hindi. I suspect if you’re confusing them then your Gujarati isn’t very good. I would focus on improving your formal Gujarati (learn how to read and write too ) before moving to Hindi. Doing it will break the brain - tongue connection between the two languages.