Hi, readers! I'm continuing to cross-post my Medium articles here for a while. I will be moving for further studies later, and my posts then would probably be a comparison of facilities, environments, atmospheres, ideologies, philosophies and so on—at least, that's what I'm planning.
Enjoy this article!
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I have always been proud of the linguistic diversity in India and the fact that I have had moderate success in exploring this field, and expanding further.
It’s intuitively obvious that learning new languages is good for you — I mean, why would it ever be bad or neutral? Today, many apps promoting foreign language learning are available, and with the internet, it has made it very easy to explore the world of words. Still, it surprises me when people know only one language (This perspective will be clearer later). I know the words ‘bilingual’, ‘trilingual’, ‘multilingual’ and ‘polyglot’, but have never heard others like ‘unilingual’ in practice. This article tells the tale of how I got introduced to languages and scripts.
Marathi (I) and English (II)
I’m from Pune — probably the best place if you want anything to do with anything Marathi, being the capital of the Maratha empire. Of course, Marathi is my mother tongue. That said, I’m not very good at it myself, or I feel so because I’m surrounded by much better users. The other reason is that I studied through the English medium since I was about 2 years old. Not surprisingly, English is my ‘strongest’ language today.
I’m from Pune — probably the best place if you want anything to do with anything Marathi, being the capital of the Maratha empire. Of course, Marathi is my mother tongue. That said, I’m not very good at it myself, or I feel so because I’m surrounded by much better users. The other reason is that I studied through the English medium since I was about 2 years old. Not surprisingly, English is my ‘strongest’ language today.
Hindi (III)
Just hearing cartoons, documentaries, news and other TV programs, I developed a good sense of Hindi grammar. Hindi is used as a lingua franca in India, i.e. a bridge language which more or less everyone knows. I have just 3 years of formal education in it and I’m fluent. It’s probably the language I use most after English in my environment where I deal with people all over the country.
Just hearing cartoons, documentaries, news and other TV programs, I developed a good sense of Hindi grammar. Hindi is used as a lingua franca in India, i.e. a bridge language which more or less everyone knows. I have just 3 years of formal education in it and I’m fluent. It’s probably the language I use most after English in my environment where I deal with people all over the country.
Urdu (IV)
Hindi and Urdu (1), I concur, are basically the same language with the same grammar. The pronunciations are slightly different due to the scripts used (Devanagari and Nastaʿlīq, respectively) and the vocabulary slightly different, where Hindi markedly draws more from Sanskrit. I felt not being able to read Urdu was an annoyance, and I took it upon myself to learn the ‘mysterious’ right-to-left code. Today, my most beautiful writing (appearance-wise) is probably in Urdu.
Hindi and Urdu (1), I concur, are basically the same language with the same grammar. The pronunciations are slightly different due to the scripts used (Devanagari and Nastaʿlīq, respectively) and the vocabulary slightly different, where Hindi markedly draws more from Sanskrit. I felt not being able to read Urdu was an annoyance, and I took it upon myself to learn the ‘mysterious’ right-to-left code. Today, my most beautiful writing (appearance-wise) is probably in Urdu.
Sanskrit (V)
I had 3 years of formal education in Sanskrit because it was a ‘scoring’ subject (I bagged full marks in it). Hindi, Marathi and essentially all Indian languages are derivatives of Sanskrit. The logical structure of Sanskrit where it retains all 8 declensional cases really intrigued me. It has helped me learn other languages which have followed from Proto-Indo-European.
I had 3 years of formal education in Sanskrit because it was a ‘scoring’ subject (I bagged full marks in it). Hindi, Marathi and essentially all Indian languages are derivatives of Sanskrit. The logical structure of Sanskrit where it retains all 8 declensional cases really intrigued me. It has helped me learn other languages which have followed from Proto-Indo-European.
German (VI)
A relative of a family friend tutored some kids (including me) in German. German, having confusing gendered nouns, annoyed me, in spite of Marathi sharing this feature; the issue was the genders weren’t the same! e.g. A chair is feminine in Marathi while it is masculine in German. Later, I studied German for 2 years in college and even have a basic certification. German has retained four of those declensional cases and knowing Sanskrit had streamlined my mind to tackle this part of grammar which students often struggle with.
A relative of a family friend tutored some kids (including me) in German. German, having confusing gendered nouns, annoyed me, in spite of Marathi sharing this feature; the issue was the genders weren’t the same! e.g. A chair is feminine in Marathi while it is masculine in German. Later, I studied German for 2 years in college and even have a basic certification. German has retained four of those declensional cases and knowing Sanskrit had streamlined my mind to tackle this part of grammar which students often struggle with.
Gujarati (VII) and Kannada (VIII)
I live in Maharashtra. When India won its independence in 1947 and was subdivided into administrative states based on the languages spoken, the province of Bombay included the present-day bordering states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Marathi and Gujarathi are written in very similar scripts and are moderately intelligible. It was on a vacation to Gujarat that I first picked up on it. Similarly, Karnataka, where Kannada is prevalent, borders Maharashtra to the south. On another vacation, I deciphered the script from the gantries and roadsigns in a mere 5 days — it’s basically a decoding problem. However, now I know that it was simple for me since the languages on the Indian subcontinent are abugidas.
I live in Maharashtra. When India won its independence in 1947 and was subdivided into administrative states based on the languages spoken, the province of Bombay included the present-day bordering states of Maharashtra and Gujarat. Marathi and Gujarathi are written in very similar scripts and are moderately intelligible. It was on a vacation to Gujarat that I first picked up on it. Similarly, Karnataka, where Kannada is prevalent, borders Maharashtra to the south. On another vacation, I deciphered the script from the gantries and roadsigns in a mere 5 days — it’s basically a decoding problem. However, now I know that it was simple for me since the languages on the Indian subcontinent are abugidas.
Bengali (IX), Assamese (X) and Tamil (XI)
To those geographically confused, let me clarify these are through interactions on vacations as well. My father knows Bengali and it was he who introduced me to its script, when in Bengal. I deduced the rest of Assamese. Note: Do not call Assamese and Bengali the same thing — they’re not. For instance, Assamese ‘s’ is pronounced like ‘h’ and it has a ‘w’ sound which Bengali lacks. I learnt the Tamil script through yet another vacation down south, though I must admit I don’t remember a lot of it. I have visited Kerala but never got the hang of Malayalam though…
To those geographically confused, let me clarify these are through interactions on vacations as well. My father knows Bengali and it was he who introduced me to its script, when in Bengal. I deduced the rest of Assamese. Note: Do not call Assamese and Bengali the same thing — they’re not. For instance, Assamese ‘s’ is pronounced like ‘h’ and it has a ‘w’ sound which Bengali lacks. I learnt the Tamil script through yet another vacation down south, though I must admit I don’t remember a lot of it. I have visited Kerala but never got the hang of Malayalam though…
Japanese (XII)
Acquiring a new phone, an independent internet connection and some freedom, I started watching anime and reading manga. People underestimate how much there is to learn (esp. vocabulary) when you actually listen to the Japanese audio with the help of the subtitles. However, that’s nowhere close to what studying Japanese is. Assisted by apps and YouTube, I have clambered to the point where I’m confident I could find my way back if I was dropped somewhere in Japan. My interest in Japanese doesn’t stop with anime and manga; it is a very different culture from mine and it’s fascinating.
Acquiring a new phone, an independent internet connection and some freedom, I started watching anime and reading manga. People underestimate how much there is to learn (esp. vocabulary) when you actually listen to the Japanese audio with the help of the subtitles. However, that’s nowhere close to what studying Japanese is. Assisted by apps and YouTube, I have clambered to the point where I’m confident I could find my way back if I was dropped somewhere in Japan. My interest in Japanese doesn’t stop with anime and manga; it is a very different culture from mine and it’s fascinating.
Mandarin (XIII), Korean (XIV), Arabic (XV), Dutch (XVI), French (XVII), Polish (XVIII), Spanish (XIX), Swedish (XX) and Russian (XXI)
That brings us to the present. Armed with the app, I went crazy and spread myself too thin, trudging through every exercise as I struggle not to confuse languages with each other. The Chinese pictorial characters are especially confusing since the apps don’t try to ‘build up’ from the ground level. Why Chinese?-Because China is India’s neighbour. Why Korean?-Because an acquaintance mentioned they watch K-drama, and I’m interested in the simplicity of Hangul. Why Arabic?-’cause why not? Dutch?-I already know English and German; Dutch is spoken between those two (geographically). Should be easy, right? I am also dabbling in the classy French, Polish (from Marie Curie who is a great inspiration), Spanish (purportedly the coolest), Swedish (of the Nobel committee) and Russian (because one of my friends is there).
That brings us to the present. Armed with the app, I went crazy and spread myself too thin, trudging through every exercise as I struggle not to confuse languages with each other. The Chinese pictorial characters are especially confusing since the apps don’t try to ‘build up’ from the ground level. Why Chinese?-Because China is India’s neighbour. Why Korean?-Because an acquaintance mentioned they watch K-drama, and I’m interested in the simplicity of Hangul. Why Arabic?-’cause why not? Dutch?-I already know English and German; Dutch is spoken between those two (geographically). Should be easy, right? I am also dabbling in the classy French, Polish (from Marie Curie who is a great inspiration), Spanish (purportedly the coolest), Swedish (of the Nobel committee) and Russian (because one of my friends is there).
Is it not surprising how people can live their lives not being exposed to more languages? In the meantime, I also did a course in linguistics to study the “what”, “how” and “why” of languages — another proud achievement. It’s great I’ve found such an interesting hobby.
Note: This is just an account of how I got introduced to various languages and scripts. For most of them, I can read the script fine but don’t understand the meanings. I’m proficient in just a handful of languages. Also, Roman numerals are cool. Again, this post is raw, as in, unedited. It’s the first draft, so to say.
If you’re interested:
1. Langfocus (2016). “Hindustani: Hindi and Urdu — A Single Language?”. YouTube
1. Langfocus (2016). “Hindustani: Hindi and Urdu — A Single Language?”. YouTube
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