Language School

(Landour language School--the big church behind the tree)

थोड़ा समय पहेले मुझे मालूम हुआ कि यह ब्लोग की प्रोग्राम हिंदी की लिखाई कर सकाता है। जरूर है कि इसलिये मुझे बहुत कुशी लगी। मालूम करते ही मुझे अभ्यास करना पड़ा। तो, अभी भी मैं जानता हूँ कि कोई नहीं मेरे शब्द समझ सकेगा, मैं ये वाक्य लिख रहा हूँ। मुझे आशा है कि आप लोगों को पसंद हो जायेगा।

So, the preceding paragraph has nothing to do with anything, except for the fact that I just found an application through which I can type Hindi in English script, and the words are automatically transliterated to the Devanagari (Hindi) script। I am really excited to have found this, even though (as far as I can tell) it really gives no practical advantages. It is still very cool.

So, given my new toy, I think it is time that I wrote a little about my Hindi lessons, which incidentally are going extremely well. I will start by assuring you that yes, what I wrote above is real Hindi and not something I made up off the top of my head, although it would have been exceedingly easy to do so. You'll just have to take my word for it.

I'm now in my sixth week of Hindi language instruction, out of eight weeks in total that I will be in Mussoorie. Landour Language School is actually one of the premier places to study Hindi in the country, and routinely loses teachers to European institutions. Of course, to enroll in this prestigious institution requires that you pay the tuition, which at 4 dollars per hour of one-on-one lessons is quite outrageous compared to most Indian institutions. It draws students from all over the world, and in the height of the tourist season (which is now just beginning, as the temperature in the rest of India becomes unbearable) this part of the already laid back Mussoorie essentially becomes a foreign colony, with people from everywhere congregating to study Hindi. It really is a wonderful place to meet people; I've developed fairly strong relationships with people from Australia, Edinborough, Hamburg, Vienna, Seattle, Belgium, France, Italy, Canada, and, of course, India itself. My social life has been quite interesting as a result.

I arrived with next to no Hindi skills, but was immediately able to recall nearly everything that I learned during my five weeks at the school six years ago. So, I had a pretty substantial base upon which to begin. Since then, I have been adding constitently to my linguistic repertoire. Tenses, verbs, phrases, adjectives and clauses, they've been piling up until I finally have a decent well of information from which to draw. I have had class four hours per day, with a couple hours of study afterwards. This has made for quite a full schedule, although it may not seem like much; I'm in India, after all, and studying all day is not only I want to pass my time.

So far, my weeks here have revolved around a fairly set schedule--namely, my Hindi classes and the set mealtimes at my guesthouse. Because of this, the time has passed much more quickly than I would have thought. I really cannot believe that it has been five weeks since I set foot in this country! While I would not refer to my situation as boring (although realistically, how exciting can intensive language study be?), but I have come to appreciate the odd interruptions. The parties on Friday nights with 10 people from 8 different countries. The frequent monkey-related dramas (monkey's stealing my bananas, monkeys with cute baby monkeys, monkeys attacking someone, monkeys breaking into out kitchen--all of which I have witnessed in my time here). The games of Ping-Pong with the language school teachers, all of whom have to play with their left hands to give me a chance to win. The trips into the city of Mussoorie (about a 30 minute walk downhill, which takes you down 200-300 meters) for beer and momos (Tibetan dumplings, served steamed, fried, in soup, with chilli sauce--you name it). The odd Bollywood movie, seen on someone's laptop. These are all the little things through which I am becoming very attached to my time here. It is not the language instruction (the whole reason I'm here!) but the distractions which I will carry with me as the fond memories of my time in Mussoorie. Here you meet people with the most unlikely stories, and you form the most unlikely friendships. Despite the bad food at the guest house and the lack of water for long portions of the day, it really is a fantastic place to spend time.

But not to forget the Hindi, by far the most useful thing I'll be doing here. Well, let it suffice to say that I am almost sure of my desire to continue studying Hindi in college. India has certainly got me. I already find myself looking for an excuse to come back.



For the first time I can actually write what I mean to say. So, a nice नमास्ते (namaste) to you!

फिर मेलेंगे!