Find Hindi classes near me in Glasgow

Finding the Perfect Hindi Tutor

Hindi is the world's third most-spoken language and mainly spoken in India, where it is one of the two official languages alongside English. It's so widely spoken across certain parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India that the area is referred to as the Hindi belt.

The language is spoken natively by over 300 million people and spoken as a second language by another 270 million people. Technically, Hindi belongs to a continuum of related languages called Hindustani which also includes the Urdu language. Hindustani is spoken across North India, Pakistan, and the Deccan Plateau in western and southern India.

If you're thinking about learning to speak Hindi or studying it at school, there are some great reasons to do so. However, like with learning any other language, it's not all fun and games. In fact, there are also quite a few challenges to learning Hindi, but fortunately for you, there are always private Hindi tutors to help you.

Why It's Important to Study Hindi

Learning Hindi, much like any other language, comes with plenty of benefits. Students can improve their memory, gain a better understanding of English, and learn more about foreign cultures.

Hindi classes are also a great opportunity to meet other students (if you're studying in groups), improve your self-confidence through speaking with them or your teacher, and (obviously) improve your abilities in the language.

Hindi is the fourth most-spoken language in the world but when talking about it as part of Hindustani, the aforementioned macrolanguage that includes both Hindi and Urdu, it's the third most-spoken language in the world. This all means that students learning Hindi are opening up opportunities to communicate with nearly 500 million people. Not bad, is it?

If you live in Scotland but your family traces its roots back to India, learning Hindi could be a great way to reconnect with your family's heritage and culture. On the other hand, perhaps you're planning on travelling to somewhere the language is spoken and you probably think it's a good idea to be able to communicate with the locals.

There are plenty of great reasons to learn a foreign language and one as challenging as Hindi can be eye-opening and rewarding.

Challenges in Hindi

As a general rule of thumb, the more similar a language is to our mother tongue (let's say English in this example), the easier it is to learn. This is why the most popular language lessons in schools are Spanish, German, and French, for example, European languages which share many grammatical and lexical similarities with English.

That said, a lot of students are moving away from the languages traditionally taught at National 4 and 5 and Higher (equivalent to the GCSE and A Level elsewhere in the UK). Students are beginning to favour of other languages and while those with similarities to English will tend to be more difficult to learn, that doesn't mean that an English speaker can't learn Hindi.

The biggest challenge for students wanting to learn Hindi will probably be the writing system. For those who've grown up speaking English, the Latin alphabet is second nature to them and they'll recognise it if they study a language that uses it. However, Hindi uses the Devanagari writing system. This means that any student that wants to be able to read Hindi will also need to learn the 47 characters (14 vowels and 33 consonants) that make up the writing system.

With all that said, the bigger the challenge, the bigger the reward and there are few languages more rewarding to learn than Hindi, even if learning it will take years of study!

Areas of Hindi Studied at School

While rarely chosen, there is the option for students in secondary school to study Hindi as a second language at National 4/5 and Higher. That said, it might be tricky finding a school that has a Hindi or Urdu language course.

Like most other language courses, students are tested on their understanding of the language through both written and aural comprehension as well as written and oral production of the language.

Private Tuition in Hindi

Getting private lessons in Hindi is a good way to circumvent the aforementioned challenges, especially given how few schools are teaching the language. A tutor can adapt their lessons to your level and work with you to overcome any challenges you may face.

Unlike in schools, where students usually have to learn whatever grammar point is currently being taught as part of the curriculum, a private language tutor can take their time on the aspects of the language you struggle with and brush quickly over something that you already have a good understanding of.

We can't stress enough how important it is to use the language you're learning and Hindi is no exception. A private Hindi tutor isn't just an opportunity to go over grammar and writing, it's also a great opportunity to regularly speak your new language in private class.

Finding a Hindi Tutor in Glasgow

If you'd like to learn Hindi or need help with studying it for an exam, you just need to search for Hindi on Superprof. In addition to the tutors working in Glasgow and offering face-to-face tutorials, there are also tonnes of Hindi tutors offering lessons online via webcam. Students can learn from native speakers based in places where the language is natively spoken.

Keep in mind that a lot of tutors on Superprof offer the first lesson free so make sure that you try a few different tutors before deciding upon the best tutor for you. Look at each tutor's profile to learn more about them and see whether they offer tutorials at home, online, or for groups.

You're going to be spending a lot of time speaking to your Hindi teacher (even if you only meet for one hour a week) so you want to make sure that you get along. Regular practice and conversation are key if you want to learn a language so students need to feel comfortable when talking to their tutor. Similarly, you need tutors with the right experience and level in Hindi. If you're learning it for school or university, you'll need someone who can teach it for a National 4/5 or Higher level whereas if you're learning it for fun or to talk to people, you'll need someone who can speak it fluently.

Hindi in Glasgow

As there are only around 5,000 speakers of Hindi in Scotland, it's not one of the most popular languages or subjects around. However, Urdu was the fourth most-spoken language in Scotland with over 20,000 speakers.

Keep in mind that Hindi and Urdu are mutually-intelligible, which means that if you speak one of the languages, you can understand the other. If you learn Hindi, you could talk to a speaker or Urdu and vice-versa.