View Poll Results: Which language should I learn?

Voters
31. You may not vote on this poll
  • Sanskrit

    21 67.74%
  • Hindi

    10 32.26%
Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 30

Thread: Should I learn Sanskrit or Hindi?

  1. #11

    Re: Should I learn Sanskrit or Hindi?

    Quote Originally Posted by jasdir View Post
    English.

    _/\_Jasdir
    Namaste Jasdir,

    I'm not sure what you mean by this. Please expand. I have been studying and speaking English my entire life. Are you suggesting that I just stay confined to the English language?

    Jai Sri Ram

  2. #12
    Join Date
    October 2010
    Location
    Punjab
    Age
    44
    Posts
    231
    Rep Power
    222

    Re: Should I learn Sanskrit or Hindi?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ramakrishna View Post
    Namaste Jasdir,

    I'm not sure what you mean by this. Please expand. I have been studying and speaking English my entire life. Are you suggesting that I just stay confined to the English language?

    Jai Sri Ram
    As this is very famously known by the members of H D F, that i am week in English,

    So simply want to pass the message that one should learn the language in which He/She is week

    As i belive, Languages are made for the Man, Man is not made for the languages.

    Ramakrishna ji, _/\_ Jai Sri Ram by Jasdir.
    "Everything is he, he is for Everyone, So to whom we can say.... is worse, As there is nothing other than Him." -Guru Nanak.

  3. #13
    Join Date
    July 2009
    Location
    Dublin, Ireland
    Age
    36
    Posts
    860
    Rep Power
    1516

    Re: Should I learn Sanskrit or Hindi?

    Namaste Ramakrishna,

    Why not learn both? I'm currently studying Sanskrit (it's slow going, but I knew that before I undertook the project), and I'm hoping to learn either Hindi or Tamil later to understand the more vernacular prayers and contemporary bhajans. If you're a linguaphile like me, you'll find it fascinating stuff rather than a necessary bore. Just as Latin has leant some of its root meanings to modern English, so too is Hindi supposed to be originally derived from Sanskrit. That might make things a bit easier, maybe, or in any case you will be able to appreciate semantics and etymology just that little more than if they were completely unrelated.

    In any case, whatever language you pick, you'll need to begin by learning the Devanagari script so I'd recommend printing out a table of the syllables for you to post up in your bedroom to learn whenever you've got free time. You can download them virtually anywhere on the net, and here's a neat little website I've come across that shows you how to write each of the letters (the first one includes a voice which sounds each syllable out):

    http://www.anu.edu.au/asianstudies/h...bet/index.html
    http://acharya.iitm.ac.in/sanskrit/l...m/san_anim.php

    Good luck with your learning.

    Om namah Shivaya
    "Watch your thoughts, they become words.
    Watch your words, they become actions.
    Watch your actions, they become habits.
    Watch your habits, they become your character.
    Watch your character, it becomes your destiny."

    ॐ गं गणपतये नमः
    Om Gam Ganapataye namah

    लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु ।
    Lokaah SamastaaH Sukhino Bhavantu

  4. #14

    Re: Should I learn Sanskrit or Hindi?

    Quote Originally Posted by jasdir View Post
    As this is very famously known by the members of H D F, that i am week in English,

    So simply want to pass the message that one should learn the language in which He/She is week

    As i belive, Languages are made for the Man, Man is not made for the languages.

    Ramakrishna ji, _/\_ Jai Sri Ram by Jasdir.
    Namaste Jasdir,

    Yes, that's a good point. Thanks for explaining. Best of luck to you with your English studies.

    Jai Sri Ram

  5. #15

    Re: Should I learn Sanskrit or Hindi?

    Quote Originally Posted by sunyata07 View Post
    Namaste Ramakrishna,

    Why not learn both? I'm currently studying Sanskrit (it's slow going, but I knew that before I undertook the project), and I'm hoping to learn either Hindi or Tamil later to understand the more vernacular prayers and contemporary bhajans. If you're a linguaphile like me, you'll find it fascinating stuff rather than a necessary bore. Just as Latin has leant some of its root meanings to modern English, so too is Hindi supposed to be originally derived from Sanskrit. That might make things a bit easier, maybe, or in any case you will be able to appreciate semantics and etymology just that little more than if they were completely unrelated.

    In any case, whatever language you pick, you'll need to begin by learning the Devanagari script so I'd recommend printing out a table of the syllables for you to post up in your bedroom to learn whenever you've got free time. You can download them virtually anywhere on the net, and here's a neat little website I've come across that shows you how to write each of the letters (the first one includes a voice which sounds each syllable out):

    http://www.anu.edu.au/asianstudies/h...bet/index.html
    http://acharya.iitm.ac.in/sanskrit/l...m/san_anim.php

    Good luck with your learning.

    Om namah Shivaya
    Namaste Sunyata,

    Yeah, by now I've pretty much decided to learn both languages. Especially since the languages are similar and use the same alphabet, it will make it a bit easier. And both Hindi and Sanskrit will come in handy and be very useful for a variety of purposes, from learning mantras and reading scriptures in their original language, to learning bhajans and communicating more effectively when I visit India. Plus for me it just has that added benefit of knowing the language of your ancestors.

    Thanks for the links.

    Jai Sri Ram

  6. #16
    Join Date
    December 2010
    Location
    Berlin, Germany
    Age
    51
    Posts
    6
    Rep Power
    0

    Re: Should I learn Sanskrit or Hindi?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ramakrishna View Post
    Namaste Sunyata,

    Yeah, by now I've pretty much decided to learn both languages. Especially since the languages are similar and use the same alphabet, it will make it a bit easier. And both Hindi and Sanskrit will come in handy and be very useful for a variety of purposes, from learning mantras and reading scriptures in their original language, to learning bhajans and communicating more effectively when I visit India. Plus for me it just has that added benefit of knowing the language of your ancestors.

    Thanks for the links.

    Jai Sri Ram
    some years ago i started to learn both, hindi and sanskrit. but after i year i decided to not continue hindi and focus more on sanskrit. first of all i got told that hindi is not this much a common language in india as i thought it is and only people who went to school learned and speak hindi and those speak very good english as well. so i can either communicate in english or not at all.
    for the scriptures i found it a good idea to know sanskrit. all the vedic scriptures, the vedas themselves with all their samhitas, upanishats and aranyakas but also the puranas and the itihasas are in sanskrit. and even though i'm using translations for the most part it is good to have the original sanskrit when in doubt about a translation.

    but recently i started to teach myself tamil. a little bit more difficult than i expected it to be...

    so anyway, may goddess sarasvati be mercyful with you and you will learn the languages easily and will find them as usefull as you hoped to.

  7. #17
    Join Date
    January 2010
    Location
    tadvishno paramam padam
    Age
    38
    Posts
    2,168
    Rep Power
    2547

    Re: Should I learn Sanskrit or Hindi?

    Interesting map of geographical locations where Indian languages are spoken:


  8. #18
    Join Date
    July 2009
    Location
    Dublin, Ireland
    Age
    36
    Posts
    860
    Rep Power
    1516

    Re: Should I learn Sanskrit or Hindi?

    Cheers for the pic, Sahasranama! I had been looking all over for a chart or diagram indicating what language was spoken where in India. I assume the diagram is a rough guide as to what language is spoken in what state, and that there's a lot of crossover as to where one begins and one ends, but it's better than nothing.

    Om namah Shivaya
    "Watch your thoughts, they become words.
    Watch your words, they become actions.
    Watch your actions, they become habits.
    Watch your habits, they become your character.
    Watch your character, it becomes your destiny."

    ॐ गं गणपतये नमः
    Om Gam Ganapataye namah

    लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनो भवन्तु ।
    Lokaah SamastaaH Sukhino Bhavantu

  9. #19

    Re: Should I learn Sanskrit or Hindi?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ramakrishna View Post
    One of my friends is Irish, and he is taking it upon himself to learn how to speak Irish. He enjoys singing and is able to sing several songs in Irish. That got me thinking that I should start learning either Hindi or Sanskrit so I can sing some bhajans and aarti.

    However I am not sure which language I want to learn. I know that the Vedic hymns are in Sanskrit, but from what I've heard those are more like mantras that are to be chanted rather than actual songs that are to be sung. My favorite aarti that I would love to learn to sing is 'Om Jai Jagdish Hare'. It is in Hindi. I know that the two languages are very similar, as Hindi is based off of Sanskrit and the two languages have the same writing.

    I'm thinking that if I learn Sanskrit it would pretty much only be useful for the Vedic hymns. Meanwhile there are literally thousands of aarti and bhajan songs in Hindi. But then again, aren't the Vedic hymns the most sacred of all? Hindi would also help me out whenever I visit India, as Sanskrit is a dead language and is no longer spoken.

    I'm not really planning on doing an in depth study of the language and becoming fluent in it, although it would be great if one day I am. I'm just looking to learn the basics so I can sing some sacred hymns. So, which language should I learn?
    If you just want to able to communicate with Hindi speakers and learn few aarti and bhajans, you can just learn basic Hindi and practice with some Hindi speaker. If you are not in touch with any Hindi speaker you can take help of Hindi Interactive Audio Courses having Roman text as well as Hindi text with related pictures so that its easy to understand and learn to speak like Sunosunao Hindi learning site.

  10. #20
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Ann Arbor, Michigan
    Age
    37
    Posts
    3
    Rep Power
    0

    Re: Should I learn Sanskrit or Hindi?

    Does anyone have any recommendation on books that teach Hindi? Any sites that teach the basics also?

    Thanks

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 2 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 2 guests)

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •