Reading Hindi - Pronunciation Help

My attempt at reading a passage from my Hindi class. I'm a student at the University of Toronto and I'm in my first year of Hindi. Unofficially, though, I've been playing around with the language for three years or so, on and off. I try and watch serials (Mahabharat and Ramayan), movies and whatever else I can get my hands on. I also am using Usha Jain's workbooks alongside the occasional reference to Teach Yourself.

I'm uploading this video with the hope that native speakers can help correct my accent. Please point out my mistakes! I'm aware that I sometimes screw up aspiration (ध instead of द, for example), and that my aspiration is also a bit too exaggerated sometimes. I also think that I sometimes say हैं instead of है and vice-versa. There's probably tons more that I'm not aware of, so any input is welcome!

Script:

मेरा नाम सनी है । आज मेरा जन्मदिन है । शाम को हमारे घर पर एक पार्टी है । घर में सब लोग बहुत ख़ुश हैं । मम्मी बहुत सारी मिठाइयाँ बना रही हैं । मेरी दादी मेरे लिए केक बना रही हैं । मैं नए कपड़े पहनूँगा । मेरे दोस्त भी पार्टी में आएँगे । मेरी प्रिय दोस्त अंजू भी आएगी । मुझे अंजू बहुत अच्छी लगती है । वह बहुत सुन्दर और होशियार है । वह मेरे लिए एक अच्छा-सा तोहफ़ा लाएगी । मेरे दोस्त भी मेरे लिए तोहफ़े लाएँगे । हम सब नाचेंगे, गाएँगे और बातें करेंगे ।

मैं बड़ा होकर अंजू से शादी करूँगा । हनीमून के लिए हम हवाई जाएँगे । हमारे भी बच्चे होंगे । उनके जन्मदिन पर हमारे घर पार्टी होगी । लेकिन अंजू को मिठाई बनानी नहीं आती । कोई बात नहीं, मैं बाज़ार से ले आऊँगा । बच्चों के लिए नए कपड़े भी ख़रीदेंगे । लेकिन पैसे कहाँ से आएँगे ! मैं काम करूँगा । पर मुझे काम कौन देगा, मैं पढ़ने में तो बिल्कुल अच्छा नहीं हूँ । मैं क्या करुँ ? मुझे पढ़ना बिल्कुल पसन्द नहीं । हमेशा खेलना अच्छा लगता है । अंजू तो बहुत पढ़ती है । वह काम करेगी । पर बच्चे कहेंगे कि मम्मी होशियार हैं और पापा... नहीं नहीं, ऐसा नहीं होगा । मैं आज से बहुत पढ़ूँगा और एक दिन बड़ा आदमी बन कर बहुत पैसे कमाऊँगा । मेरे जन्मदिन का शायद यही सबसे अच्छा तोहफ़ा है ।

Category:

Education

Tags:

• hindi
• urdu
• india
• school
• language
• class
• pronunciation
• pakistan

[thegreatestking01]

oh lol wow i just noticed this video is 2 years old. lol i bet आप अब स्पष्ट बोल रहे हैं . i really am looking forward to more of ur videos.

[ihaveacomputer]

@thegreatestking01 हाँ, काफ़ी पुराना है! ‏‏शर्म आ रही है... इस विडियो में मैं बच्चे जैसा बोलता हूँ, हाहाहा... और यह कहानी आपनी प्रोफैसर की है, मेरी नहीं ;)

[thegreatestking01]

@ihaveacomputer **apni, where'd u get that hindi keyboard? lol it took me soo much time to go to google translate and translate what lil hindi i wrote

[ihaveacomputer]

@thegreatestking01 Ackk, not even *apni, it should be *meri, right? Whoops. I'm uploading a video today on typing in Hindi/Punjabi/Urdu. Check it out.

[reck1ess77]

ehehehhe

u sound hot speaking Hindi :)

[joi23489]

I really admire your determination to learn such a beautiful language. You sound like a native speaker to me.

[Wawoify]

I envy you soooo much, I'm an Australian trying to learn hindi and its near impossible here there are no resources for us...

[bebzelle]

ur sound like a punjabi speaking hindi. u sound masculine, hindus dont like you when speaking punjabi.

[LaylaSpeaks]

Woww!!

[maajs1]

bless the kids got his whole life planned out!

[Bombatron]

Absolutely inspiring; kudos to you bro!

[ihaveacomputer]

@Chocosha Thanks for the input! This is actually quite an old video, but some of what you've pointed out still applies - I still occasionally mix up aspiration (adding an extra puff of air, like "t" vs. "th" and "p" vs. "ph") when nervous or tired. The "dh" in Parhai is ढ़, which is probably the one sound which still sometimes causes me to screw up aspiration in surrounding characters. Check out my newer Hindi video for an update on my pronunciation... Defined primarily by new Punjabi influence!

[Chocosha]

@Chocosha You may have confused the "p" for "ph" because they look similar...so long as I remember.

Great job overall though! You certainly have mastered most sounds even native speakers struggle at producing!

[Chocosha]

Couple pointers:

Dadi -- pronounced as Daadi

I think you might be mistaking the "d" sound for "dh" in padhai. Your tongue should be touching the back side of your upper front teeth in this case. I am no linguist...I could be wrong but the variant of "dh" here is def not as prominent as "doodh" (milk).

I also find that you tense up when pronouncing "ph" (topha) thereby emphasizing the "th" instead of the "ph" (thofha). Similarly "padhai" vs. what you once pronounced "phadhai".

[angadsinghmahal]

u have a punjabi accent in ur hindi(like every true punjabi LOL)

[1988ruchika]

wow!!!!!! unbelievable..........you r speaking really good. hope to see ur more videos soon with more improvement . but u r doing a great job!!!!! keep it up