Pronounciation

I was having trouble with the first lesson, I have remembered mostly everything such as Namaskar, kasay hey op, kasee hey op, donyavad, achee hoo, achii hoo, but the one thing I had trouble with was pronouncing bahuth achChaa - Good job in the audio it sounds like he's saying "ball da cha" but it looks like it would be "bahutha cha" can anyone help with pronounciation?

Try this... ba-hut-a-cha ( at least this is how it sounds to me, he just says it faster ). Hope this helps.

Learn the hindi script, and learn what each character sounds like. I put this off, since its rather boring writing pages of the same character over and over again... BUT it will help so much! I dont need the transcript anymore, I can read hindi script just as fast as romanized letters, and get the pronounciation right, even though I didnt hear the word previously! If you are just starting out, dont give up! The hardest part is the start! Once you get a basic understanding of the language and how it forms, you will find it very simple! For me to understand the language and such, I needed to understand how things worked, not simply memorizing lines after lines. I have a million different resources now that help, sources that are based purly on grammar and others on vocab. Above all, bombard yourself with audio and visuals to begin with! Your brain will start to make the connections it needs to start to collect the information and store it, exposure is the key!

I agree with Nathan! Learn the script. Erica (The gal at the beginning of each lesson) said that for non-native speakers, the toughest thing is learning to distinguish individual words. So true! So, when you listen to the audio while following the Hindi script, you'll reinforce both. There are a lot f letter charts out there on the net. FInd one you like and practice just a little each day, and you'll get the sounds down quick. I don't think I'm as fast as Nathan, but I'm getting there!

Even though I am not learning Hindi yet. When I am learning Korean sometimes I can't pronounce the words right. So when I learn Hangeul ( Korean Writing) I can know the pronounce the words correctly. And I have only learn Korean for 2 days I know a lot. And plus I agree with what Nathan.

it's nice to hear I'm not the only one with the same problem (same words even). At least I have lots of co-workers that speak Hindi. I fight getting embarrassed when I do not pronounce words correctly. so I should work on the script....challenging. I learned the Korean alphabet in a couple of days, Devanagari looks imtimidating.

Another key thing I have learned, and this is where learning the script is so important, is where to place the accent on the word. For instance, Rice is, romanized, "chaval" I was saying "cha-VAL" like you might accent a Spanish word. Then a native speaker pointed out it's "CHA-val" I asked how do I know where to place the accent? He said a rule of thumb is to see where an actual vowel is placed - that would be the accented syllable. So, Chaval is spelled (in Hindi script), CH - A (vowel mark) - V - L. CHAVL. Since the vowel is implied between the V and the L, it is very short and not accented. The "A" vowel letter is accented. You don't really get the sense of the accent when you simply read chaval in romanized characters. Hope this isn't to technical. It has really helped my pronunciation!

i just have a good memory.