How to Use

Learning Hindi on Hindi From Scratch is simple: follow each day's instructions carefully. The most crucial part of your learning will always be input: reading, listening, watching, and absorbing as much Hindi as you can, consistently.

The first lessons are being written now. This page explains how they work, so you're ready for Day 1.

First, Learn to Read Devanagari

Hindi is written in Devanagari, the script of Sanskrit, Marathi and Nepali too. It looks new at first, but it's very regular: each letter has one sound, and words are mostly read the way they're written. Learn it before Day 1: every lesson is written in Devanagari, and most people can sound out simple words after a few days of practice. A few things are worth knowing:

• Every consonant carries a short "a" until something changes it: क is "ka" and म is "ma". The line along the top joins the letters of a word.
• A vowel after a consonant is a small sign written beside it, above it or below it: का "kaa", की "kee", कु "ku", के "ke", को "ko". The sign of the short "i" comes first but is said after the consonant: कि is "ki". At the start of a word a vowel has a letter of its own, as in आम ("mango") and एक ("one").
• The short "a" at the end of a word, and often in the middle, isn't said: नाम ("name") is "naam", and कमरा ("room") is "kamra", not "kamara".
• Two consonants with no vowel between them join into one shape, like the स्त ("st") of नमस्ते. A dot or a little moon above a letter makes its vowel nasal, as in हाँ ("yes") and में ("in"); a dot below one marks a sound from Persian or English: ज़ is "z" and फ़ is "f".
• Hindi tells apart sounds English doesn't: प "p" and फ "ph", said with a puff of air, make पल ("moment") and फल ("fruit"); and त (the tongue on the teeth) is a different sound from ट (the tongue curled back). That's one more reason to learn by listening.

Lessons will also be able to show each line in Latin letters (Romanization, for example namaste for नमस्ते). Use it to check how a line sounds, not to read instead of Devanagari: the sooner you read Devanagari, the faster you'll go.

Why Input Matters Most

Traditional language learning tries to make you speak before you're ready, forcing you to memorize grammar rules or drill vocabulary out of context.

But when you're pushed to speak too early, you're often just guessing, making mistakes, and creating bad habits. Instead, our method emphasizes constant exposure to natural, understandable Hindi, similar to how children learn their first language.

Required Reading: Input - what it is and why you need it

Daily Lessons: How to Use Them

Each day's lesson comes with clear instructions: simply follow along step by step. If you've comfortably finished a day's content, it's perfectly fine to continue to the next lesson. But don't rush, and take breaks if you're tired. Enjoying the process is crucial; if you don't, burnout is inevitable.

Using a Lesson Page

Every lesson is one short conversation, in a few numbered steps. Press Play all to hear it from start to finish, or the round button next to a line to hear just that line. The line being played is highlighted, so your eyes can follow along. Each speaker has a voice of their own. The Options button next to Play all holds these settings, and the page remembers them for every lesson:

• Play each line once, twice or three times in a row.
• Speed slows the audio down to 0.8× or 0.6× without changing the voice.
• Hide the English leaves the translations blank so you can test yourself. Tap where a line's English was to peek at it.
• Word cards: point at any word of a Hindi line (or tap it) to see what it means.
• Listen only hides all the text, for pure listening.

On a computer, the keyboard works too: R plays or pauses the whole dialogue, 1 to 9 play a line, E hides or shows the English, and the ← → arrows go to the previous or next day.

When you've finished a lesson, press Done, on to the next day: it takes you to the next one and, with a free account, marks the day done, so the course page and the menu show where you left off. If you spot a mistake in a line, press Spotted a mistake? under the dialogue, choose the line and tell us what's wrong.

Saving Your Progress

You don't need an account to learn: every lesson is open to everyone. To keep track of your progress, create a free account with your email address. Every day you finish is then saved to your account, and the course page and the menu show where you left off. Log in on your phone, another computer or a new browser, and you pick up where you left off there too.

Without an account, nothing about your progress is kept. If you marked days done in this browser before progress moved to accounts, they're still here, waiting: create an account or log in on this browser and they go into it. Your account holds only your email address and the lessons you've marked done, and you can delete it any time from its page.

आप, तुम and तू Are Part of Every Lesson

Hindi has three words for "you". आप is the polite one, for strangers, older people, customers, teachers and bosses, and for anyone you want to show respect; तुम is for friends, people your own age and younger family members; तू, the closest of all, is for very close friends and small children, and sounds rude to anyone else. The verb changes with each: आप कैसे हैं?, तुम कैसे हो? and तू कैसा है? all mean "How are you?". Use the wrong one and you sound rude, or oddly distant.

With आप often comes जी after a name or a title, as in शर्मा जी, and people call someone older they don't know भैया ("brother"), दीदी ("sister"), अंकल or आंटी. Verbs also change with who is speaking: a man says मैं जा रहा हूँ ("I'm going") and a woman मैं जा रही हूँ. You'll hear both in almost every lesson, so they soon sound natural.

You don't need to study the rules. Each lesson's situation says who the speakers are and how they know each other, and across the course you meet every combination: women and men, students and teachers, parents and grandparents, bosses, customers and old friends. Notice how they speak to each other, and the right words will start to feel natural.

Maximizing Your Input

Your goal is simple: get as much input as possible. This doesn't mean just focused study; it means immersing yourself in Hindi as often as you can, even passively. Listen to Hindi podcasts, YouTube videos, films, series or songs while you walk, exercise, cook, or commute. Real Hindi is often fast, with words running into each other: that's normal, and the more you hear it, the more of it you'll follow.

AJATT famously emphasizes this: passive listening helps your brain get accustomed to Hindi sounds, making the language feel natural over time.

Enjoy the Process and Avoid Burnout

Learning a language should be enjoyable. If you're feeling exhausted, slow down. Remember, this isn't just about learning Hindi; it's about getting used to Hindi. Meeting Hindi every day, even passively, makes it part of your daily life. Eventually, it becomes natural, comfortable, and even part of your identity.

If you consistently engage with the language through input, you'll soon find yourself thinking in Hindi. When you've had enough exposure, the desire to speak will naturally emerge, and you won't need to force it. It'll come as naturally as breathing.

Don't Give Up: We're Always Here

Learning Hindi is a journey, not a race. If life gets in the way and you take a break, that's fine. We'll always be here. Simply come back whenever you're ready, pick up exactly where you left off, and keep going.

Trust the process, keep reading and listening, keep reviewing, and above all, enjoy yourself. Hindi will become a natural part of your life before you know it.