Hindi learning FAQ

Moderately. For an English speaker it takes real time — the US Foreign Service Institute groups it with the harder languages — but nothing about it is unfair. The script is regular, the sounds are learnable, and the grammar has few surprises once you meet its patterns. See how long Hindi really takes and try the time planner to turn your weekly hours into a realistic timeline.

Not to begin speaking, but for reading and for independent learning it is the single biggest unlock, and it is far more regular than English spelling. If you only want to speak, romanisation is a legitimate route — here is the honest trade-off. When you are ready, print the Devanagari chart and click through the alphabet explorer.

Follow a path rather than collecting random pages. The learning paths order the steps — alphabet first, then greetings and numbers, then sentence patterns — and the alphabet guide covers the first milestone in one sitting. Bookmark the materials you will want to pin up as you go.

With a tutor and a few hours a week, most learners manage simple conversations — introductions, ordering, directions — within a couple of months. There is no honest fixed number, which is why the time planner asks for your real hours instead of promising a date.

Yes, and there is no account. Every material is a page you can read in the browser or print to PDF with the browser's own print button — nothing to download and no email wall. The same goes for every tool.

Different tools for different stages: the 100 essential words to know what to learn first, the vocabulary explorer to search by situation, and flashcards for spaced repetition, which is what actually makes words stick.

Partially. You can shadow audio, record yourself and narrate your day — these techniques work — but nothing corrects a sound the way a person does. When you want that, a tutor is the step up, and the speaking lab bridges the gap in between.

One-to-one video lessons with native-speaking tutors, typically from about $6 an hour, booked through each tutor's page. Times, prices and the tutor's own description are on the find a tutor page and on every tutor profile.

Yes — EkGuru tutors are native Hindi speakers, and the point of a lesson is speaking and being corrected, not watching slides. The free guides give you the material; the lesson gives you the feedback.

Many tutors offer a trial, but terms differ per tutor, so check the tutor's own page before booking rather than assuming. There is no automatic free trial across the whole site.

Two quick checks: the placement check (twelve questions) and the self-assessment. Both are rough guides, not certificates — they exist to tell you where to start, not to score you.

Spaced repetition, and using the word in a sentence you made yourself. The flashcards handle the spacing, and the review lab queues up exactly the items you have been getting wrong.

Notice what you can now do that you could not do last month — read a sign, understand a greeting at full speed, finish a sentence without stalling. The practice labs track your right/wrong rate per area so you can see which skills are firming up and which are wobbling.

No app and no account. Every tool, material and guide runs in your browser, and progress is kept in your own browser's storage. You can start at the free guides right now.

Apps are excellent for vocabulary and daily streaks; a tutor is what gets you speaking and corrected. EkGuru pairs free self-study material (guides, tools, practice labs) with one-to-one lessons, and is honest about which part does what — see the cheapest way to learn Hindi for the straight version.

Tell us through the contact form — pick the "Hindi spelling looks wrong" topic and name the page. Hand-typed Devanagari goes wrong in small ways and a native speaker's eye is worth more than our proofreading; corrections land in the next build.