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What a real conversation needs that a phrasebook cannot give you, and how to survive your first one.
A phrasebook prepares you for the half of a conversation you say. It does nothing for the half that comes back, which arrives fast, in an accent, from someone who is not being careful for you.
The skill that makes conversation possible is not vocabulary. It is the ability to keep going while not understanding. Four sentences do most of that work, and they should be automatic before your first real conversation: मुझे समझ नहीं आया (I did not understand), ज़रा धीरे बोलिए (please speak slowly), फिर से कहिए (say it again), and इसे हिंदी में क्या कहते हैं? (how do you say this in Hindi?). Say them in Hindi. The moment you apologise in English, the conversation switches to English and does not switch back.
The second skill is having something to say. Prepare sixty seconds about yourself — where you are from, what you do, why you are learning — and rehearse it until it comes out without assembly. Then prepare questions, because a conversation you cannot continue is a monologue.
Expect to be answered in English, particularly if you look foreign. It is not rudeness; it is helpfulness. Saying मैं हिंदी सीख रहा हूँ, हिंदी में बोलिए usually works.
| English | Hindi | Sounds like |
|---|---|---|
| My name is … | मेरा नाम … है | mera naam … hai |
| What is your name? | आपका नाम क्या है? | aapka naam kya hai |
| I am from … | मैं … से हूँ | main … se hoon |
| Where are you from? | आप कहाँ से हैं? | aap kahaan se hain |
| Nice to meet you | आपसे मिलकर अच्छा लगा | aapse milkar achchha laga |
| I am learning Hindi | मैं हिंदी सीख रहा हूँ | main hindi seekh raha hoon |
| I speak a little Hindi | मैं थोड़ी हिंदी बोलता हूँ | main thodi hindi bolta hoon |
| I don't understand | मुझे समझ नहीं आया | mujhe samajh nahin aaya |
| Please speak slowly | ज़रा धीरे बोलिए | zara dheere boliye |
| Say it again, please | फिर से कहिए | phir se kahiye |
| Do you speak English? | क्या आप अंग्रेज़ी बोलते हैं? | kya aap angrezi bolte hain |
| What does this mean? | इसका क्या मतलब है? | iska kya matlab hai |
Devanagari is easy to get slightly wrong when it is typed by hand — a missing matra, the wrong nukta. If something here looks off to you, trust a native speaker over this page and please tell us so it gets fixed — it takes a moment and a real person reads it. Romanised spellings are a guide to the sound, not a standard: there is no single official way to write Hindi in Latin letters.
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