Interview with Dr. Rupert Snell
The first “learn Hindi” type book that I got which I was able to effectively learn something from was Dr. Snell’s Teach Yourself Hindi. I am still learning from that course.
Just a few months ago, I got “Hindi Conversation” a audio only course that was also created by Dr. Snell. I have really gotten a lot out of that program as well. I plan to do a review on this course soon.
It had been my dream to someday meet Dr. Snell, but I always imagine it happening in London. That is where he had been teaching for so long. Out of curiosity, I decided to find out exactly where he was located, and what I found surprised me. He was at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas. Which is a wonderful thing because I live in Houston, Texas which is only a 3 hour drive away. At the University of Texas, he help to create the Hindi Urdu Flagship program.
I posted the raw unedited version of the interview. I started to edit it, but ultimately decided the raw recording was the way to go since it captured more of the moment.
In the interview, we cover many topics including:
1) How Dr. Snell came to know, study, and teach Hindi.
2) Ideas on learning a second language. One idea that we touched on was drilling and creating a vast set of small variations around a grammar or vocabulary lesson. You will see this incorporated in ISpeakHindi next month… so get ready to drill, drill, drill 
3) Hindi Urdu Flagship program.
And several other topics… I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I do… I found the interview to be very motivating to make me learn more Hindi and to improve the program.
You should see some of Dr. Snell’s other books:
premasru said,
September 4, 2008 @ 11:00 pm
Oh this is terrific! Fantastic actually. I’m so pleased you have met up with Dr Rupert Snell. This is much more than I could possibly have hoped for. I bought the book, Teach Yourself Hindi last year and was positively in love with it for months. Finally a bright, intelligent Westerner with a scholarly approach and deep understanding of how to teach Hindi, had arrived. Previously I’d bought a few books on learning Hindi written by Indians, but they didn’t have a very good grasp of English. So far I haven’t been able to get the CD that goes along with the book. I don’t know if it is available here in Bhubaneswar, Orissa. Also, thank you for including the photo of two very handsome gentlemen. I had to leave the study of Hindi for a few months even though I’ve been downloading the podcast every day. Nathan, I’m very happy that this website and learning Hindi is coming together for you, and for us.
Oh yes, and the other thing is, I’ve always felt that the only way I’m going to learn is to drill, drill, drill, so, I was very happy to hear you talk about that coming up.
Brian Barker said,
September 5, 2008 @ 10:59 am
As far as learning another language is concerned, can I put in a word for Esperanto, as well?
I know that Esperanto is a living language, but it has great propaedeutic values as well.
Confirmation can be seen at http://www.lernu.net
sham said,
September 7, 2008 @ 8:00 am
awesome interview! i loved it!
i’d like to know one thing though - if you’re learning hindi , for purely conversational purposes , to be able to understand regular movies ( not the historical ones with difficult language) , do you need to learn the script?
admin said,
September 8, 2008 @ 4:58 am
It is possible to learn a lot of Hindi without learning the script. But there will be times when you will want to make notes or perhaps look something up in the dictionary. It would really help to know the script then. The script does appear to be very complicated. But if you learn just a little at a time, maybe a letter a day, then you will become comfortable with it fairly quickly.
Anshu Jain said,
September 14, 2008 @ 4:58 pm
You are doing a good job Nathan. A great interview too. Thansk. I tell my students to listen to your podcasts daily to get listening practice.
Keep up the good work.
Anshu Jain
Hindi Learning Center
http://www.ilearnhindi.org
marged said,
September 22, 2008 @ 3:43 am
Hi Nathan!
This interview was great, I really enjoyed it and was even inspired to buy the ‘Conversational Hindi’ I didn’t have. Your effort is very appreciated and I think your Hindi is also improving! I’m also organizing a free Hindi learning source and I hope I will be constantly inspired just like you all… take care!
marged said,
September 22, 2008 @ 3:49 am
I also wanted to add my opinion about the alphabet… I think it’s good to have both a hearing and a reading/writing approach to a language such as Hindi, as it will develop different aspects of the learning process and will help you understand better new words and look into a dictionary! Learning an alphabet is also very good for improving one’s pronunciation and it’s actually fun. What I advise as a Westerner who learnt Hindi, is to avoid using transcription and connect the devanagari symbols to sounds right away.
Stephanie said,
October 1, 2008 @ 8:21 pm
I just stumbled across this blog tonight while trying to find additional resources in Houston, Texas. I have to agree about avoiding transcriptions. I mean, how do you learn a first language, when you don’t know one to start with? It’s not like you can pull up a language from a previous life and go, “Oh, okay, I know what that is! Got it!” I find myself rejecting the transcription method and preferring to read the hindi word itself, as I get a clearer “sound picture” of that word, if you will.
I am profoundly deaf, and the way I was taught to learn to speak (I didn’t learn to speak and read/write until after I was 7 years old, and I didn’t learn my alphabet order until I was about 12 or so!) was through speech therapy and learning blocks of words at a time. Trust me, it wasn’t easy. I was finally corrected to say “groceries” instead of “grogeries” when I was about 11! I just apply those skills when learning new sounds and words. I also have experience with using IPA dictionaries, which helps tremendously in breaking the sounds down.
So, yes, it helps to connect the sounds directly with the letters. Think about numbers. So many people think like this “ek (means one), do (two), teen (three),” They’re translating the whole time! When you’re counting in your native language, how do you understand what you’re saying? All you can do is hold up your fingers! Repetition and variations of a lesson is very important for reaching a point where you think of something, and you say it out naturally, like it’s second-nature without having to translate.
I Speak Hindi » Where is my Hindi lesson? said,
October 5, 2008 @ 9:06 pm
[...] a lot of the ideas that I got from Dr. Rupert Snell. (I actually got a chance to meet him and interview Dr. Snell. ) You can also read the thoughts I have on how I plan to improve the program and the ideas for [...]
Clara said,
October 22, 2008 @ 5:06 pm
I am so pleased with the interview. English is my second language and since I married an Indian guy, I am trying to learn Hindi (as my third language) to be able to speak with my in-laws. Rupert Snell is very good, infact I bought two of his books and CDs. With the help of my husband, I am pleased with my progress. Good luck with your site… I will add this as one of my favorites