Les Langues De l’Inde An Introduction to India and the Indian Languages As They Relate to France and the French Language Taj MahalLa Tour Eiffel

Où Est l’Inde dans le Monde? Click Map to Enlarge Question: Do you know on which continent India is located? Réponse: ? (Click here to see a map of Asia.) Crédit Supplémentaire: Do you remember on which continent France is located? Réponse: ?

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Où Est l’Inde dans le Monde? Question: What countries border India? Click map to enlarge. Réponse: ? Crédit Supplémentaire: Do you remember what countries border France? Réponse: ?

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Où Est l’Inde dans le Monde? Question: What bodies of water border India? (Click here to see the map of India again.) Réponse: ? Crédit Supplémentaire: Do you remember what bodies of water border France? Réponse: ?

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Les Langues de l’Inde Question: What are the languages of India? Question: Do you know which 2 languages are the official languages? Réponse: There are more than 20 recognized languages in India of which 2 are used for official government business. (Click here to see a map of where languages are spoken in India.)

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Vous Vous Rappelez? The official languages of India are ? & ?. Réponse: ? (Click here for an explanation) Question: What is the official language of the United States of America? Réponse: ? Crédit Supplémentaire: What is the official language of France?

La Langue Nationale des Etats Unis. The United States of America does not have an official language, but it does have a national language. It is English. A national language is one that represents the identity of the country through some time of association and it is used in political and legal situations. Click Here to Return to Previous Page Réponse: ? Question: When did English come to be associated with the United States of America and therefore used as the national language?

L’anglais en Inde One of the 2 most important languages in India is English. Question: Why is this so? How did English become a part of Indian culture?

L’anglais en Inde English became a part of Indian culture when the British colonized the land about 200 years ago. English is ranked 2 nd on the list of the most widely spoken languages in the world. Did you know that India has the highest number of English speaking people in the world? English is used not only by many citizens of India, but also by the Indian Parliament, Supreme Court, as well as in the Union Government. (Click on each underlined phrase for a description.) Indian ParliamentSupreme CourtUnion Government

Parlement de l’Inde Indian Parliament consists of 2 parts, the federal and supreme legislative bodies.Indian Parliament They are called Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.Lok Sabha Rajya Sabha These are similar to the House of Representatives and Congress here in the United States. (For more detailed information, click the underlined words.) Click to Return to Previous Slide

La République de l’Inde The Union Government, or the Republic of India, is similar to our federal government in that it is comprised of smaller pieces.Union Government While the United States of America has 50 states, India has 28 states and 7 union territories. Click to Return to Previous Slide

Le Cour Suprême de l’Inde The Supreme Court of India is the highest court of the land and it handles mainly appeals from the lower courts.Supreme Court of India This is similar the the Supreme court of the United States. Click to Return to Previous Slide

Le hindi en Inde The Hindi language derives from a classical language called Sanskrit. While Sanskrit is still used today, Hindi is more widely used in India.HindiSanskrit Hindi is typically written using the Devanagari script.Devanagari Hindi is one the most widely used languages in the world today. It ranks in the 6 th position for the most widely spoken language in the world. Hindi is spoken by about 40% of the people in India. Just like English, Hindi is also used in the Indian Parliament, the Supreme Court of India, and the Union Government.Indian Parliament Supreme Court of IndiaUnion Government

L’alphabet hindi There are roughly 44 characters in the Hindi alphabet. There are about 11 vowels and 33 consonants. The number of letters depends upon the dialect used. (Click here to see a picture of an original Hindi alphabet chart.)Hindi alphabet (Click here to see a picture of an original Hindi alphabet chart.) Réponse: ? Question: How many letters are in the French alphabet? How many vowels and consonants?

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L’alphabet hindi Each letter in the Hindi alphabet has its own unique sound. The language is almost entirely phonetic, in other words it is pronounced as it is seen and every word can be pronounced only one way. Many words are guttural in sound. This means it comes from the throat. To hear Hindi spoken, click the button to listen to the National Anthem of India, Vande Mataram: Question: How does all this compare to the French language? What do you think?

Les Mots Relatifs Question: What is a cognate?cognate Question: Do you remember any French cognates? Réponse: ???

Les Mots Relatifs dans le hindi le mot dans le hindile mot en anglais chitacheetah dingidinghy dungridungaree jangaljungle pajamapajamas

Vous Vous Rappelez? Question: Comment dit-on ‘hello’ en français? Maintenant dans le hindi……………… Réponse: ? Question: Comment dit-on ‘my name is …’ en français? Réponse: ?, ?

Parlons hindi! Bonjour Word: Pronunciation: Nah-mah-STAY Je m’appelle Word: Pronunciation: MEH-ra nahm

Plus de Mots dans le hindi

Plus de hindi The following link demonstrates the construction of the hindi letters and numbers in devanagari script, the pronunciation of each letter and number, examples of words with their pronunciation, and practice tests to monitor your progress in learning the Hindi alphabet and numbers. The following site was designed to teach elementary school material to Indian children. It offers the alphabet and some vocabulary words. There are links to books you can download to learn the alphabet, formation of letters, and the pronunciation of the letters. Search around the site as it offers many interesting options.

Fin! References Created by Julie Kunzelman for EDU 553 Summer 2007

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