I have been living in Bangalore for 6 years now. Though, I am able to manage in Hindi and English; I always wanted to learn Kannada. For most of the ladies in my age group within my community, the language of communication is mostly English and sometimes Hindi. Ours is a vibrant community where a lot of languages are spoken as mother tongues, but the language of conversation amongst us and even among children is English. What that has deprived me of is of picking up Kannada by hearing it all around me. That has not happened. My only communication in Kannada has been with my maid. And, I will credit her with my small vocabulary of Kannada words. Also, since Kannada and Hindi have many Sanskrit words in common, that adds to my vocabulary.
I have been trying very hard to find teachers who could come and teach us Kannada, but that has not materialized till two weeks back. Now, a lady within the layout, offered to teach us Kannada. We are a group of a dozen ladies, with some aunties thrown in — Hindi, Telugu and Tamil speaking, who are trying our hand at learning Kannada.
We have had only 4 classes this far. We are learning the script as well as spoken words. I am really enjoying my classes, and I am eagerly awaiting the day when I would be able to converse fluently in Kannada.
Often, people mistake the inability to learn a language as a lack of desire to do so. Trust me, most of us who stay here genuinely want to learn the language but had no way of doing that. As I explained earlier, we hardly get to hear the language around us. So, I would request all those who sneer at poor souls like us to not discount the genuine desire to learn another language, but attribute it to the lack of opportunity to do so.
great… atleat you have found a teacher… I am also trying desparately to learn marathi and picking up a words or two … let’s see where it goes because my only exposure to marathi is my maid and the vegetable vendor.. 🙂
Best of luck!!
i have hrd that Kannadigas are very pissed off wwith non kannadigas…so its good i guess
Besides u r telugu rite? doesnt Kannada and telugu hv some similarity
hey u put kerala’s pic in the blog header
🙂 just like there are people who haven’t had the opportunity to learn,
there are people who have less ability to learn languages..
when it comes to new languages, i think even if learn phrases, instead of the whole deal, its great:)
@jaanvi If you are fluent in Hindi, then Marathi, trust me, is much easier to learn. You could make do by buying books and learning. Hope you find an avenue soon.
@Bhagyashree Thanks! I need it. Kannada is pretty tough to learn 🙂
@Jon I don’t care whether someone is pissed or not. I want to learn a language because it is required to communicate with a common person on the street. By staying pissed or becoming jingoistic, one does not further the cause of one’s language for sure.
And, I am not telugu. I am Hindi speaking brought up in Mumbai. So, Kannada script as well as language is very difficult for me.
And, this header pic is not Kerala, it is Ratnagiri in Maharashtra. This pic is courtesy a friend :).
@wise donkey I belong to the category, you mentioned. I take very very long to pick up a language. If left to learn on my own, I think even a lifetime might be less :).
hey thats a nice decision..learning a new lang is alws an advantage…moreover i think learning Kananda is little simpler than learning any other lang from south….one line i kn is- utta madbiko…..learnt this or nt as yet….??:)
and all the best…do share some good statements with us..
Yes rohini, I agree. I feel telugu and kannada might be easier than tamil and malayalam for sure. So, you are right there :). Oh yes, oota madtini and oota maad beku, I had picked up long back. That way, I have a small repertoire of Kannada phrases. Sure, I will share some as we go along :). Thanks for the encouragement.
For me, inspite of having knowledge of most of the south indian languages, I felt malayalam could be very hard but, during my post graduation years most of my best friends were from Kerala. In the 2 years I had almost started talking a little in Malayalam. I visited a few places there and it was so much fun. But now after not having had the opportunity to speak of word of it in 15 years..I’m back to where I was. Except for the attitude that it can be learnt.
@gayatri Didi maybe, you are good at picking up a language. I taught for a year at a school here, and all my fellow teachers were malayalees. I heard a lot of Malayalam for a year around me, yet (sheepish), I could not pick up a word. It was so far removed from my comprehension. Maybe, I am just slow in picking up a language.
Rachna, I L-O-V-E your new header — so so so beautiful!!
And I’d love to speak Hindi and Kannada 🙂
Learning a new language sounds very interesting. I learned a little French while in school but thats about it! My children had Spanish lessons in our school system for many years.
@Agnes Thanks so much! Wow, that’s a tall order for you 🙂
@Cheryl Yes, it sure is interesting! I studied French in school too, but the pronunciations are so tough. At least, it helps me in pronouncing so many French phases which are commonly used in English.
If interested, try to read some Kannada in my blog.
Good to know that you are keen to learn Kannada. If you need any help, do not hesitate to write back.
All the very best! :o)
Thanks Prashanth. I will visit your blog and take up your offer of help.
You are most welcome, Rachna.
i hate reading, but i have to learn kannada, i will be moving to karnataka in a few months, thought of learning the language online, but i am afraid, i will not be able to do that. i have to follow your method
My situation is the same, but I am trying to learn czech here 🙂
all the best 🙂