Learning Nepali

I have been booked in for 3 two-hour sessions in order to learn Nepali. I don’t suppose that is too much to expect!

I have always had difficulty remembering people’s names. I have tried the trick of associating the person’s name with something that might help me recall the name. But then I have trouble remembering what the memory jogger is.

Learning Nepali is causing me similar headaches. It is not like learning another European language. Because there is rarely any similarity between the English word and its Nepali counterpart. 

Fortunately, the first lesson involved introducing myself; and the Nepali word for name is naam. That should be easy.

Mero naam Douglas ho =  My name is Douglas 

However, things got a bit tricky when I had to ask what your name is:

Tapaai:ko naam ke ho?

I am trying to learn how to say that I like chocolate very much:

Malaai chocolate ekdam man parcha

... but it may be more useful for me to admit that “I don’t know” whenever I am asked something in Nepali:

Malaai thaahaa chhaina!

Anyway, here is a photo that I took of the whiteboard during my first lesson. Let me know if you are interested and I will send you some more.

It is one thing to know how to ask a question in a foreign language. But the real problem is being able to understand the answer! There is not much to be gained from asking how much the carrots cost (Gaajar kiloko kati ho?) if you haven’t already learned numbers.

... and what about asking for road directions? I have never been able to see the point in asking that question ... unless you already have a good understanding of the language.

I think I will book myself another 3 lessons. I don’t want to get lost anywhere.