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It's October and it's time for a new challenge. This time, I will learn a new language. Well, it's not really a new language. In fact, it is Gujarati, my mother tongue. Blush Blush. And well, I already know how to speak Gujarati. So where's the challenge...you ask, with your eye brows raised and some of your patience evaporated?
Ok, here's the thing. I know how to speak Gujarati. But loath be to say, I cannot read or write it. I am an illiterate Gujarati. In my childhood, I was so busy learning English and Hindi (and a bit of Arabic too coz I studied in Dubai), I just neglected Gujarati. And here I am now, writing blogs and shit but can't read diddly squat in my own mother tongue.
So what better time to remedy this situation than now? And what better approach to take than a 30-day-challenge? :-)
This is what I'm-a-gonna do. I'm-a-gonna search for some good sites that will teach me the basics of the gujarati alphabet and I will practice reading and writing everyday till I get better. I believe I can do this in 30 days because the gujarati script is very similar to Hindi which I already know.
By the end of this challenge I wish to be able to fluently read Gujarati articles and books and also write passable sentences.
So wish me luck, and as usual I will post all the necessary reference links and my feedback on the sites in case anybody else would like to try them out. I will also keep posting interesting tid bits about the Gujarati language and it's history so that you guys don't get bored with my A for Apple, B for Ball routine this month.
By the way, it is 2nd October today. Gandhi Jayenti (Mahatma Gandhi's birthday). What a way to spend his birthday...by learning his language.
Here's a little something to play with until we meet next time:
Consonants:
Vowels:
Numerals:
Sad joke: What language do carrots (gajar) speak? Gajarati! :-)
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