My experiences in learning the Nepali language (translation below).

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Thake ek barsa agadi, mero pariwar ra ma Nepal ma aaye…

Mero naam Nita ho. Ma North Carolina, United States of America badaa aeko. Mero pariwaar maa, paach janaa chha. Mero srimaan ko naam Prakash ho. Wahaa ICIMOD maa, scientist ko kaam garnu hunchha. Mero chori ko naam Janani ho. U paach class maa padhchha. Mero thulo chora ko naam Sajjan ho. U theen class maa padchha. Mero saano chora ko naam Sumanth ho. U ek class maa padchha. Sab bachhaa British School ma padchha.

Ek mahinaa Nepal aaye pachi, ma Nepali bhasha shikna suru gare. Dui janaa saathi-le, dui janaa shikshak ko laagi salaa dinu bhayo. Mero bichaar maa, ma eutaa class pahilaa shikshak sanga garchhu ra eutaa class dosro shikshak sanga garchhu ra ma-laai kun man parchha, wahaa sanga ma sadaai shikchhu. Tara, dubai shikshak dhere raamro thiyo thyesaile, ma dubai sanga Nepali bhasha shike!

Mero pahilaa shikshak ko naam Raju ho. Wahaa ko puraa kaam, bhasha shikaaune ho ra wahaa ko ghar bhitra, euta classroom chha. Raju ko ghar ra mero ghar dhere najike chha, paach minute hidera lagchha, theti. Asti, wahaa ko srimati, Prabina, pani class maa aaunu bhayo bhasha-shikaaunu shiknu ko laagi. Hamro theen-jaana ko class dhere ramailo thiyo! Raju dhere raamro chha grammar, verb conjugation ra pronunciation maa.

Mero dosro shikshak ko naam Deepa ho. Wahaa ko puraa kaam pani bhasha shikaaunu hunchha. Class ko laagi, Deepa mero ghar maa aaunu bhayo. Hami dui janaa matre padheko. Deepa dhere raamro chha vocabulary ra conversation maa.

Agadi, harek hapta, theen choti ek-ghanta ko class ma gare – eutaa ki diutaa class Raju sanga ra eutaa ki duitaa class Deepa sanga. Tyo bela-maa, ma raamro padhe. Harek class pachi, ma sab pheri padheko ra sab notes pheri lekhe. Bistarai bistarai mero Nepali raamro hudai chha. Hami ghar sare pachi, harek din Nepali bolna suru gare – Tika Dai ra Sonu sanga (mero ghar maa kaam garne didi-dai). Tes pachi, taxi driver sanga, sahuni ra sahuji sanga, ra chimeki sanga, ma bistarai Nepali bolna suru gare.

Nepali bhasha padhnu ko laagi sajilo chha! English banda dhere saadhaaran chha. Arko jaruri chha, mero afnu-bhasha Marathi ho. Marathi ra Nepali dhere pharak chhaina, milna janchha. Eute chithi chha, devanagari, ra dhere shabda eute ho. Thyesaile, mero-laagi, yo bhasha shiknu ko laagi sajilo chha.

Theen chaar mahinaa pachi, mero nasike saathi, Houk, ra ma sangai-class suru gare. Kasto ramailo thiyo! Wahaa Dutch ho tara wahaa ko Nepali dhere raamro chha. Ma banda ek barsa agadi Nepal maa aaunu bhayo ra ek barsa badi class shiknu bhayo. Thorai classes Raju sanga ra thorai classes Deepa sanga haami-sangai padheko. Dubai ramailo thiyo.

Raju ji ra Deepa ji, dhere dhere dhanyabad ra mero namaskar tapaai-haru-laai dinchhu. Ma dhere dhere bhagyamani chhu –Nepal maa basne mouga, nayaa bhasha shikne mouga ra dhere janaa raamro manche sanga padhne mouga paye…

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Exactly one year ago, my family and I came to Nepal…

My name is Nita. I am from North Carolina, United States of America. My family has 5 people. My husband’s name is Prakash. He works in ICIMOD as a scientist. My daughter’s name is Janani. She studies in Year 5. My older son’s name is Sajjan. He studies in Year 3. My younger son’s name is Sumanth. He studies in Year 1. All of the children study in The British School.

One month after coming to Nepal, I started learning the Nepali language. Two of my friends recommended two Nepali teachers to me. I thought, I will do one class with the first teacher and one class with the second teacher and whichever teacher I liked, I would continue studying with them. But, both teachers were very good therefore I studied with both of them!

My first teacher’s name is Raju. His full-time job is as a language teacher and within his house, he has a classroom. Raju’s house and my house are very close, only a 5 minute walk away, that is all. Initially, his wife, Prabina, would also come to our class for her to learn how to teach Nepali. Our three-person class was very fun! Raju is very strong in grammar, verb conjugation and pronunciation.

My second teacher’s name is Deepa. Her full-time job is also as a language teacher. For our class, Deepa would come to my house. Just the two of us would study. Deepa is very strong in vocabulary and conversation.

In the beginning, every week, I went to three one-hour classes – one or two classes with Raju and one or two classes with Deepa. At that time, I studied really well. After each class, I would again study and rewrite all of my class notes. Slowly, my Nepali improved. After changing houses, I started speaking Nepali everyday with Tika Dai and Sonu (our house helpers).
Afterwards, I slowly started speaking in Nepali to taxi drivers, shop keepers and neighbors.

The Nepali language is easy to learn! Compared to English, it is simple. Another important thing is that my mother-tongue is Marathi. Marathi and Nepali are not very different. They share the same script, devanagari, and many words are identical. Therefore, for me, learning Nepali has been easy.
After three to four months, my close friend, Houk, and I started taking group classes. How fun it was! She is Dutch but her Nepali is very good. She came to Nepal one year ahead of me and started Nepali one year before me. We studied a few classes with Raju and a few classes with Deepa. Both were enjoyable.

Raju ji and Deepa ji, thank you very very much and I offer my salutations to you. I am very very lucky – I have the chance to live in Nepal, the chance to learn a new language and the change to study with several very nice people…