the other four vowels

e as in bet
ai as in height
o as in so
au as in how



I've loved learning languages for most of my life. It started when I was about 4 and noticed that my neighbors' kids spoke a different language at home then they did when we played together. It was almost like a special code (loved books featuring code - although normally they were aimed at boys, but that's a different story). From there, I took a Latin class in 7th grade. Then, in 8th grade, my Italian neighbor introduced me to Italian via Dante's Inferno. From there I went on to Spanish and French from 8th grade through high school (and, had two of the most wonderful teachers of my life - Sally Kemmis and Bev Sachar). Anyway, when I went to college years later, I gravitated toward the Dept. of Languages and Linguistics (and found several more extremely wonderful teachers, including Jesus Barquet, Jose Manuel Garcia, and Patricia MacGregor-Mendoza). By this time, language wasn't about special codes, it was about understanding. I really felt that, if you wanted to understand a person and their culture so you could communicate more effectively, you had to understand their language.

I'm thinking about all this because, I'm struggling with Hindi and I've never really had any problems learning other languages. In part, I think it is because the sounds are difficult for me to distinguish. For example, c and ch, g and gh, k and kh. Oh my! I listen and listen and listen and ... nope, still not hearing it although I read the pronunciation guide and I see how it's supposed to sound. On top of that, it's an entirely new alphabet. Other languages I've learned have been, for the most part, fairly recognizable. I guess I'll see where this takes me. :)