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Post by dancelover on Sept 29, 2015 20:39:20 GMT
I use public access computers at a senior center. A lady from Gujarat is among the people who regularly use that center. She agreed to (try to) teach me the Gujarati alphabet.
It is more difficult than I had expected. The letters are big enough for a near-sighted man to see, and are not overshadowed by that big Devanagiri line on top, which is why I chose Gujarati.
My trouble is that those letters have so many parts to them! A single letter has enough lines for two, sometimes three letters. Next trouble is that each consonant carries its own vowel, unlike Roman. In that Gujarati is like Devanagiri.
I foresee much work before I can write English sentences in the Gujarati alphabet.
Dancelover
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Post by emily on Sept 29, 2015 21:23:42 GMT
Well done dancelover! Learning a new script is so intellectually stimulating.
I took a look at Gujarati script in Google translate and was pleasantly surprised to see the letters look much like Devanagari. (Just without that line, like you said!)
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Post by dancelover on Oct 2, 2015 15:06:07 GMT
Thank you, but its not done; its hardly even begun (with emphasis on the "hard" ). Seems that "Standard" ways of teaching Gujarati do not mesh well with my ways of learning. Ah well, the first six weeks of learning *anything* make the learner feel like a fool. See how I feel in mid-November. Dancelover Well done dancelover! Learning a new script is so intellectually stimulating. I took a look at Gujarati script in Google translate and was pleasantly surprised to see the letters look much like Devanagari. (Just without that line, like you said!)
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Post by emily on Oct 2, 2015 21:29:46 GMT
Of course it's a long road; my "well done" was for the fact that you're taking on learning a different script. Most people balk at the idea of learning a language written in English script! I used flash cards to get Devanagari characters down. I'd end up staring at the letter on the card and saying the sound associated with it over and over and over. That helped me...perhaps it can help you with Gujarati!
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Post by James on Oct 2, 2015 23:36:44 GMT
I took a look at Gujarati script out of curiosity because of your thread here, Dancelover. I was curious as someone who can already read devanagari and who has noticed, like Emily mentioned, that I can easily read several words in Gujarati even though I never studied it. The letters that are different from devanagari seem to me to be more elaborate, hence, more difficult. That's just my opinion, though, I think it's great you're picking it up. If you ever do become interested in learning to read Devanagari, though, I highly recommend this site. I wish it had been available when I was learning... As an aside, the line at the top of devanagari words reminds me of the line at the bottom of English on a ruled sheet of paper. In fact, when writing on lined paper in devanagari, you just write from the top line down, and when you're done your piece, particularly when time is of the essence like in a test in essay format, you go back and write the lines in at the end with a ruler. It's not as distracting as all that.
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