Stories from the chai table
Why we built this, what didn’t work, and how to actually learn Hindi for the people you love.
Is Hindi hard to learn? An honest answer for English speakers
The sounds are learnable in a week and the verbs are regular. The verb goes last, every noun has a gender, and everyone switches to English on you. An honest map of the whole thing.
Read more →Hindi vs Urdu: what's actually different
Same grammar, same everyday words, two scripts and two formal vocabularies. Where the split is real, where it is not, and why half of spoken Hindi came from Persian.
Read more →Learn Hindi by scrolling: the new Hinglish Vinglish
The new Hinglish Vinglish opens on a feed. One card, then the next. A new word, a quick check, a short chat, a sound to practise. Swipe up and the course comes to you.
Read more →Hindi numbers 1 to 100, with pronunciation
Hindi gives almost every number its own word, so building 21 from 20 and 1 does not work. The full table, plus the 35 words that cover most real conversations.
Read more →50 Hinglish sentences from the family WhatsApp group
Good morning forwards, food photos, turmeric milk advice and the gentle guilt. The sentences every Indian family group runs on, translated.
Read more →Days of the week and telling time in Hindi
The seven days, the whole time system, and the quirk nobody warns you about: Hindi uses one word for yesterday and tomorrow, and lets the verb decide.
Read more →Hindi greetings beyond namaste: what families actually say
Namaste gets you through the doorway and then leaves you stranded. The dozen greetings people actually use, sorted by who you are talking to, plus the replies and the goodbyes.
Read more →How to say yes and no in Hindi: haan, nahi, and the rest
Haan and nahi take a minute to learn. Knowing that a flat no is rarely what people say, and what to use instead at a dinner table, takes a little longer.
Read more →How to answer khana khaya? (have you eaten, in Hindi)
It is the question you will be asked more than any other, by a wide margin. Every version of it, every answer that works, and why it is not really about food.
Read more →How to say I love you in Hindi (and when Indians say it)
Main tumse pyaar karta hoon (man) / karti hoon (woman) is the sentence — but Hindi has three words for love, and in many families the words are the least of it. What people actually say, and how to say it right.
Read more →Hindi words for family members: chacha vs mama vs bua
English has one word for aunt; Hindi has five, and each tells you exactly who she is. The full family map in learnable tables, the missing word for cousin, and the one relation word that doubles as a swear.
Read more →How to learn Hinglish: an honest guide for English speakers
Hinglish is the version of Hindi most urban Indian families actually speak, and you can learn it directly — no script required. The six steps, in order, and what real Hinglish looks like next to the textbook version.
Read more →How to compliment food in Hindi — the phrases aunties love
"Khana bahut achha hai" works everywhere; "aapke haath mein jaadu hai" melts aunties. Every compliment you'll need at an Indian table, and what happens to your plate after you say one.
Read more →How to say thank you in Hindi (and why families rarely do)
Dhanyavad is formal, shukriya is everyday, and inside most Hindi-speaking families the real gratitude flows through actions, not words. What to say, when to say it, and the affectionate wave-off you'll get back.
Read more →What to say at an Indian wedding as a guest: phrases + etiquette
Learn one phrase and make it badhai ho (congratulations). Then the rest: which event is which, what to wear, how much cash goes in the envelope, and why the dancing is not optional.
Read more →How to introduce yourself in Hindi (without sounding like a textbook)
"Namaste, mera naam Sam hai" covers the ceremony — but real introductions are a volley, not a speech. The follow-up questions, the gender endings, and the one sentence that changes the room.
Read more →Hinglish vs Hindi: what's the difference, and which should you learn?
Hinglish is the blend of Hindi and English that most urban Indian families actually speak — and almost no app teaches it. Here's what it is, why it isn't "lazy Hindi," and which register you should learn first.
Read more →How long does it take to learn Hindi? Honest timelines by goal
Basic family-conversation Hindi takes roughly 3–6 months of daily speaking practice; full fluency takes years. The honest breakdown by goal — dinner with in-laws, a wedding in Delhi, or reactivating your childhood Hindi.
Read more →100 most common Hindi phrases (that people actually say)
The 100 phrases real families actually say — at dinner tables, on WhatsApp, at weddings — romanized, translated, with a note on who you'd say each one to. Not a single boy eating an apple.
Read more →How to learn Hindi when you grew up hearing it
You understand every word of your parents' Hindi and still reply in English. That's normal, it has a name, and fixing it takes weeks of the right practice — not the years a beginner needs.
Read more →I built a Hindi app for my wife. Here's why.
It was a Tuesday night in our kitchen. The kettle had just clicked off. Hannah was standing by the counter holding her phone out to me with the screen up, the way you hold up a moth you found in…
Read more →Learning Hindi for your partner's Indian family — a practical guide
Meeting Indian in-laws when you don't speak Hindi is one of those things English-language self-help books don't cover. There's no chapter on what to do when twelve aunties are simultaneously asking…
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