After spending 4.5 months at Zabaan, I would have to say that I was impressed with the quality of my Hindi instruction. I began as a complete beginner, enrolling in the 4 week beginner Hindi group course (5 students). I followed this with 3 or so months of a combination of small group lessons (with another student that was in my group course), as well as private lessons.

At the end of the 4 week group course, I walked away being able to read and write the Hindi (Devanagari) script, as well as engage in very basic conversation (survival Hindi). The course is based on the Teach Yourself Hindi text, and during the 4 weeks, approximately 1/2 of the book was covered. My remaining time at Zabaan was spent finishing the book, reviewing grammar, as well as reading short stories and news articles.

Zabaan is really only one of two languages schools in India offering comprehensive and reputable Hindi language instruction oriented for western students. The other being AIIS. The reason for this comes down to the caliber of instructors employed at Zabaan, of which consists of formally/university trained linguists that truly understand both Hindi and English grammar. Unlike other programs that teach the language in a “this is the way it is” type format, Zabaan focuses on the underlying grammatical reasons for why the language is structured the way it is. For a language that is so different from english (and includes concepts that are foreign to native english speakers), I have found that this provided much needed clarity, and has paid dividends later on in my Hindi studies.

Despite having intensively studied foreign languages at a top american university, the pace of Zabaan’s group course took getting use to. But it was manageable. This pace reflects the clientele of Zabaan, which tends to be a group of individuals seriously committed to language learning. Students included US Fulbright and FLAS Fellows, as well as diplomats, British journalists, graduate students, and US military personnel. The prices for private group lessons certainly reflect this western orientation. Though, if you can pair up with other students as I did, prices will be significantly reduced, and end up costing less than other programs in India.

In line with what a couple reviews have pointed out, Zabaan is not without its quirks. I tend to attribute this mainly to differences in culture. However, regarding language instruction, I have the utmost confidence in their ability to effectively teach Hindi, and for this reason, I recommend them for anyone seriously interested in studying Hindi.

Ali has been my Hindi teacher since September 2013. After six years of no formal classes in this language, I finally took up classes in Delhi. I started out classes not being able to even read my own name in Devanagari and can now read, write and speak it using proper grammar and vocab. Ali has proven to be the best teacher I could have asked for; he is patient, competent and meticulous. He adjusted the classes in content and pace to my language skills and preferences. He assigns plenty of homework for days I don’t have classes (something I specifically asked for), checks every line of my written Hindi for even small mistakes and does repeat drills for sections I am less confident in. He has been a great teacher to work with, anticipating my very specific grammar questions and giving me satisfying answers to literally each one of them. The online classes are via Skype with screen sharing and reviewing scanned homework which works perfectly fine and I was positively surprised! Zabaan gets both thumbs up for their services and I can wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone who is serious about learning Hindi (and other languages).