Sraboni

Another great lesson with Sraboni! We spent the first half of the class in conversation and listening practise, talking in Hindi about TV shows and films. Sraboni often recommends me things to watch, because she knows I like being able to experience pop culture in Hindi between classes. It makes for fun conversation too, as Sraboni explains the premise of the things she recommends, and I get practise in listening and making appropriate responses. In the second half, Sraboni asked me questions about a story we read over the past few weeks, e.g., "If you were that character, would you have made the same decision?" or "How would you have answered this character's question?" I had re-read the story to prepare, but Sraboni's questions gave me practise in a different type of conversation, to share more in-depth feelings and opinions by talking in hypotheticals. I enjoy this kind of conversation in English, and I really appreciate learning how to communicate this way in Hindi too.

I just started learning Bengali last February 11 (my 30th birthday) and I have gotten quite used to the way it is spoken already. Still a long way to go of course given that my brain still processes slowly but my boyfriend is always so impressed with the improvements I make! I love how Ms. Sraboni's style is to provide me a lot of the fundamental grammar rules, it has laid down such good foundation for me.

Today Sraboni helped me translate a story with different sentence structures. Then she gave me example sentences to explain the grammar and make it easier to understand :-)

I had a wonderful first conversation with Sraboni and I loved it! Thank you! 😊

I've been learning Hindi with Sraboni for almost 3.5 years, starting with zero knowledge and limited opportunities to practise between classes. Even so, Sraboni has helped me build a foundation in the language that has proven to be solid and lasting after a recent extended break. Since coming back after several months of no classes or practise I have been surprised by how little I have forgotten. I'm rusty, but one correction from Sraboni and my memory is completely refreshed. This is a testament to how thorough Sraboni's teaching is. Sraboni will correct every single mistake and all unnatural phrasing, no matter how minor. I see now that this has accumulated into a rock solid base, even studying just one hour a week. I have continued for 3.5 years because I enjoy my lessons. Sraboni is focused on keeping classes fun, using a range of sources from Bollywood films to folk tales. However, seeing how much I have accomplished even with incremental progress is so encouraging.

Excellent class, I learned so many things with Srabony.