5.9 Cultural Notes and Extra/Optional Online Materials
Cultural Notes
| Topics | Explanation | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fruits and Vegetables shop in India and South Asia | In America, we typically go to a supermarket and/or farmers’ market to buy fresh fruits and vegetables. But in India and South Asia, each small town/city/village has many small fruits and vegetables. Some towns have designated area for these small shops. Unlike America, you need to talk to the shopkeeper to ask for the price, negotiate the price before buying it. So, the conversation is a must. |
| 2 | At a restaurant in India and South Asia | Effect of globalization is very visible when it comes to restaurant in India and South Asia. However, there are still many smaller food stalls and restaurants which still are of old fashion. In these restaurants, they typically do not have menu card with price list. There is a typical server who will come to you with a glass of water and tell you what the available items and what are their prices. |
| 3 | चाहना and चाहिए | In English, there is a big difference between “to want,” and “to need.” However, in Hindi, native speakers use चाहिए “to need” for everything they want/need. चाहना “to want” is typically used in construction like मैं चाहता हूँ कि …. “I want that …..” |
| 4 | Expressing desire/need | Native speakers do not use direct statement such as “मुझे ___x___ चाहिए|” to express desire/need. Instead, they ask indirectly using question sentence and/or subjunctive. For example:
क्या खाना है? (Is there food?) = मुझे खाना चाहिए| (I need food). क्या आपके पास कलम है? (Do you have a pen?) मुझे आपकी कलम चाहिए | (I need your pen.) |
Extra/Optional Online Materials
Hindi song: “Mujhko tu chaahiye”
At a restaurant:
At a vegetable market:
Thank you !
