Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Namaste! Hello and welcome to Hindi Survival Phrases brought to you by HindiPod101.com, this course is designed to equip you with the language skills and knowledge to enable you to get the most out of your visit to India. You will be surprised at how far a little Hindi will go.
Now, before we jump in, remember to stop by HindiPod101.com and there, you will find the accompanying PDF and additional info in the post. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.

Lesson focus

Survival Phrases lesson 14 - Restaurants - Ordering Food in Hindi
Finally, you're at the table and have your seat. Now it's time to order!
In today's lesson, we'll cover how to ask for a menu and then order your food and drinks.
Normally, to get the waiter's attention you can just raise your hand and simply say suniye! "Excuse me", and then ask for a menu by saying: menyoo Diijiye. "A menu, please."
Let’s hear the full sentence: menyoo Diijiye
menyoo Diijiye
"Please, give me" is Diijiye in Hindi. This was preceded by menyoo, which in English means "a menu."
Once you have looked at the menu, you can finally call the waiter for the order.
A typical North Indian menu can be either SHaakaahaarii, "vegetarian" or maansaahaarii "non-vegetarian".
You can start with appetizers such as a salad with onion, cucumber, and tomatoes. A typical vegetarian menu will be composed of "pulses," daal, "vegetables," sabzii, "pickles," aCHaar, and "flat bread," rotii or "rice," CHaaval. The non-vegetarian menu will typically have "chicken," murgii instead of pulses. A nice North Indian meal has to end with some delicious, sweet miThaaii. During the meal, you can also have lassii, a refreshing "drink made with fresh curd and water."
Firstly, in ninety-nine percent of cases they will ask you what you would like to drink first. aap kyaa piyenge? In Hindi, aap is the polite pronoun "you," kyaa means "what," and finally, piyenge "will drink".
Let's break it down and hear it one more time: aap kyaa piyenge?
aap kyaa piyenge?
Now let's see some beverages you could order with dinner.
lassii "drink of water and yogurt"
paanii "water"
biiyar "beer"
Let's break down these words and hear them one more time:
lassii
lassii
paanii
paanii
biiyar
biiyar
If you want to ask for recommendations or the house specials, you can say koii KHaas vyanjan baTaa sakTe hain?
koii KHaas vyanjan baTaa sakTe hain?
koii KHaas vyanjan baTaa sakTe hain?
This literally means "Would you recommend anything special to eat?"
Let's have a quick look at the bits and pieces of this phrase.
The Hindi words, koii khaas, mean "anything special" in English.
We follow this with the word for "dish," which is vyanjan.
"Can you tell me!" is baTaa sakTe hain.
Let’s hear the sentence one more time: koii KHaas vyanjan baTaa sakTe hain?
This would be the equivalent of "What are the recommendations?" in English.
When you order in India, you usually just say the name of the dish you want. However, there is a polite way of saying "I would like" following the name of the things you want to eat, this is: lenaa CHaahoongaa.
Let's break down this word and hear it one more time: lenaa CHaahoongaa
lenaa CHaahoongaa.
Now, that was how a male would say it. If you are a female, you would have to say lenaa CHaahoongii.
lenaa CHaahoongii.
lenaa CHaahoongii.
Now let's see some good dishes you can find on a typical North Indian menu.
pakaude - “the traditional North Indian appetizer, made of chopped vegetables fried in spicy gram-flour batter”
TanDoorii murgii “chicken marinated in yogurt and spices”
aaloo gobhii - “spicy potatoes with cauliflower”
matar paniir - “Indian cheese cooked with peas”
raayTaa - “yogurt-based dressing with garlic and cucumber”
Let's break down these words and hear them one more time:
pakaude
pakaude
TanDoorii murgii
TanDoorii murgii
aaloo gobhii
aaloo gobhii
matar paniir
matar paniir
raayTaa
raayTaa
Let's imagine you would like to order aaloo goBHii and raayTaa.
You should tell the waiter aaloo goBHii aur raayTaa lena CHaahoongaa
aaloo goBHii aur raayTaa lena CHaahoongaa
aaloo goBHii aur raayTaa lena CHaahoongaa
"I would like aaloo gobhee and some raayTaa."
As we have seen, lena CHaahoongaa means "would like." It simply follows the name of the food you are ordering. If you are a female, you will have to say aaloo goBHii aur raayTaa lena chaahoongii.
aaloo goBHii aur raayTaa lena chaahoongii.
aaloo goBHii aur raayTaa lena chaahoongii.

Outro

Okay, to close out today's lesson, we'd like for you to practice what you've just learned. I'll provide you with the English equivalent of the phrase and you're responsible for saying it aloud. You'll have a few seconds before I give you the answer, so गुड लक! (guud Lak!), which means "good luck" in Hindi.
"A menu, please." - menyoo diijiye
menyoo diijiye
menyoo diijiye
"What would you like to drink?" - aap kyaa piyenge?
aap kyaa piyenge?
aap kyaa piyenge?
"I would like aaloo gobhee and some raaytaa (masculine)" - aaloo goBHee aur raayTaa lenaa CHaahoongaa
aaloo goBHee aur raayTaa lenaa CHaahoongaa
aaloo goBHee aur raayTaa lenaa CHaahoongaa
"I would like aaloo gobhee and some raaytaa. (feminine)" - aaloo goBHee aur raayTaa lenaa CHaahoongii
aaloo goBHee aur raayTaa lenaa CHaahoongii
aaloo goBHee aur raayTaa lenaa CHaahoongii
All right. That’s is going to do it for today. Remember to stop by HindiPod101.com and pick up the accompanying PDF. If you stop by, be sure to leave us a comment.
फिर मिलेंगे (phir milenge), goodbye!

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