Learning Gujarati in India

The native language of the Indian state of Gujarat

Gujarati (also spelled as Gujerati, Gujarathi, Guzratee, or Guujaratee) is the native language of the Indian state of Gujarat, it is spoken by about 46 million of people worldwide although 45 million o them reside in India, important communities of Gujarati speakers live in Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Pakistan, United States and in United Kingdom.

Gujarati is one of the 22 official languages of India. The writing system of the Gujarati is an abugida, an abugida is a system in which every written sign represents a consonant accompanied by a particular vowel.

Gujarati phrases

Some useful Gujarati phrases are:

• How are you? – kem cho?
• I am fine – Hu saro chuu
• Yes – Ha, Ha~ji
• No – Na, Naji
• What is your name? – Tamaru naam su che?
• My name is … – maaru naam … che
• I don’t understand – Manne samaj nathi padtee
• Zero – shoonya
• One – ek
• Two – beh
• Three – thrun
• Four – chaar
• Five – panch
• Six – chhah
• Seven – saat
• Eight – aath
• Nine – nauv
• Ten – dhus

Learn Gujarati language

There are many online resources for those interested in learn Gujarati language, there are also Gujarati textbooks, unfortunately these books usually are just a collection of example sentences in Gujarati and translated into English, if you want to obtain a good level of knowledge about this language you should consider a specialized language school or even better you could travel to Gujarat so you will interact with native speakers, undoubtedly this is the best way to learn a new language.

Gujarat attractions

Gujarat, a state in western India, has the highest growing economy in the country; there are many things that make Gujarat a very special place, Mahatma Gandhi was born in this state. Gujarat is also famous for its religious sites; Dwarakadheesh temple, Palitana Temples, Modhera Sun Temple, and Akshardham Gandhinagar are located here.

Other attractions are Lothai, the home of the first Indian port and Dholavira, one of the most prominent archaeological sites in the country. Gujarat is also known as the land of festivals, more than one hundred festivals are held here, some of them are the Bhavnath Mahadev Mela held in the Bhavnath Mahadev Temple, Dangs Darbar in March, Sanskruti kunj Fair, Kite Flying Festival, Rann festival, and Bhadra Purnima.

Gujarati cuisine

Gujarati cuisine occupies a prominent place among the many types of cuisine of India, majority of people in Gujarat are vegetarians so there are lots of recipes of vegetarian dishes, anyway, exists dishes that uses meat as a ingredient like the Indian lamb curry, other popular Gujarati dishes are: breads like Rotli, puri, Bhakhri, and Parotha; vegetarian dishes like Undhiyu, Bateta Sukhi Bhaj, Dudhi nu Shaak, Kobi Bataka nu shaak, Tameta Bataka nu rasawalu shaak, Parwal Bateta nu shaak; sweets like kansar, basundi, shiro, laapsi, and shakkarpara.

As you can see, there are many reasons to visit Gujarat as well as learning the Gujarat language.