LANGUAGE & RELIGION
Lots of different languages are spoken in India. Some people think the only language is Hindi, or English, but this isn’t true.
Hindi and English are very popular languages, especially in the big cities but actually there are 121 different languages spoken in India and 1,369 dialects!
(a dialect is like a language but with some different words and speech patterns so it doesn’t sound quite the same. If you’ve done our Jamaica workbook, you’ll know that Jamaican patois is a a dialect)
This section is to learn about a few different languages which are spoken and written in India.
Hindi words
Hindi is a very important language in India - almost 425 million people speak it!
Hindi is also a very old language, which means it has had an effect on lots of other languages. We often use Hindi words when speaking English, even if we don’t realize it.
The British Government controlled India for a long time. Some British people lived in India, and some Indian people moved to Britain. That meant that there was some mixing between the Hindu and English languages.
Activity 3: Matching English and Hindi words
We use lots of Hindi words in English all the time. Lots of the Hindi meanings are similar to the English meanings. Look at the list on page 5 of your worksheets.
Can you match the Hindi words to their English versions by reading the definitions?
There’s an English word with a star next to it. The Hindi word that links to it is the answer that goes in the Answer Grid⭐
Sanskrit
Sanskrit is a very old language which began in India. In fact, it’s one of the oldest languages on earth. No one speak Sanskrit anymore, but modern
Hindi uses the same alphabet, which is called Devanagari. Some other languages use Devanagari as well - Marathi, Nepali and Rajasthani.
Devanagari:
has 48 different letters, rather than 26
is written from left to right, not like English
is joined together with a horizontal line near the top of the letters
Activity 4: Sanskrit Handwriting
Look at pages 6&7 of your workbook, try drawing some common Sanskrit/Devanagari letters. Try to write each letter 8-10 times.
When Hindi words are written, all the letters are joined together with a line on the top, like in the words below.
Here are some common Hindi words which use the letters from the handwriting exercise. Can you see how the letters have been linked together?
Naan is a type of Indian bread which is flat like a pancake
Bharat means ‘India’ in Hindi
Namaste means ‘I bow to you’ but is a way of saying ‘Hello’
Which of these words has the symbol र in it?
That word is the answer to this puzzle
_ _ _ _ _ _ ⭐
Great job!
On to the next activity…
Activity 5: Lots of Languages
Lots of different languages are spoken across India, not just Hindi and English. many people will speak their local language as well as Hindi or as well as English.
Different languages are spoken in different areas. Lots of languages sound the same as the name of the Indian state where they are taken. Like, people speak Kashmiri in Jammu & Kashmir.
Take a look at the map of Indian states. There’s also a version of it on pages 8&9 of your workbook. Each state is labelled with its name. Can you draw a line between the different languages and the Indian state where they speak that language?
There are some clues below to help you…
Here are some different clan tartans…
You can click on the picture to make it bigger…
CLUES:
You only need to match the states that have colours (not the grey ones!)
Some languages are spoken in more than one place. States that have the same colour speak the same language.
Lots of languages sound like the state where they are spoken.
Hindi is the language spoken in the most states.
Oriya is the languages of Odisha state.
Watch out - the map on the printed pages is in black and white so you’ll need to keep checking back to the web page!
Once you’ve matched all the languages to the the states, come back to answer the following question…
What language do they speak in Maharashtra? ⭐
Religions in India
All religions are different. A lot of Indian people believe in different religions, although there are only 5 major religions:
Jainism
Hinduism
Sikhism
Islam
Buddhism
All these religions have different beliefs. Sometimes this has led to arguments and fights between people from different religions. Mostly, people are able to live together and respect each other’s beliefs.
Activity 6: Which religion?
It’s time to learn a little about different religions. Below you’ll find a list of facts about each religion. Can you match the religion to the list of facts?
Remember, the religions are:
• Jainism • Hinduism • Sikhism • Islam
• Buddhism
The religion with the star is the answer that goes in the Answer Grid ⭐
Activity 7: Hindu Gods and their families
Hinduism is a polytheistic religion, which means that Hindus believe in more than 1 god. In fact, some people have counted 33 million gods!
Every god has a different story and different family. Some look a little different to you or me - like having an elephant head or more than 2 arms. Many Hindus have a favourite god that they like to pray to, although they can change their minds at any time.
Here are some family trees of Hindu gods, showing how everyone is related. Can you fill in the missing gaps? Look at the picture below and use pages 10 & 11 of the printed worksheets.
You’ll probably need to use Google to help you.
If you can’t work out someone’s name, try searching for their wife or husband or children or parents. Make sure to draw some pictures too!
Make sure to look for the star! It’s green! ⭐
Awesome work, that’s 7 answers you’ve got now!
Activity 8: Festival Time
holi festival is a festival of colour and involves throwing coloured dust at others in celebration
There are lots of different festivals for all the religions in India.
Some festivals only happen in certain areas, like the Pushkar Camel Festival (in Rajasthan) whereas others, like Diwali, are celebrated across all of India and even outside India.
Lots of festivals traditionally relate to the season, like the coming of spring. But all festivals are about family and spending time with friends, and often about having lots of fun.
Here’s a video about the Holi Festival…
diwali is the indian festival of light, celebrating light over darkness. it lasts for 5 full days!
You’ve received invitations for all of this year’s festivals (that’s 7 in total). Can you put them in the calendar on page 12 of the printed workbooks? You’ll find a star on the printed pages which will tell you the answer that goes in the Answer Grid ⭐
