Hindi levels from A1 to B2 with study hours
A general Hindi course follows the six levels of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), a scale from A1 for beginners to C2 for near-effortless use.
| Level | Typical course content in Hindi | Study hours from zero (estimate) |
|---|---|---|
| A1 | reading Devanagari, greetings with āp, numbers, shopping | 120 to 180 |
| A2 | family, work and travel, present and future tense | 250 to 350 |
| B1 | past tense with ne, telling stories, simple news | 450 to 650 |
| B2 | meetings, films without subtitles, formal vocabulary | 800 to 1,100 |
The hours count lessons and self-study together. No official hour counts per CEFR level exist for Hindi, so these values are rough estimates derived from the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), the language school of the US State Department. The FSI places Hindi in the third of its four difficulty groups and plans about 44 weeks of full-time study for confident professional use.
A1 takes longer in Hindi than in Spanish or French, because the first weeks go into the script. From A2 onwards the grammar sets the pace, especially gender agreement and the past tense with ne.
At five study hours a week, you reach A2 in about a year. With ten hours a week, B1 is realistic after one to one and a half years.
Devanagari and 3 sound contrasts in the first weeks
Hindi is written in Devanagari, a script that runs from left to right and hangs its letters from a line along the top of each word. Many learners read slowly but accurately after three to six weeks of regular practice. A general course teaches the script either in a separate block of two to six weeks or spread over the first lessons of A1.
Devanagari writes exactly the sound contrasts that English spelling ignores.
| Hurdle | Example | How a general course trains it |
|---|---|---|
| Silent built-in a | कमल is read kamal, not kamala | reading aloud with the teacher from week one |
| Aspirated consonants, spoken with a puff of air | pal (moment), phal (fruit) | word pairs, with a hand or a strip of paper in front of the mouth |
| Retroflex sounds, made with the tongue tip curled back | ṭ in ṭamāṭar (tomato) | listening drills before speaking drills |
| Short and long vowels | kal (yesterday, tomorrow), kāl (time) | dictation in Devanagari |
Aspiration, retroflex sounds and vowel length each change the meaning of a word. English speakers already add a puff of air to p, t and k at the start of a word. In Hindi they must learn to drop it on purpose, or listeners hear phal when they mean pal.
Romanised Hindi spells the same word in several ways and often hides aspiration and vowel length.
Learners who stay with romanisation for months later read Devanagari only haltingly.
3 Hindi grammar hurdles and where courses place them
Hindi puts the verb at the end of the sentence and uses postpositions after the noun, so ghar mẽ means in the house, literally house in. Three further rules decide how fast a general course moves.
1 Gender that reaches the verb
Every Hindi noun is masculine or feminine, and gender changes adjectives and verbs. A man says main jātā hū̃ (I go), a woman says main jātī hū̃. A general course should teach each noun together with an adjective, such as baṛā ghar (big house), from the first unit.
2 The past tense with ne
In the completed past of verbs with an object, the subject takes the marker ne and the verb agrees with the object. Maine roṭī khāī (I ate the flatbread) ends in a feminine form because roṭī is feminine. A general course should introduce this pattern once the present tense is secure and keep practising it through B1.
3 Three words for you
Hindi has tū (very intimate), tum (familiar) and āp (polite). A course should start with āp, because tū sounds rude towards strangers.
General Hindi course or Hindi conversation course
A general Hindi course follows a fixed syllabus. It trains listening, reading, writing and speaking in equal measure and builds script and grammar step by step. It suits complete beginners and returners who forgot their school or family Hindi.
A Hindi conversation course gives you speaking time and usually expects level A2, the second of the six CEFR levels of the Common European Framework of Reference. It trains fast everyday speech, polite forms and the vocabulary that course books leave out. Spoken Hindi mixes words of Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic origin: course books often teach dhanyavād for thank you, while many speakers say shukriyā. Conversation courses also deal with Hinglish, the mix of Hindi and English common in Indian cities.
- ✓A general course builds Devanagari and grammar in a clear order.
- ✓A conversation course trains listening to fast speech and answering without notes.
- ✗A general course gives each learner less speaking time.
- ✗A conversation course started too early leaves gaps in script and grammar.
Many learners combine both formats from A2: a general course for structure and one conversation lesson a week.
Online Hindi formats for 4 types of learners
General Hindi courses run online as group classes, private video lessons, script courses and apps. Which format fits depends on your starting point.
| Learner | Format that fits | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Complete beginner | small group or private lessons plus a script course | the script needs correction in the first weeks |
| Returner with old school Hindi | placement test, then a group at A2 or B1 | you skip what you still know |
| Heritage learner who understands Hindi | private lessons focused on reading and writing | listening is strong, script is weak |
| Traveller with little time | private lessons booked flexibly plus an app | lessons adapt to your dates |
A heritage learner grew up hearing Hindi at home, understands much of it but rarely reads or writes it. Courses for this group skip basic listening and train Devanagari and formal vocabulary.
India Standard Time is UTC+5:30 with no daylight saving, so morning lessons in Europe and evening lessons in North America fall into Indian daytime.
Book a placement test or a trial lesson before a full Hindi level. It shows whether the teacher corrects aspirated sounds and whether the course starts at the right level.
Hindi courses for children from Hindi-speaking families
Large Hindi-speaking communities live in the UK, the US, Canada, the Gulf states and Fiji. Children in these families often understand Hindi from home but rarely read or write it. Online heritage courses for children start from this listening skill and add reading, writing and polite forms.
What a children's course covers
A children's course should teach Devanagari with picture words and short stories, practise āp with grandparents and teachers in role plays and build vocabulary around school, food and festivals.
Goals for teenagers
Teenagers outside India can work towards Cambridge IGCSE Hindi as a Second Language (syllabus 0549), a school qualification from Cambridge International. It is meant for learners who already have a working knowledge of Hindi and whose first language is not Hindi. It assesses reading, writing and listening in two compulsory components, with an optional, separately graded speaking part still available for exams up to 2026; Cambridge will remove it for the exams from 2027 to 2029.
Children who learn Hindi only from films pick up colloquial and film language. A heritage course adds the standard Hindi of school, newspapers and official letters.
Frequently asked questions about general online Hindi courses
How many study hours does a general online Hindi course need to reach B1?
A general online Hindi course needs roughly 450 to 650 study hours, lessons and self-study together, to take a beginner to B1. B1 is the third of the six levels of the Common European Framework of Reference and means handling daily life in Hindi on your own. The figure is an estimate derived from the US Foreign Service Institute, which plans about 44 weeks of full-time study for professional Hindi.
How long does it take to read Devanagari in a general Hindi course?
Reading Devanagari slowly but accurately takes most learners three to six weeks of regular practice in a general Hindi course. Courses teach the script in a separate block of two to six weeks or spread over the first A1 lessons. Fluent reading of newspapers comes much later, at about B2.
From which level can you join an online Hindi conversation course?
An online Hindi conversation course usually expects level A2, the second of the six levels of the Common European Framework of Reference. At A2 you can talk about family, work and travel in simple sentences. For learners not yet at A2, a general Hindi course builds the script and grammar you need first.
Do general online Hindi courses teach standard Hindi or Hinglish?
General online Hindi courses teach standard Hindi in the Devanagari script. Hinglish, the mix of Hindi and English common in Indian cities, appears in conversation courses and should be taught separately from the standard. Learners who know both can switch between them the way many speakers in India do.
What do online Hindi courses for children from Hindi-speaking families teach?
Online Hindi courses for children from Hindi-speaking families build on what the children hear at home and add reading and writing in Devanagari. They also practise the polite form āp and the standard Hindi of school and newspapers. Teenagers can aim for Cambridge IGCSE Hindi as a Second Language, which assesses reading, writing and listening.
How many hours a week does a general online Hindi course need to reach A2 within a year?
A general online Hindi course needs about five study hours a week, lessons and self-study together, to reach A2 within about a year. Short daily sessions of 20 to 30 minutes help with the script and the new sounds, because both need constant repetition.
Sources
The information is based on these sources. Check fees and dates with the provider before you register.