Chaytna Feinstein
Testimonials
Testimonials for Let’s Learn Hindi
I have been using Let's Learn Hindi in several of my courses at Harvard University with great success. Because it is such a 'user-friendly' quick reference grammar book and dictionary, students have found it an invaluable supplement to the other language and literature texts I use in my courses. Students have found the grammar explanations to be accessible as they are written in a simple language and avoid the use of excessive linguistic terms. I would enthusiastically recommend this book to my collegues who teach Hindi at other US universities. As far as I know, Let's Learn HIndi is unique among instructional texts for Hindi.
—Professor Ali Asani, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
Learning a foreign language such as Hindi can be both difficult and stressful. Having such a clear, well-laid out, easily accessible, user friendly learning resource has made the subject interesting, and enjoyable to learn. As a recent visitor to India, I can personally attest to its practical and useful nature by the number of times I have used Let's Learn Hindi.
—Gary Miller, MD FRCPC, Australia
I am writing to express my thanks for your book. I am in India for most of the time and have been trying to teach myself Hindi. On Saturday I happened upon a copy of your book in a tiny wee shop in my village. The contents have simply added a whole new dimension to my learning experience. Some things I have been struggling have really just clicked into place. The simple descriptions and examples to illustrate your points are so concise. I really like the format of the book - that you have set it out in sentence construct order. I also find your dictionary very comprehensive. It is so good to have lots of examples of the verb conjugations. I feel that my understanding of some of the grammatical nuances and my continued learning will grow in depth.
I am not prone to writing to authors but I wanted to say बहुत दन्यवाद to you.
—Mrs S Mary Parham, India
Namaste Chaytna,
I love your book. The cover is awesome and the inside clear, nice large fonts with nice white paper.
I'm planning on using an app on my phone to help memorize the vocabulary. I'm sitting here on the beach in Puri with my little smart phone trying to input the words and phrases so I can make memorization cards.
Anyway, thank you and wish me luck! Jay Jaganath!
—Venu Gopal Das, Puri, India
cute and good book for beginners
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2009
Definitely a very easily laid out user friendly system that would be very beneficial to new learners of Hindi. Includes script and transliteration. Many simplified grammar lessons and a mini dictionary as well as many interesting little tidbits on the Hindi language and its usage.
—Shawn A. Henk
A surprisingly easy-to-use book for learning Hindi
Reviewed in the United States on November 10, 2002
Before heading out on a trip to India, I looked through the languages section of a number of bookstores and searched the internet tryng to find a book which I could use to learn Hindi rather quickly. Luckily I found Let's Learn Hindi, because within a very short period of time I was able to construct sentences in Hindi using the book, and the extensive vocabulary was especially helpful once I was in India and finding my way around. The book was that simple and easy to use. Bravo!
—Dinkar Bhatt, USA
As a professional educator, I am very impressed with Let's Learn Hindi's pedagogical approach to learning Hindi. It is practical, easy to use and fun. I have used this book extensively and I would highly recommend it to anyone interesting in learning Hindi.
—Professor University of BC, Vancouver, Canada
Testimonials for Predestined
Predestined impacted me with its stories of facing and overcoming difficulties. It was fascinating to read the author’s extraordinary trip in the late 70's across parts of the world that could never happen in 2021. This book had two remarkable journeys - the physical one, which was almost unbelievable in itself and then the truth-seeking one, which was just as riveting, with the greatest reward of all - finding yourself!” This book "stays with me" as all good stories do.
—Siri Yardumian Hurst, educator, art promoter, PA, USA
I loved reading this book. It reminded me that 1977 was a time of innocence. That world has changed and so many of the countries Chaytna visited are very different today. Through her journey she takes us to an inner world that never changes and is available to us all.
You will love reading this book. With Chaytna’s teen-age voice you will visit another, more innocent world that doesn’t exist today. You will see Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, Greece as they were seen then, through young eyes. Chaytna is an excellent guide. The adventure that unfolds is a travelogue as well as a love story. And it leads ultimately to the truest love story, that with the Truth itself. It’s a page-turner…and at the same time deep and profound.
—Ellen Rosenberg, Professor Emerita, University of British Columbia
In this book you will follow the sometimes profound, yet joyous and sincere reflections of a person who discovered a rareness in life and eventually came to know how to live this life to the highest and fullest potential. Chaytna’s compassionate, intelligent, and inquiring spirit floats in and out of the pages as she describes the exotic countries she goes through. She writes about the hardships of traveling in 1977 in a new, unfamiliar and sometimes, scary world. It is also a story about love, though not just romantic love. Though all these aspects play as side notes along her path. The reader gets the opportunity to watch as Chaytna slips the western bindings off her ankles as she stubbornly and bravely keeps to her course.
So, Predestined is not just another traveler’s account. It is also a story about freedom.
—Heather Sickels, USA
Travel back forty-five years in time; immerse yourself in an overland trip, through Europe to India, that was as easy to take as catching the next bus or train. All you needed was your passport, guitar, a few dollars and most of all, a spirit of adventure that you knew would take you to where your heart wanted to go. I loved it.
—S. Fyson Randall, NL, Canada