The short version
- Speaking first. Every lesson makes you say Hindi out loud. You hear a native voice, you say it back, you get a score for every sound.
- No Devanagari, ever. Everything is in English letters, the way Indians text. You do not learn to read before you learn to talk.
- Real situations. Dinner with the family, the wedding, chai with the aunties, meeting the in-laws, a rickshaw in Delhi, Diwali night.
- An AI coach who listens. Ellie hears your actual voice, tells you which sound slipped, and runs role-plays of the conversation before it happens.
Is it for you?
You are learning Hindi for your partner’s family
This is the person the app was built for. The founder is Indian. His wife is not. She wanted to follow what was said around the table, not pass an exam. The chapters are the situations she actually faced: the dinner, the wedding, the in-laws, the family WhatsApp group. Start with learning Hindi for your partner’s Indian family, then open the app on the Dinner Time chapter.
You grew up hearing Hindi but cannot speak it back
You understand your parents and reply in English. You are not a beginner. You have the ear and most of the words. What is missing is the path from your brain to your mouth, and that is built one way: by speaking out loud and being corrected, in private. Every lesson here does exactly that, and nobody at the dinner table hears the practice. Read how to learn Hindi when you grew up hearing it.
You are going to India and want more than tourist phrases
Out & About and Travel & Directions teach the market, the rickshaw, the price, the directions, and the small talk that turns a transaction into a conversation. In English letters, so you can read it off your phone on the street.
When it is the wrong tool
If you want to read and write Devanagari, a script-first course will serve you better. If you want a human correcting you in real time, a tutor is the right choice. If you are preparing for an exam, this is not an exam course. We would rather you pick the right tool than install this one and give up.
What a lesson looks like
The app opens on a feed. One card per screen. A lesson is a run of cards:
- A word, said by a native voice. “phir milenge”, see you again, with how to say it: phir mi-len-gay.
- A quick check. Tap the meaning. Wrong answers come back later until they stick.
- Say it. Tap the mic, say the word. You get a score for every sound, each one green, amber or red, so you know it was the “ph” and not the whole word.
- Ellie’s note. The AI coach tells you what to fix and how. Where the tongue goes. What English word has the nearest sound.
- A desi tip. Why nobody says thank you at the dinner table. What the head wobble means. The things a textbook never tells you.
Between lessons there are word games built from the words you have met, and Ellie will role-play the conversation you are nervous about: the chai chat, the first hello to the grandmother, the compliment on the food.
The chapters
| Chapter | What you learn to say |
|---|---|
| Start Here | hello, goodbye, and how to read Hinglish spellings |
| Dinner Time | complimenting the food, surviving second helpings |
| Phonetics | the Hindi sounds English does not have, one at a time |
| Shaadi Time | the beautiful chaos of desi celebrations, from sangeet to shaadi |
| Chai Time | gossip circles and chai-pe-charcha, with confidence |
| In-Laws | family dynamics and impressing your sasural |
| Out & About | markets, rickshaws, and streets like a local |
| Travel & Directions | finding your way, catching your ride, reaching your stay |
| Family & Relationships | beta, didi, dadi, and who is who at every gathering |
| Festival Time | Diwali, Holi, Rakhi and Eid, one festival per level |
| Grammar Vibes | the verb-last pattern and gender, without tables |
What you never have to do
- Learn the Devanagari alphabet before you can say one useful sentence.
- Memorise conjugation tables or gender charts. You learn the pattern by saying it.
- Say “the horse is reading a newspaper”. Every phrase is one a family actually uses.
- Practise in front of people. The scoring and the coach are private.
How it compares with the other ways to learn
No brand names. These are the categories, honestly.
| Method | Good at | Weak at |
|---|---|---|
| A human tutor | Live correction, your exact family’s words | Cost per hour, scheduling, no practice between lessons |
| An audio course | Listening and repeating, no script needed | Generic phrases, no feedback on how you actually sounded |
| A script-first app | Reading and writing Devanagari, a daily habit | Weeks before you can say anything to a person |
| Hinglish Vinglish | Speaking real family Hindi, scored sound by sound, in English letters | Not a reading course, not a human, not an exam course |
A tutor plus this app is a strong pair: the tutor for conversation, the app for the hundred private repetitions in between.
What it costs
Every chapter is open for 7 days. No card, and nothing charges automatically when the trial ends. After that, one payment unlocks everything for good. There is no subscription. Some practice, like Ellie chats and pronunciation checks, uses credits; you get credits to start, and more come with the unlock.
FAQ
Can I learn to speak Hindi without learning the Devanagari script?
Yes. Every word in Hinglish Vinglish is written in English letters, the way Indian families already text each other. You never see or type Devanagari. Speaking and reading are separate skills, and this app teaches the speaking one.
Is Hinglish Vinglish a good app for talking to my partner's Indian family?
That is what it was built for. The founder made it so his wife could speak Hindi with his family. The chapters are the real situations: Dinner Time, In-Laws, Shaadi Time, Chai Time and Family & Relationships. You learn the phrases aunties and grandparents actually use, and you practise saying them out loud before the visit.
I understand Hindi but cannot speak it. Will this help?
Yes, and you will move fast. You already have the ear and most of the vocabulary. What you are missing is production: saying sentences out loud and being corrected. Every lesson makes you speak, and the pronunciation scorer tells you which sound slipped. Ellie, the AI coach, is private, so nobody at the dinner table hears the practice.
How does the pronunciation feedback work?
You tap the mic and say the word or sentence. The app scores you against native Hindi, sound by sound, and shows each sound in green, amber or red. Ellie then tells you which sound to fix and how, for example where your tongue goes for the Hindi t.
What is the difference between Hindi and Hinglish, and which does the app teach?
Hinglish is spoken Hindi with the English words that Indian families use every day, written in English letters. It is the register you hear at a dinner table in London or New Jersey. The app teaches that. It is still Hindi: the grammar, the sounds and the respect words are all Hindi. It just skips the textbook vocabulary nobody says.
Is it free?
It is free for 7 days with every chapter open. No card is needed and nothing charges automatically. After the trial, one payment unlocks everything for good. There is no subscription.
Is Hinglish Vinglish on iPhone and Android?
Yes. It is on the App Store for iPhone and on Google Play for Android.
Who should not use this app?
If your goal is to read and write Devanagari, pick a script-first course. If you want a human to correct you in real time, a tutor is the better tool, and a few of our chapters make good homework between lessons. If you are preparing for a Hindi exam, this is not an exam course.
Where to start
- How to learn Hindi: a complete guide for English speakers
- Do you need to learn Devanagari to speak Hindi?
- Learning Hindi for your partner’s Indian family
- How to learn Hindi when you grew up hearing it
- Hinglish vs Hindi: what’s the difference
Akhil Madan, founder of Keeda Studios. I built this for my wife, and I still check every phrase against what my own family says.