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Colour names in Hindi and English

Colouring time is the easiest time to teach colour names, in two languages at once. Say the name as you hand over the crayon. Here are the colours a child needs first, with their Hindi names and how to say them.

The colours

Where the Hindi names come from

Many Hindi colour names are simply the name of a thing with that colour, which makes them easy to remember. नारंगी is also the word for an orange fruit. बैंगनी comes from बैंगन, the brinjal. गुलाबी comes from गुलाब, the rose. आसमानी comes from आसमान, the sky. सुनहरा comes from सोना, gold. Tell the child the story of the word and it will stick.

The ending changes

In Hindi, colour words that end in the sound "aa" change with the thing they describe: नीला आसमान (blue sky), नीली पतंग (blue kite), नीले फूल (blue flowers). So do पीला, हरा, काला, भूरा and सुनहरा. Colour words with other endings stay the same: लाल सेब, लाल गाड़ी; गुलाबी फूल, गुलाबी टोपी. Children pick this up by ear; there is no need to teach it as a rule.

Mixing colours

Three colours, red, yellow and blue, can make most of the others. Try it with paint, or by colouring lightly with one crayon over another:

Adding white makes any colour lighter, and adding a little black makes it darker. Add black a tiny bit at a time: it is strong.

The colours of the rainbow

From the outside of the arc to the inside: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. In Hindi: लाल, नारंगी, पीला, हरा, नीला, जामुनी, बैंगनी. Hindi school books remember the order from violet to red with the word बैजानीहपीनाला, made from the first sounds of the seven names; English books use VIBGYOR. The rainbow colouring page is a ready-made way to practise.

Five small games

  1. Bring me something red. Name a colour; the child runs to touch something of that colour. Swap languages each round.
  2. Crayon shop. You are the customer: "मुझे हरा रंग चाहिए." The child sells you the right crayon.
  3. Sort the laundry. Socks and T-shirts into colour piles, naming each pile.
  4. Fruit colours. Colour the apple, bananas, carrot and grapes, saying "लाल सेब, पीला केला, नारंगी गाजर, हरे अंगूर".
  5. One colour day. Choose a colour for the day and count how many things of that colour you both spot on the way to school.

If colours are often mixed up

Most children know the main colour names by four. A child who is otherwise bright but keeps confusing red with green, or blue with purple, after that age may see colours differently, which is common, especially in boys. It is worth mentioning to an eye doctor. This is general information and not a diagnosis.

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