Making Progress with Learning Hindi

To be completely honest, Hindi is really really hard. I think I may have entered this program with some whimsical idea that I would catch on super fast and become completely fluent, but that is not the case and I have recently become very accepting of this truth. Starting the first day of lessons was intimidating. I knew a grand total of three words and absolutely nothing else. Glad to discover that I was not alone, we dove into learning a new language head first. Not even really starting with the alphabet, we reviewed vocab and tried to read (which was hard considering we did not know the alphabet). I was frustrated and confused for a solid three days and after taking a break after my first full week of lessons, I was able to reflect on my progress.
After a week, those of us who were starting at zero were able to read words, pronounce the alphabet, count to about 20, write, conjugate basic verbs, and talk about basic things about ourselves. It wasn't until I said this aloud that I realized how much progress this actually is.
Although the language is hard and although I'm frustrated and (really) confused 98% of the time (they teach our lessons trying speaking Hindi only), I'm slowly but surely catching on and I am proud of what I have accomplished so far. Now entering our third week of classes, it is exciting to come home with new phrases and words every day and even more exciting to look forward to the future. Language is one of my passions and I really love the thought of being able to communicate with possibly thousands of other people. When you learn a new language, it's like opening a completely new and shiny door. I'm looking forward to see what my ability is at the end of my six weeks here.