7 Best News Websites to Learn Speaking and Writing Marathi
There are many ways to learn a new language – or to brush up on those rusty skills. Having a good tutor and taking one on one lessons is just one of those ways. In addition to this, it is a good idea to make other efforts to expand one’s knowledge of a language, by continually attempting to speak it with other people even if there are errors of syntax and grammar. Another way to improve and refine one’s language skills is to keep abreast of the news in that language. We look at some of the best news websites that will help to learn speaking and writing Marathi, and why.
How the news helps improve your language skills
Listening to the Marathi news on YouTube or a streaming website or even a podcast will help familiarise you with new words and phrases. It will help to expand your vocabulary. It isn’t just that you will get to know about the local news, this will also help you understand local customs, trends and culture a little better. This will familiarise the learner of Marathi with various writing styles – both formal and informal. Also, the more you read, the easier writing becomes for you. So it is a good idea to practice reading as much as possible when you're trying to learn or improve your knowledge of a language.
Reading the news is good practice. It will improve speed of both reading and comprehension. Listening to the news gives you the added advantage of familiarising you with various regional accents and usage. For instance, the Marathi spoken in the Pune region is closer to “standard” or textbook Marathi. On the other hand, the Marathi spoken in Mumbai is typically peppered with slang and colloquial usage with some Gujarati and Hindi words thrown in as well. There are also regional variations in the way some words are pronounced. Reading the news in Marathi is the way to get hyper-local news, since a lot of publications are specific to certain regions. Since Maharashtra is one of India’s largest states it has a lot of regional linguistic variations.
Many online Marathi newspapers offer the added advantage of letting you read in English (and other language options where available), with the simple click of the mouse or a tap of the finger. So when you find it difficult to comprehend a Marathi headline, you can simply switch to English for a bit and then back again. We look at some of the top news websites that will help you learn to speak and write Marathi.
Sakaal
When I moved to Pune as a college student, I realised that the newspaper I was most likely to see outside houses early in the morning (apart from the leading English dailies) was Sakaal. This is a Marathi language newspaper based in Pune, though it is published from many other cities of Maharashtra as well. The reader can choose from various tabs on the website: latest news (बातम्या), country or city specific news, sports, weekly updates and so on.
सकाळ (meaning morning) was also one of the first Marathi words I learned right along with Laukar (लौकर meaning quickly or early). I seem to remember that The Times of India would be delivered a tad later (उशीर) where we lived. And there it was – right away I was learning the language just by paying a little attention to the newspaper.
Loksatta
This is one of the most popular Marathi dailies and is part of the Indian Express Group. The Loksatta (the word literally means “people power”) newspaper saw a dip in its circulation before getting a new lease of life around the early 2000s when new supplements were added to city editions of the newspaper. The newspaper brings readers all the latest news from sports, local and international politics, entertainment, health, lifestyle, technology, business, education and more. Since the publication has access to the resources of the Express group, it is well regarded as a reliable source of authentic information.
Lokmat
This newspaper is said to be the largest, most widely read Marathi language newspaper in the county. Lokmat (meaning “people’s opinion”) also has an English version called Lokmat Times and a Hindi edition called Lokmat Samachar. Get all the latest national and international news, cricket updates, entertainment, all the currently trending topics as well as specific news from Nagpur and Aurangabad from this portal. The content on this news platform is free to read and the portal also has the LT Premium tab for Editor’s Pick headlines.
Reena Daruwalla
Punya Nagri
This is one of the more recent of the Marathi language newspapers and is published from Mumbai and many other cities of Maharashtra such as Pune, Ahmednagar, Nashik, Kolhapur, Satara, Nanded and others. The Punya Nagri (meaning “virtue city”) website offers direct access to all of the epapers of the newspaper published by date. Readers can quickly access the Main Edition, Smart Edition or any of the newspaper's supplements from Latur, Thane, Jalgaon etc. This easily done simply by clicking on the option of choice and then further clicking on the story of interest to read it.
Tarun Bharat
This is a colonial era newspaper started in 1919 that is today the seventh largest Marathi newspaper. Tarun Bharat (meaning “Young India”) is based in Belagavi which is actually in the state of Karnataka, which has significant Marathi speaking areas. The paper has editions published from Sangli, Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Goa etc. as well.
Divya Marathi
Divya Marathi (divya meaning brilliant or divine) is a Marathi daily from the Dainik Bhaskar Group which has 66 editions in four Indian languages. Get all the news from Maharashtra, the Centre, cricket, entertainment, business, see what’s trending.
Sanchar
This is another leading Marathi daily broadsheet and is based out of Solapur. Sanchar (meaning communication) was set up in the 1960s and continues to have a loyal readership today as well. The website gives instant access to the eaper, which readers can quickly read by clicking on the required page or referring to the Archive tab.
The thing to remember is to keep reading, even though it may be slow going and frustrating to begin with. With all these online Marathi news websites available 24x7, you have the tools to learn speaking and writing Marathi in a way that costs nothing but your own perseverance.
