Naming Feelings: Emotion Words for Children

खुश (khush), happy, and उदास (udaas), sad, give children simple, useful words for describing how they feel, an early step toward emotional vocabulary that serves them well far beyond language learning itself. Asking a child aaj tum kaisa mehsoos kar rahe ho, how are you feeling today, gently introduces emotional vocabulary alongside basic Hindi sentence structure, building two skills together in one simple, caring question.

Naming emotions in Hindi at home, alongside English, gives a bilingual child two full sets of words for expressing their inner world, a genuinely valuable skill that grows richer as their vocabulary expands. Parents should model naming their own feelings in Hindi too, main thoda thaka hua hoon, I am a little tired, rather than only asking children to name theirs.

Children generally pick up emotional vocabulary more readily when they hear it used naturally and honestly by the adults around them first. Reading a favourite picture book together and pausing to name a character's feelings in Hindi is another gentle, natural way to reinforce this vocabulary.