I just started learning last month. The first foreign language I really learned was Mandinka, in Senegal, when I went there from late 2017- March 2020, with the U.S. Peace Corps, until the recent global evacuation of volunteers due to the pandemic.
I had never been immersed in a language, nor ever a need to learn a new language, as I'd never been to a country that didn't speak English. I loved it.
I am pretty fluent in Mandinka and writing a language learning guide for it. While there I also learned Wolof to a low/intermediate level, as it's the lingua franca. French, the official language I only learned what I needed from it (numbers for shopping/time, etc).
At the end of the 2 years, I applied for a 3rd year job there working with another NGO, where I'd need French and Wolof. So I began studying French more. Also met my current partner in Dakar, she's from Burkina Faso, and she's helped my French a lot. I'm at a decent intermediate level in French now too. And someday I want to learn her first language, Moore (lingua franca of Burkina Faso) but for now I just know some basic phrases and words.
So how's any of this relate to Hindi? Well, I've loved Indian music since I first heard George Harrison Beatles songs with sitar, and in high school/college I listened to a lot of Ravi Shankar and other Indian music.
I've always thought the Devanagari script is beautiful. I've always been interested in religion/mythology from everywhere in the world. And Hinduism has such a rich world of mythology/history, so I've read the Upanishads and Ramayana. And always wanted to go to India.
Bc of being evacuated to the U.S. and losing my job, I have no need to learn Wolof anymore. And while I still study French daily and practice with my partner, I decided I have the free time to try and learn another language.
I know how hard it is to learn a language in a country that can't speak mine. And even in Senegal I was learning a minority language maybe 10-12% speak Mandinka, and even less in the area I was in. Just my small host community and a few nearby towns.
So that makes India attractive to visit (someday) as I'd usually be able to fall back on English when (not if) my Hindi breaks down. I also assume most tourists don't learn more than Namaste there, as in Senegal most tourists just rely on their French.
So I've seen how much it means to people to see a foreigner attempt their language, and there's no better way to make friends or understand a culture than through language.
Sorry for the long answer. I really enjoy the sub!
धन्यवाद