English in India

xKRISHNACOREx

Can you manage in India without any knowledge of their language?

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machadinha

Try also for instance this thread: Difficult time understanding Indian accents, or search around the forums a little.

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tacita

i think you'll find english to be one of "their" languages, and widely spoken:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officia...uages_of_India

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capt_mahajan

They speak a lot of languages.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_India



In addition, I believe they speak about one and a half thousand dialects and live in a big country. And some of them speak more than one language.

Your question- it would help if you could indicate which part of India, or which cities - you are interested in. One size doesn't fit all.


=crossposted with pretty well the whole membership =

Shaktipalooza

My wife and I were having brunch with two other Desi couples yesterday. One couple spoke Tamil, the other Kannada, and my wife speaks Telugu. Being from the South none of them can be bothered to speak Hindi. So English it was.

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trvl_in

That's a fair question. It may surprise you to learn that there are more English speakers in India than there are in the USA and the UK combined. So while there are lots of people in India who don't speak English, you will almost always be able to find someone who does to interpret for you.

You will occasionally find yourself dealing with a rickshaw / taxi wallah, restaurant staff, or shop keeper who does not speak English where either there is no English speaker available or where "translation" would not be helpful. As you gain experience in India you'll learn to negotiate this type of encounter without third party assistance. You can usually settle upon prices and destinations through pointing, sign language, and finding one or two shared words.

Bear in mind that there are dozens (hundreds?) of languages spoken in India. Literally hundreds of millions of Indians do not, for example, speak Hindi. Hindi speakers travelling in Southern India face a language hurdle, just as for example Malayam speakers from Tamil Nadu face a language hurdle in the North. English provides a bridge for Indian locals just as it does for visitors.

While you can do fine in India speaking English only, note though that if you learn even a smattering of the language spoken at your Indian destination you'll find you'll have a happier time (and get better prices).

Pradeep Nayak

C'mon, all over India every body who watches television(around 80%) can understand either english or hindi. And buy a English - Hindi guide book, you will learn to communicate us (anybody in India)within a few hours.

Nick-H

Even major daily newspapers are published in English.

I often encounter people who do not speak it, and rely greatly on my wife --- but, hey! somehow I got by before I married her!

I live here and only speak English

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xKRISHNACOREx

Thank you all for your input.

Nick-H

Wrong word order: what I mean is that there are major English-language papers, not that English is the choice for the major papers.

Maybe I just got more confusing!