What Languages Are Spoken in India?

India is a country that classifies Hindi and English as its two main spoken languages. However, there hundreds of other languages and dialects spoken within the country, and the language and dialects vary based on the region of India. While Hindi is the national language recognized throughout the country, English is considered very important as it's the business language of India. This means that most businesspeople in India conduct business in English. Professionals may even consider English their first language, even if they can speak Hindi and another native language.

The reason English is so dominant in India is that many people rely on outsourced work from English speaking nations in order to make a living. Many large companies in the United States and Great Britain outsource phone and Internet work to Indian companies in order to save money. However, the Indian employees must know English in order to communicate with the clients of the English speaking companies. This means that anyone who desires to work as a professional will either begin speaking English from a young age or will learn English in order to get a job.

Language Separated by States

While English is spoken widely throughout India, visitors will notice that the native language changes based on the state. Gujarati is the language spoken by the majority in the state of Gujarat. Hindi is the language in almost all of northern India, although the majority of the country understands and speaks the language. Only some of the southern region lacks knowledge of Hindi. This language is so popular that many other countries such as Bangladesh, Singapore, and South Africa have people who speak Hindi as their first language.

Malayalam is the official language of the state of Kerala, located in southern India. It's considered a Dravidian language as it has influences from Hindi and Sanskrit. In western India many of the people speak Marathi, especially those in the state of Maharashtra. Marathi is the 4th most spoken language in India, and is also a common language spoken throughout the world. Panjabi is what you'll hear if you visit Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi, Jammu, and Kashmir. This language is separated in eastern and western Panjabi, with western Panjabi being spoken mostly in the Punjab section of Pakistan.

The official language of Andhra Pradesh is Telugu. It is considered a classic Indian language, having influences from Sanskrit and Hindi. One other language you may hear is Urdu. This is actually the language of Pakistan, but many people in India speak this language if they are practicing Muslims. Urdu is also the state language for Jammu and Kashmir.

Communicating in India

Any person who speaks English should be able to communicate well in India. However, with the strong dialects and variety of languages it's always a good idea to travel with a guide or a translator, especially if traveling to remote areas of India. If you are looking to learn a language in order to communicate with natives in India, Hindi would be the best language to learn as it's recognized in almost all areas of India.