What language should I learn to travel to India?

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~AN INDIAN~

Nope there are 28 states and they have their own language only 8 states have hindi speakers.Rest are Telugu,Tamil,Kannada,Malayalam,Gujarthi,... and Punjabi.

v j

English will do just fine as it is understood and spoken widely.Also Basic Hindi will be great as it is understood all over India . Tamil Nadu being an exception as they pretend as if they understand nothing but Tamil.

Hindi

JJ SHROFF

wel come to India. I don't know where are u from? Learning any indian language is quit difficult for especially europeans since the grammar is quite different. Scripts are also difficult to learn. However, for a casual visitor for short time( upto a month) english knowledge is quite adequate. Most city dwellers, tour operators guides, hotel people etc know english. Hindi is known almost everywhere except south india( I don't know why?). Each state has a different language however, Gujarati & marathi are quite similar to Hindi.In short, if u know english, u won't have problems. If u know Hindi, it's very fine.

Guru

Most of indians Know Hindi,it was our national language.
so u have to learn Hindi

neela m

Nowadays many commom people know english. A little bit hindi will help you.

HanZ

Hindi is the official language in India, so I think most will understand.

also not sure some it might be closely related to Arabian.

had a roommate who's Indian, and start teaching me some Hindi and it's kind of like Arabian.

Master

English will do if you really want to than Hindi is the first language in India...also depends which part of India you are going to.. as in India every 200km you travel there is a slight change in slang of language spoken also ever 1000 km you find a different language

caligirl

yup hindi should be understood by most states in India and probably they will speak English too

Cavaliers

Yeah, hindi is the most commen language in INDIA but English will do

Gagan

learn hindi mostly everyone knows alittle bit hindi

sobhan

Are you not an Indian?
you should learn Hindi. Hindi will mostly be understood by the people. But if you go to the southern India most people will only talk in their language only

ramamurthy k

English is generally OK, but if you are travelling mostly in the north,then a bit of Hindi would help, but the language of love and affection is globally accepted and welcomed.

aguadelfuego4

Hindi isn't spoken everywhere in India, but it is definitely the major language of the country and would definitely be the best choice to learn some phrases in. Hope this helped!

snehal

yes in most of the places people know hindi and english .... u can work on hindi before visiting india

rohingrewal

if you are trav elling south india english would do well. if having contact with upper class english would do but if u have to vist so background area or have to make contact with labour class such as rikshaw pullers/drivers, taxi drivers u must know little bit of hindi. if u r on general vist the little bit would work well.

Aquaadventure

Hindi is the national language of India. It is understood by all Indians everywhere. It will be helpful to you to work on some common phrases in Hindi. But English is also understood and spoken and written by most Indian in the major cities. But you might face some problems if you go towards the rural India so it is better if you also know some Hindi and also the local languge that states people speaks in.

rees

Hindi is understood by all people.
It really depends in which part of India are you travelling.
If travelling to the North...then mostly people speak Hindi.
If South......it's better to speak in English.
If West of India....... you can sepak both Hindi as well as English.
East of India...... English.
North of India...is Delhi, Amritsar, Jalandhar.
South....... Banglore, Chennai, Kerala
West will be.... Mumbai(Bombay), Pune, Nagpur
And east will be Kolkata.
Some good words are.... Shukriya.... means thanks.
Namaste...... meansHello.
If someone bothers you...tell... please jaoo....means please go.
If you need Cops...... tell.... Police Kaha Hai.......means where's the Police.
Always be at crowded places.......
Look for sign boards.....they are all in English.

champs_thebest

Most of the places English and Hindi is used but every states has its own language. So it will not be possible to learn everylanguage. You just sepak english and you can use some hindi somewhere. If you need any travel related service or help visit www holiday club india .net

nhv

Hindi is the mother tongue of Indians so it will be fine.. also this days most of the ppl here know English so u wont have tough time communicating..
some handy Hindi conversations..
hello = namaste
how are you = aap kaise ho?
i don't know hindi = muje hindi nahi ati :)
good luck and happy journey!!

Deepu

Hindi, Marathi, and English!

engineer1108

English. You will get a special treatment if you speak English. Asians countries are Western freaks.

Racoon85

English is good with almost every part of India.
If u r planing to go to Southern India it is not such a good idea to learn any of the local language,,stick with English Or if u can Hindi, Hindi goes anywhere in India....Tamil is also a good language if going to southern most India...If going to Kerala Learn basic Malayalam.......

NEO

U should learn follwing langauages,

English
Hindi
Kannada
Marathi
Telugu
Tamil
Malayalam
Gujarati
Oriya
Brngali
Tulu
Kashmiri
Konkani
Urdu
Manipuri
Nepali
Sanskrit
Assamese
Punjabi
Meitei
Santhali
Maithili
Dogri
Bodo

Enough?

India is a most divirsified country with more than 10, 000 languages. First you need to understand what is Indian culture? India has more than 25 states with 25 different languages. If you dont know their native languages then you may face trouble in understanding them. English will work by default. Hindi is second most preffered language.

Hope this info help you..
By,

NEO

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