Language Landscape in India

Video Transcript

(Note: This transcript has been edited for readability.)

"The good news is: because English is used as more or less as the auxiliary language throughout the country whether you're in the North or the South or in Mumbai, most signs are in whatever the local language is and English. So you'll have no trouble getting by whatsoever. Only once did I ever run into a situation where a guy didn't speak English very well and that was in a taxi cab in Delhi. That's the one situation where I ran into a bit of a language barrier but eventually I was able to make myself understood there too just by slowly saying where I need to go and he was like, "Oh okay," and he was able to take me there. But most Indians whether they are out on the streets or on any official business will at least know English as a second language. If they're an educated Indian, they'll know English, as well as their own language."

An Indian national discusses the linguistic landscape.