How many Indian languages do you speak / understand?

Samurai · 14th August 2020, 15:13

English (UWRST)
Kannada (UWRST)
Tulu (UST) [No one can really Read Write since the script is practically unknown]
Hindi (US) Can't speak fluently or articulate complex ideas. Understand perfectly though.
Kodava (U) - Could speak as teen, but lost touch with time

Have smattering understanding of Bangalore Telugu & Tamil.

ValarMorghulis · 14th August 2020, 15:28

When it comes to languages, I really envy my friends who grew up in Chennai, Hyderabad or Bangalore! They usually know Tamil, Telgu, Kannada, and Malyalam (all of them)!!
Me? A guy from Nainital? Fluent only in Hindi and English. Know a smattering of Kumaoini and a bit of German.

I had a Marathi friend who grew up in Chennai and knew Marathi, Tamil, Telgu, a bit of Malyalam, English (of course), Hindi and Kannada! Then she learnt German!

She said Telgu, Tamil and Kannada (or was it Malyalam) are similar!

Mistakenguy · 14th August 2020, 15:32

Malayalam - Read, Write, Speak
English - Read, Write, Speak
Hindi - Read, Write, Speak
Tamil - Speak (70-80% fluency)
Kannada- Speak ( 50-60% fluency)
Telugu - Only Understand

Used to understand Gujarati and was able to construct basic sentences in Gujarati when did my PG in Gujarat. Pretty sure it would be very rusty by now.

ram.iyer95 · 14th August 2020, 15:35

1. English : Read, Write, Speak. Was the medium of instruction throughout my education.

2. Malayalam : Read, Write, Speak. Was born and raised in Kerala, but still Malayalam isn't my mother tongue. Formally studied the language at school as well.

3. Hindi : Read, Write, Speak. Learnt formally from school. Had the language in my curriculum for almost 6 years. Gained speaking proficiency by conversing with my colleagues from up-north.

4. Tamil : Read, Write, Speak. My mother tongue, but never studied the language formally. Learnt reading and writing by myself. At home, we converse in a weird mix of Tamil and Malayalam, but I can speak proper Tamil fluently as well. People sometimes stare at me with surprise when I say Malayalam isn't my mother tongue despite being a true-blue Keralite. To be honest, I am myself in an identity crisis.

5. Kannada : Speak. Learnt conversing in this beautiful language to a reasonable level of proficiency, courtesy of my short two-year stint at Mysore for my previous employer. Found it easy to learn and grasp. Would have made efforts to learn the script as well, had the stint been any longer.

I know bits and pieces of Sanskrit as well, since I studied the the language for a couple of years as a part of my high school curriculum; forgot most of it now due to non-usage.

DCEite · 14th August 2020, 15:42

I feel so embarrassed. Know only Hindi and English but can understand and speak Punjabi as well (not read/write though).

I was in south India(Bangalore) for a brief duration(1.5 years) and i did catch up on a couple of Kannada phrases. Like Seri (ok), bunny (come), yeshtu (how much), howda (!!), madi (do), gotha (know), gothilla (don't know)..swalpa (little bit) etc.

autospeaker · 14th August 2020, 15:50

1. Kannada - USRWT
2. Telugu - USR
3. Tamil - U
4. Hindi - USRW
5. Brazilian Portuguese- USR (50% only

)

Gansan · 14th August 2020, 15:56

1) Tamil. Read, write, speak. It is my mother tongue.

2) English. Read, write, speak. It was my second language in school and medium of instruction in college.

3) Kannada. Can understand to some extent and speak/answer in simple phrases. Spent five years at Bangalore. Was better but somewhat rusty now, because I left Bangalore 15 years ago. Can't read or write though.

4) Can understand Malayalam to a fair extent and reply in Tamil! A Malayali can also understand what I say to a fair extent, not much issues there. Both languages are mutually intelligible to some extent. Can't read or write though.

5) Hindi. This is the language I know the least. Can understand perhaps 25% of what is being said and give one/two word replies! No read/write skills.

pjbiju · 14th August 2020, 15:56

Malayalam - SRWU
English - SRWU
Hindi - SRWU
Tamil - SRWU
Kannada - SRWU
Telugu - UR
Marathi - UR

Had learned a bit of Italian and German which is mostly forgotten now.

SPIKE ARRESTOR · 14th August 2020, 17:01

1. Malayalam - SWRU
2. Hindi - SWRU
3. English - SWRU
4. Tamil - SU
5. Marathi - SU (50%)
6. Punjabi - U
7. German - SWRU
8. Bhojpuri - SU (50%)
9. Maithili - SU (50%)
10. Santhali - U (slowly dwindling away, left Jharkhand in 2001)
11. Mundari - U (slowly dwindling away, left Jharkhand in 2001)

arvind71181 · 14th August 2020, 17:11

1. English - Read, Write, Converse
2. Tamil - Converse, Read, Write (Reading and writing self taught once I moved for good to TN in my 5th standard, so both are slow but I am sure I can make my point when I write in Tamil). Wish I had a formal training in Tamil
3. Telugu - Mother tongue - Converse, Read, Write. Learnt it formally for a couple of years so ability to read and write very slowly. Realize now that I should have continued to learn the language better
4. Kannada - Understand only.
5. Hindi - Read, Write, Converse - Spend a lot of my early years up north so can do all 3. Conversing is a bit down now as have lost touch, but I can get my point across

Dry Ice · 14th August 2020, 17:25

English, Hindi and Bengali (can't read/write)

Due to bengali, can understand a bit of Oriya/Assamese. But cannot converse in them.

Telgu - if someone speaks slowly. Left Hyderabad in 2013, so out of touch now.

Where are all the bengali speakers, don't see it in any of the previous posts.

AltoLXI · 14th August 2020, 17:30

1. English (USRWT) - First language in school and college.
2. Kannada (USRWT) - Mother tongue. Can understand and converse in all dialects of Kannada.

3. Hindi (USRW) - Third language in primary school. Watching Bollywood movies and listening songs helped to some extent.
4. Sanskrit (RW) - First language in high school and PUC. Lost touch post college days.
5. Marathi (RW) - Partly understand and speak. Was born and brought up in Dharwad, known for Hindustani music and literature. Due to historical and cultural reasons, Kannada dialect of North Karnataka has fair mix of Marathi words.

DigitalOne · 14th August 2020, 17:33

English-SRWU
Tamil - SRWU
Telugu-SU
Kannada-SU (speaking is weak).
Hindi-SRWU
Japanese- Intermediate level for SRWU

Just wondering when would I have last written Hindi or Tamil

?

OrangeCar · 14th August 2020, 18:56

Can write/read/speak at varying degrees:
- Kannada
- Telugu
- Hindi
- English

Can understand (to an extent):
- Tamil.

Pretend to understand:
- Tulu
- Konkani
- Punjabi
- Gujarati
- Bengali
- Malayalam

Inventor of language:
- Secret language used by global security agencies

motorpsycho · 14th August 2020, 19:32

I am language challenged when compared to most of our family, everyone speaks at least 3 native languages fluently, with Kannada being the mother tongue.

I am fluent in Kannada and Hindi, can understand a little bit of Marathi.
My Dad and Mum, speak Marathi and Konkani respectively and wife can speak Telugu. I can read a bit of Telugu, but do not understand it.

I spent a few years in Pune and regret it immensely that I did not pick the language.

14th August 2020, 15:13	#16
Samurai Team-BHP Support Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Bangalore/Udupi Posts: 25,828 Thanked: 45,521 Times View My Garage	re: How many Indian languages do you speak / understand? English (UWRST) Kannada (UWRST) Tulu (UST) [No one can really Read Write since the script is practically unknown] Hindi (US) Can't speak fluently or articulate complex ideas. Understand perfectly though. Kodava (U) - Could speak as teen, but lost touch with time Have smattering understanding of Bangalore Telugu & Tamil.
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14th August 2020, 15:28	#17
ValarMorghulis BHPian Join Date: Apr 2019 Location: Bangalore Posts: 371 Thanked: 3,085 Times	re: How many Indian languages do you speak / understand? When it comes to languages, I really envy my friends who grew up in Chennai, Hyderabad or Bangalore! They usually know Tamil, Telgu, Kannada, and Malyalam (all of them)!! Me? A guy from Nainital? Fluent only in Hindi and English. Know a smattering of Kumaoini and a bit of German. I had a Marathi friend who grew up in Chennai and knew Marathi, Tamil, Telgu, a bit of Malyalam, English (of course), Hindi and Kannada! Then she learnt German! She said Telgu, Tamil and Kannada (or was it Malyalam) are similar!
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14th August 2020, 15:32	#18
Mistakenguy BHPian Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Mumbai Posts: 188 Thanked: 84 Times	re: How many Indian languages do you speak / understand? Malayalam - Read, Write, Speak English - Read, Write, Speak Hindi - Read, Write, Speak Tamil - Speak (70-80% fluency) Kannada- Speak ( 50-60% fluency) Telugu - Only Understand Used to understand Gujarati and was able to construct basic sentences in Gujarati when did my PG in Gujarat. Pretty sure it would be very rusty by now.
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14th August 2020, 15:35	#19
ram.iyer95 BHPian Join Date: Nov 2018 Location: KA-01 / KL-09 Posts: 140 Thanked: 484 Times	re: How many Indian languages do you speak / understand? 1. English : Read, Write, Speak. Was the medium of instruction throughout my education. 2. Malayalam : Read, Write, Speak. Was born and raised in Kerala, but still Malayalam isn't my mother tongue. Formally studied the language at school as well. 3. Hindi : Read, Write, Speak. Learnt formally from school. Had the language in my curriculum for almost 6 years. Gained speaking proficiency by conversing with my colleagues from up-north. 4. Tamil : Read, Write, Speak. My mother tongue, but never studied the language formally. Learnt reading and writing by myself. At home, we converse in a weird mix of Tamil and Malayalam, but I can speak proper Tamil fluently as well. People sometimes stare at me with surprise when I say Malayalam isn't my mother tongue despite being a true-blue Keralite. To be honest, I am myself in an identity crisis. 5. Kannada : Speak. Learnt conversing in this beautiful language to a reasonable level of proficiency, courtesy of my short two-year stint at Mysore for my previous employer. Found it easy to learn and grasp. Would have made efforts to learn the script as well, had the stint been any longer. I know bits and pieces of Sanskrit as well, since I studied the the language for a couple of years as a part of my high school curriculum; forgot most of it now due to non-usage. Last edited by ram.iyer95 : 14th August 2020 at 15:39.
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14th August 2020, 15:42	#20
DCEite Senior - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: NCR Posts: 3,417 Thanked: 2,551 Times	re: How many Indian languages do you speak / understand? I feel so embarrassed. Know only Hindi and English but can understand and speak Punjabi as well (not read/write though). I was in south India(Bangalore) for a brief duration(1.5 years) and i did catch up on a couple of Kannada phrases. Like Seri (ok), bunny (come), yeshtu (how much), howda (!!), madi (do), gotha (know), gothilla (don't know)..swalpa (little bit) etc.
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14th August 2020, 15:50	#21
autospeaker BHPian Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 161 Thanked: 127 Times	re: How many Indian languages do you speak / understand? 1. Kannada - USRWT 2. Telugu - USR 3. Tamil - U 4. Hindi - USRW 5. Brazilian Portuguese- USR (50% only)
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14th August 2020, 15:56	#22
Gansan Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2009 Location: Chennai Posts: 4,535 Thanked: 5,551 Times	re: How many Indian languages do you speak / understand? 1) Tamil. Read, write, speak. It is my mother tongue. 2) English. Read, write, speak. It was my second language in school and medium of instruction in college. 3) Kannada. Can understand to some extent and speak/answer in simple phrases. Spent five years at Bangalore. Was better but somewhat rusty now, because I left Bangalore 15 years ago. Can't read or write though. 4) Can understand Malayalam to a fair extent and reply in Tamil! A Malayali can also understand what I say to a fair extent, not much issues there. Both languages are mutually intelligible to some extent. Can't read or write though. 5) Hindi. This is the language I know the least. Can understand perhaps 25% of what is being said and give one/two word replies! No read/write skills. Last edited by Gansan : 14th August 2020 at 15:57.
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14th August 2020, 15:56	#23
pjbiju Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pune Posts: 1,357 Thanked: 1,092 Times	re: How many Indian languages do you speak / understand? Malayalam - SRWU English - SRWU Hindi - SRWU Tamil - SRWU Kannada - SRWU Telugu - UR Marathi - UR Had learned a bit of Italian and German which is mostly forgotten now.
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14th August 2020, 17:01	#24
SPIKE ARRESTOR Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 2,854 Thanked: 1,532 Times	re: How many Indian languages do you speak / understand? 1. Malayalam - SWRU 2. Hindi - SWRU 3. English - SWRU 4. Tamil - SU 5. Marathi - SU (50%) 6. Punjabi - U 7. German - SWRU 8. Bhojpuri - SU (50%) 9. Maithili - SU (50%) 10. Santhali - U (slowly dwindling away, left Jharkhand in 2001) 11. Mundari - U (slowly dwindling away, left Jharkhand in 2001) Last edited by SPIKE ARRESTOR : 14th August 2020 at 17:06. Reason: added 8 9 10 11 :)
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14th August 2020, 17:11	#25
arvind71181 Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2010 Location: TN-14 Posts: 1,095 Thanked: 1,691 Times	re: How many Indian languages do you speak / understand? 1. English - Read, Write, Converse 2. Tamil - Converse, Read, Write (Reading and writing self taught once I moved for good to TN in my 5th standard, so both are slow but I am sure I can make my point when I write in Tamil). Wish I had a formal training in Tamil 3. Telugu - Mother tongue - Converse, Read, Write. Learnt it formally for a couple of years so ability to read and write very slowly. Realize now that I should have continued to learn the language better 4. Kannada - Understand only. 5. Hindi - Read, Write, Converse - Spend a lot of my early years up north so can do all 3. Conversing is a bit down now as have lost touch, but I can get my point across
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14th August 2020, 17:25	#26
Dry Ice Distinguished - BHPian Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: -- Posts: 3,552 Thanked: 7,261 Times	re: How many Indian languages do you speak / understand? English, Hindi and Bengali (can't read/write) Due to bengali, can understand a bit of Oriya/Assamese. But cannot converse in them. Telgu - if someone speaks slowly. Left Hyderabad in 2013, so out of touch now. Where are all the bengali speakers, don't see it in any of the previous posts. Last edited by Dry Ice : 14th August 2020 at 17:27.
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14th August 2020, 17:30	#27
AltoLXI BHPian Join Date: May 2008 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 420 Thanked: 1,660 Times	re: How many Indian languages do you speak / understand? 1. English (USRWT) - First language in school and college. 2. Kannada (USRWT) - Mother tongue. Can understand and converse in all dialects of Kannada. 3. Hindi (USRW) - Third language in primary school. Watching Bollywood movies and listening songs helped to some extent. 4. Sanskrit (RW) - First language in high school and PUC. Lost touch post college days. 5. Marathi (RW) - Partly understand and speak. Was born and brought up in Dharwad, known for Hindustani music and literature. Due to historical and cultural reasons, Kannada dialect of North Karnataka has fair mix of Marathi words. Last edited by AltoLXI : 14th August 2020 at 17:33.
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14th August 2020, 17:33	#28
DigitalOne BHPian Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Bangalore Posts: 184 Thanked: 2,718 Times	re: How many Indian languages do you speak / understand? English-SRWU Tamil - SRWU Telugu-SU Kannada-SU (speaking is weak). Hindi-SRWU Japanese- Intermediate level for SRWU Just wondering when would I have last written Hindi or Tamil ?
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14th August 2020, 18:56	#29
OrangeCar BHPian Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Bengaluru Posts: 254 Thanked: 1,336 Times	re: How many Indian languages do you speak / understand? Can write/read/speak at varying degrees: - Kannada - Telugu - Hindi - English Can understand (to an extent): - Tamil. Pretend to understand: - Tulu - Konkani - Punjabi - Gujarati - Bengali - Malayalam Inventor of language: - Secret language used by global security agencies Last edited by OrangeCar : 14th August 2020 at 18:57.
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14th August 2020, 19:32	#30
motorpsycho BHPian Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Hubli Posts: 482 Thanked: 448 Times	re: How many Indian languages do you speak / understand? I am language challenged when compared to most of our family, everyone speaks at least 3 native languages fluently, with Kannada being the mother tongue. I am fluent in Kannada and Hindi, can understand a little bit of Marathi. My Dad and Mum, speak Marathi and Konkani respectively and wife can speak Telugu. I can read a bit of Telugu, but do not understand it. I spent a few years in Pune and regret it immensely that I did not pick the language.
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