10 Most Spoken Languages of India

By - July 27, 2022 - Guides & Tips, India
Indian Languages

India is one such country that is said to have unity in diversity. Now be that in religion and culture that is followed or the languages that are spoken here. Talking further about languages, it is one such thing for which the travelers fall in love to explore this country. There are nearly 22 languages in this country that are recognized by the government officially. While more than 100 languages are spoken across the country. In India, Hindi is the most common language that is followed and then comes English. But English is still spoken as the medium of language in different cultures amongst the middle class and upper-middle-class otherwise; Hindi is spoken by all classes of India from poor till rich.

Every state has got its language and given below are the details of the language that are quite spoken in India and which if you are planning to visit the country soon, you need to be aware of too.

Here is the list of Most Spoken Languages of India

Hindi:

There is no denial of the fact that Hindi is a widely spoken language in the states of India. This language is said to be a common mode of communication within Indian itself. Other than Hindi, English has also become the official language but it is mostly used for government affairs. It is believed that nearly 551 million people speak this language. Now be that Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, or even Haryana and Maharashtra, almost in every state, you will find people talking in Hindi as their first language.

It is beloved that this language has its root stems from ancient Sanskrit and nearly 60% of the Indians speak and write in Hindi. Being the first language of India, most of the schools have this as a compulsory subject. Hindi is an Indo-Aryan language and mostly on the Northside of India, this is spoken as the first language.

Suggested Madhya Pradesh Packages:

Suggested Maharashtra Packages:

Marathi:

More than 72 million people speak this language. It is believed that in all other languages Marathi is the easiest one to understand and learn too since it has most of the meaning similar to the Hindi language. Maharashtra and the people of its neighboring state follow this language the most. Even when you enter Maharashtra state, you will find people talking in Marathi as their primate language. It is believed that this language is more than 2500 years old.

Bengali:

Nearly 83 million people in India talk in this language. This is a language originated from the state of West Bengal. Even if Hindi and Bengali both are different languages but their root again is from Sanskrit itself. This means you may find the structure of the grammar quite similar. It is also said to be the poetic language and the national anthem of India was first written in Bengali only. Basically, the official language of Bangladesh is Bengali, and even after its partition of India in the year 1949, this cultural religion is practiced in India. In West Bengali and Kolkata, this language is spoken the most.

Suggested West Bengal Packages:

Urdu:

This is another popular language that is believed to be spoken in India. It is said that nearly 51 million people especially from Jammu and Kashmir talk in Urdu and are also said to be the popular North Indian language. It is also said to be the sister language of Hindi. Understanding this language may not be that difficult than communicating as the words are quite tricky and need the right accent to be used. This is also an official language of Pakistan and most of the North Indian poetry and music are written in the Urdu language itself.

Suggested Jammu & Kashmir Packages:

Telugu:

More than 71 million people from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh speak this language. It is a south Indian language and is said to be the beginning of the family of Dravidian language. Of all the south languages, Telugu is mostly spoken. It is said that Marathi and Telgu have more a similar word which is why understanding this language may not be as that complex as speaking in it. It is said to be the 4th most spoken language of India.

Oriya:

Compared to other languages that we just saw, probably the speakers of Oriya are not much and the number of speakers is 27 million. But this is also a well recognized and spoken language of India. It is said to be the most common form of communication for the people from the Jharkhand, Bengal, and Andra Pradesh. This language is spoken by many small communities and has been also adopted to be the official language in the year 2011

Tamil:

More than 67 million people from Tamil Nadu speak this language. It is the primary language of the entire south Indian state and again is another Dravidian language. It is one of the eldest languages of the world which is spoken even actively to date. There might be a problem for you to communicate in Tamil Nadu if you don’t know Tamil or English as these are the only languages that are followed by the people here. It is believed that along with Sanskrit, it is one classical language that has got its root and story. This classical language is believed to be followed not just in India but also in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Singapore too.

Suggested Tamil Nadu Packages:

Gujarati:

More than 55 million people follow this language. Gujarati, to understand this language and even to learn it is extremely simple over all other languages practiced in India. There are many of its words that are relevant to Sanskrit and Hindi. It is believed that most of the people from Gujarat are entrepreneurs and merchants. The very own Mahatma Gandhi was also a native speaker of this language who helped get a Gujarati literature resurgence in India done. In-State of Gujarat, you will find people speaking Gujarati s the primary language than Hindi.

Suggested Gujarat Packages:

Malayalam:

Similar to Oriya, even the number of speakers of Malayalam is not more than 38 million. This mode of language is commonly spoken in Kerala and is said to be the only group in India that has the best literacy rate. The speakers of Malayalam are called Malayalis and are said to be used as the mode of communication by neighboring states also.

Suggested Kerala Packages:

Kannada:

Other than Telugu and Tamil, it is the Kannada language that nearly 44 million people follow. Just like Tamil, it is also a South Indian Dravidian language. It is believed to be one of the oldest surviving languages of the world. In Karnataka, this language is popularly spoken and comes in more than 20 different dialects

Other than this Konaki from Goa, Assamese from Assam, Mizo from Mizoram, Kashmiri from Kashmir, and Manipuri are some of the other scheduled Languages that are highly followed

Suggested Goa Packages:

Suggested North East India Packages:

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The Language to Practice Before Travelling To India:

As said earlier, Hindi is the most preferred and highly common language that is spoken in India. You can practice speaking ‘Hello’ which is said ‘Namaskar’ and ‘Thank you’ which is said as ‘ Dhanyawad’ as a common gesture when you meet and greet people. Moving further, there are some local languages as well that may help you bond with the people where you are traveling too. Since India is placed with the heart of people serving you with the right treatment, surely you will not be disappointed. But learning languages can also be fun and you will have the most amazing time to understand how the words were developed

Some Quick Tips:

Now depending on the location, you must shortlist the languages that you need to practice. For example, if you are covering a golden triangle, it means cities of North India like Jaipur, Agra, and Delhi will be covered which has Hindi as the medium of language being spoken. You are advised to learn only some of the phrases in Hindi.

Suggested Golden Triangle India Packages:

In case you are planning to explore the entertainment city that never sleeps which is Mumbai is located in Maharashtra. You need to practice Marathi a little bit along with Hindi as the basic mode of communication for better understanding.

Suggested Mumbai Packages:

To learn new languages like Hindi, Gujarati and Urdu may not be that hard as long as you practice the word frequently. Just the focus should be more on the accent part and you shall be an expert in no time too

There are Hindi learning parts unlike English that have pronunciation quite different. You need to understand that ‘R’ has got three sounds and so has ‘T’. But the same case in English doesn’t exist and that is why those who speak of English the most may have a difficult time learning and pronouncing the Hindi language. You have to be extremely careful with the pronunciation because if that gets wrong then you may not be able to goodie you on few things rightly. It is now time to hire a tutor or start your online course on learning the Hindi language before you even plan to book tickets to India.

You will find suitable India holiday packages here:

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