Hindi etc.

[Robert J. Zydenbos]

(In reply to Jakub Cejka.)

jc> Outside the so called "Hindi Belt" I've been in TN, Kerala, Orissa,
jc> W.B., Maharashtra. I must second the above. Or rather: those with
jc> whom you can have an intelligent conversation in Hindi do usually
jc> know English as well.

jc> The Sanskritized Hindi,
jc> which is the one printed in Govt. paperwork, is understood only by
jc> more sofisticated people.

Thank you for making this point, which confirms my own experience. This
again means that Hindi as a link language is rather superfluous, and
that (as language activists in the south argue) the time and other
resources which are spent in India on Hindi education would be spent
much better in improving both English and mother-tongue education.

RZ.-