From English to Hindi – How India Needs to Strengthen Its Linguistic Traditions

The 12th World Hindi Conference was held this year in collaboration with the government of Fiji. Among the academic sessions held on diverse topics, the conference’s main theme was ‘Hindi: From Traditional Knowledge to Artificial Intelligence’. The closing ceremony was one of the highlights of the conference. Biman Prasad, the deputy prime minister of Fiji delivered a speech in Hindi, calling attention to the steps being taken to promote the Hindi language in the country.

This is a huge step towards making Hindi an international language. For years, English has been the cream of the crop among languages for communication in public and private sectors in India, and for good reasons. It helps citizens in global communication, better job opportunities, education, higher studies, and social mobility since it’s considered the language of the elites. But Hindi is slowly rising to the top with it being the 3rd most spoken language in the world with 610 million speakers by the start of 2024. It is evidently becoming a driving force of communication for a significant population in India. 

India’s potential in the global business sector is gaining remarkable traction. India recorded a strong GDP of 7.6% in the second quarter of FY 2023-’24. In the latest report by the Centre of Economics and Business Research (CEBR), India will sustain a robust growth rate of 6.5% every year from 2024 to 2028, surpassing Germany and Japan as the third-largest economy in the world. Because of this thousands of brands want to enter the Indian market also allowing Indian brands to expand their global footprint. This provides a huge opportunity for businesses to enhance their business communication with English to Hindi translation. But before understanding the benefits of English to Hindi translation, let’s have a look at the linguistic traditions of India.

India: A Linguistic Treasure Trove

India’s linguistic legacy is nothing short of remarkable. A popular saying goes in India that reflects its language diversity very well. ‘कोस-कोस पर पानी बदले, चार कोस पर वाणी’. It means that every 1 km in India the taste of water changes and every 4 km, the language changes. There are 122 major languages, a total of 740 languages with more than 1500 dialects in the country. This places India in the second position with the largest number of languages in any country. 

One particular language that stands out is Hindi. India celebrates Hindi Diwas on the 14th of September every year to promote the heritage and culture of Hindi and as a reminder of the linguistic diversity in our country. Globalization continues to shape our economies and societies and in a growingly interconnected world, the ability to communicate effortlessly has become an invaluable asset for any business. India’s emergence as a vital player in the global economy has rendered English to Hindi translation an important strategy in international business and trade. With a growing number of multinational companies establishing a presence in this country, communication between India and the rest of the world proves to be a crucial asset for organizations seeking to participate in cross-border business collaborations and ventures. 

English to Hindi Translation: Strengthening Our Linguistic Roots

To make Hindi a globally recognized language in business communication, translation from English to Hindi needs to be a priority. However, to make Indian languages global, they first need to be widely implemented in India. Acclaimed literary works in Indian languages are translated into English for a better reach rather than Hindi. For all Indian languages to grow together, quality translation from English to Hindi or from one Indian language to another is a must for strengthening our linguistic roots. 

Apart from literary works, the use cases of English to Hindi translations of your business assets are endless. As a mother tongue of 528 million speakers, adapting Hindi to your business strategies can enable you to connect with the Hindi-speaking audience, both in India and around the globe. Though Hindi is not the national language of India, it has the strongest link in connecting a wide range of customers to your business with a plethora of benefits.

1. Precise English to Hindi translations of websites, documents, and applications will build a strong relationship between the brand and the customer. 

2. Providing real-time Hindi translations in your customer support by leveraging personalized and frictionless communication through chatbots, voice bots, and IVR systems increases the engagement from Hindi-speaking customers. 

3. Automated English to Hindi translations by integrating speech-to-text and text-to-speech APIs will quickly and easily add authenticity and depth to your business communication. 

4. Translating information from English to Hindi in different sectors such as banking, healthcare, education, fintech and more ensures that individuals who are not proficient in English still have access to a wide range of support services in their native language.

Reverie: Creating Language Equality in India

For over a decade, Reverie has been on a mission to create language equality in India through democratizing communication in languages beyond English and Hindi. Since our inception, our goal has always been to dedicate our resources to improving the lives of millions of Indian citizens through our AI-powered language technologies.

By helping our clients from small and large businesses to government agencies, we have been establishing language standards suited for Indian languages defined and owned by the people of the country. With our continued efforts we are aiming to become the language technology platform of choice for Indian citizens by providing an end-to-end language engagement experience across the customer’s digital journey.  

As an Indian citizen relates to their mother tongue, he or she appreciates the ethos surrounding the Indian culture and languages. Sure, providing an English education to our future generations is important. However, teaching them the values of our native languages will help curb the cultural flattening of the English language that is occurring with its widespread influence in global media and technology. In that sense, Hindi and other Indian languages have to further strengthen their roots and expand their horizons to go from national to global.