Re: OT Indian Linguistics Re: Question for Vinay


Aditya Basrur wrote:
> Cricketwallah wrote:
>
> > Sadiq [ which would mean fluency in 3 languages, pretty impressive ]
> > Yusuf
>
> More, I think - dp can confirm, but my impression was that Dravid could
> get by reasonably well in Kannada, English, Marathi, Hindi and Tamil.
> English, because I've heard him speak it fine. Kannada, because my Dad
> spoke to him in it, and he responded at length. Marathi, because one of
> his parents does. Hindi is basically an assumption - I don't imagine
> he'd have too many problems, given it's the national language and all.
> And Tamil because he has a Tamil parent or something, right?
>
> To me, this doesn't seem that unique for someone growing up in
> metropolitan India.

Exactly. Two generations of my family can speak 4 languages: English,
Hindi, Tamil, and Gujrati. I can read all 4. My dad can understand
Telugu and speak enough to get by in rural Andhra. (Probably like
Dravid's Kannada?) I'm sure there are cricketers even, who can do
better than Dravid. I've spoken with Hemang Badani in English, Tamil,
and Gujrati, for e.g., and I'm positive he knows Hindi as well.

-Samarth.

My mother grew up in Bombay. We speak Konkani at
> home, and English outside. She picked up Gujarati from her friends and
> Hindi and Marathi from school. Dad can do Konkani, English, Hindi,
> Kannada, and a bit of Bengali. He can also understand Telugu and Tamil
> reasonably ok, having spent spells in Hyderabad and further South.
>
> But even if a kid grows up in one city, they'd have to learn Hindi,
> English and the language of their state, surely? Throw in a foreign
> mother-tongue (or two, as in Dravid's case), and you've got four
> languages there. A cousin of mine is married to a Tamilian who grew up
> in Delhi and Punjab - he speaks English, Tamil, Punjabi and Hindi. And
> so on. You might not have a facility with language, but you'd probably
> get exposed to three at least, no matter where you live? (If it's
> Dravid's ability to pick up and speak languages you're admiring, then
> sure, he's done well - it just doesn't strike me as being *that*
> unusual.)
>
> Aditya [ Who'll have something in common with Dravid's kids. ] Basrur

.

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