“If some of you detect an accent, please remember that I didn’t have one until I came to this country.”
SK Gupta, Indian American executive at Sandia National Laboratories
Do you have an Indian colleague or customer who you find hard to understand? Have you ever called tech support and couldn't understand the directions because of the accent?
Then read on! There are things you can do to help.
The first thing to know is that there are 130 million Indian English speakers with a variety of accents in India and scattered all over the world. That's more than in the UK. English is one of 22 official languages of India and many Indians grow up speaking several languages, English being one of them. Indian accents may be different from the ones you're used to, but they are as valid an English accent as RP, Hollywood, or Aussie. It's different, sure, the same way my California/Texan accent is different from the Queen of England's, but it is a native speaking English accent, same as Her Royal Highness'.
Nevertheless, I've heard many of my students say that the Indian English accent is a hard one to understand. I've also heard this of the Irish, Scottish, Nigerian, Cockney, Glaswegian, Jamaican... There are a lot of native English accents in the world. There are also a lot of Indian English speakers and it's quite a bit more likely that you'll have Indian colleagues, customers, or clients rather than a Glaswegian.
So how can you overcome the difficulties?
Do the needful!
1. Listen
Indian English may sound fast, but it's really not faster than a good New York accent. The difference is that the most prevalent accents in media are American and RP British so you're used to those accents. So get used to an Indian accent! Befriend your Indian colleagues and listen to them. Watch Bollywood movies, get involved in a good Indian TV series, listen to the news from an Indian source such as NDTV. Turn on the subtitles if you need to until you don't need them anymore.
2. Understand Indian English Pronunciation Patterns
Learning the differences in pronunciation can help you understand the accent better. Here are the biggest differences.
The very biggest difference in pronunciation is the stress pattern. English words carry their stress on a particular syllable--it's pronounced longer, higher, and louder. Intelligent is /in-TELL-i-gent/. Indian English doesn't usually do this. Instead, every syllable has the same stress. I find that a lot of my English language learning students do this, too.
This stress pattern also happens in sentences. I *want* to go to the store and I want to go to the *store* emphasize difference words and therefore it changes the meaning of this sentence. Indian English usually doesn't do this.
Generally, Indian English speakers pronounce words as they are spelled. English doesn't have phonetic spelling, so this can lead to big differences in the way words are pronounced.
Indians have a sing-song quality in English, resulting from the rhythmic influence of many of the languages spoken in India.
V and W are often pronounced the same, so vet and wet sound alike.
The TH is pronounced as a T or D or even as their थ sound, which is similar but slightly different than in English.
3. Hinglish
Ever heard of Spanglish, Czechlish, or Franglais? There is also Hinglish, which is a hybridization of Hindi and English. I love these hybrids! They leads to new vocabulary, collocation differences, and idioms that are heavily influenced by a person's native language. Some of them are perfect and I say "do the needful" all the time now. Some of them can lead to miscommunication, though. For example, "I was fired" can mean I was yelled at and not just I lost my job.
The best way to learn these differences is to, again, befriend an Indian English speaker and have them teach you. If you don't have the opportunity, the Indian English Dictionary can be a great help, and it is only one of many.
Some examples:
Vocabulary:
freeship– scholarship
prepone– advance ( move up a date)
revert– report back with information
at the rate– the @ sign
clubbing– to join two things together
come home – come over to my house
cover – envelope
Collocations
take leave – to ask for time off or to leave a place
tight slap– a really hard slap
write an exam – to take an exam (not create one)
according to me – in my opinion
pindrop silence – absolute silence
bed coffee – a cup of coffee as soon as one gets up
native place – home town
Old-fashioned words that are less common elsewhere:
my missus – my wife
dickie – boot/ trunk
expire – die
Idioms:
Do the needful – do what's necessary
Any doubts? – Any questions?
Cut the call – hang up abruptly
Eating my brain – really bothering me
Mugging up – cramming, or memorizing before an exam
Neck out – to push someone out of a room by force
Got fired – either got yelled at or lost their job
Sitting on his head – forcing someone to do something
I will come just now – I will be back in a minute
4. The grammar can be wrong
Some Indians really do learn English later in life and their English can have the common mistakes that other English language learners make. As with all your friends and colleagues who aren’t native English speakers, a little patience and understanding goes a long way.
Have an Indian English accent yourself?
If you work with non-Indian English speakers and are tired of people asking you to repeat yourself, there is one thing that you can do that will make a tremendous difference in communicating.
The very biggest difference in American/British versus Indian English pronunciation is the stress pattern. Most English accents carry their stress on a particular syllable--it's pronounced longer, higher, and louder.
intelligent /in-TELL-i-gent/
compromise /COM pru mise/
cooperate /ku WAH pur ate/
economy /e KON o mie/
Learn the stress pattern of multi-syllable words and it will make a big difference.
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