I think we can all agree when I say that a good portion of us Indians have adopted English as our primary mode of communication these days. The century-long British reign in India has definitely left its mark in this matter. But just like our cuisine, we have spiced it up over the years to develop what we lovingly call Hinglish, for the more casual occasions. And guess what? It’s gone international.
Portsmouth College in the UK has been offering its students the opportunity to take a unique course. The students here have been learning Hinglish, yep, you read that right.
Just as you can imagine, it is a blend of Hindi and English (duh!). In fact, the course which was first introduced in November of 2017 as a part of a wider module, is so popular that the college is planning to offer it to a wider range of students this year. The college says this reflects an interest among students for work placements with Indian companies and that having a basic grasp of Hindi would give them a head start in the market.
The main objective of the course is to get the students to explore how Hinglish plays a vital role in society and business in the UK and internationally, and to help them better grasp the specific cultural references in headlines/texts in adverts, films and newspapers related to India.
According to the Tribune India, an initial cohort of 18 students attended the Hinglish sessions on a regular basis, who are now giving their feedback on how the course could be further developed. It will then become a regular feature from the 2018-19 academic year as part of the Modern Business Language & Culture programme at Portsmouth College in Hampshire.
Watch this video to catch a glimpse of the class:
Now considering how Hinglish is technically not even an actual language and is literally a jugaad, I can’t help but feel a teeny tiny bit of joy (with a dash of smugness) at the irony of the situation. Here we were worried that we’d lose our Indianness to this wave of westernisation, and instead, we’ve got them turning desi.
Take a bow people, take a bow.