About 10% of the Indian population speaks English and the rest, it sometimes seems try to. Indian English is widely resented as a symbol of colonization.  English was adopted as a foreign language not out of admiration for its linguistic virtues but as a necessary expedient. In a country with over1600 regional dialects including 18 major ones, a neutral outside language has certain obvious practicalities.

The sort of English the Indians have developed over the years is so quaintly un-English in idiom and syntax that it will not be acceptable to the international community. The Indians have learnt nothing despite their two hundred year long British connection. But, at the same time, the quantum and quality of creative and critical writing by Indians are amazingly on the increase.

Most of the people who spoke functional English were poorly educated or never went to a school which taught English. Most of them felt proud of speaking a language which they never learnt at school and picked up on their own. Most foreigners would understand and get by the communication cycle fairly easily, as it did not involve discussing politics or the disadvantages of smoking. Not many feel that they need to learn to speak English as they have never faced great difficulties. Usually when they don't know how to express themselves they utilize Hinglish, a wonderful blend of Hindi and English.

The teaching of English to Indian students by all accounts does not appear to be an easy task. The handicaps are many, such as the lack of clear objectives, the absence of motivation, out-dated syllabi, poor quality of teachers, irrelevant and antiquated examination systems, over-crowded classes, dearth of suitable textbooks and other reading materials for learners and insufficient exposure to intellectual interaction. Students are bad because teachers are worse and teachers are worse because teaching as a career has a distressingly low priority in India.

English over the years has developed certain marked features in India, not only in pronunciation, but in spelling, vocabulary and grammar. The special vocabulary of Indian English comprises words from Indian languages commonly used in English books, journals and newspapers published in India and English words that relate to specific Indian contexts or have acquired a special meaning or form in the country. Some of these words and phrases are either used only in India or have, by constant usage, adapted themselves to the Indian situation and begun to mean different things to us.

I have compiled a short list of such expressions.

Auto-rickshaw, basic education, crore (equivalent to 10 million), dacoit, godown (warehouse), prepone, tiffin, temple, indianisms.

When I was in school attending a class, sometimes it would start raining heavily and one of our teachers would very proudly ask us to, “Close the doors of the windows.” Also, if you are in India and go to an office don’t be surprised if they ask you, “Your good name please?": "What is your name?", carryover from Hindi expression "Shubh-naam", literally meaning "auspicious name".

Like most users of English as a foreign language, Indians first think in their regional languages before expressing themselves in English.  Some of the common phrases Indians would use are – Alone alone eating, the rain is falling, don’t eat my head, go eat some air, I am owning a flat, let’s go out for some ice-cream-vice-cream (ice-cream and something else), I am basically from Delhi. These are some terms which are a transliteration from Hindi to English.

Most parents now realize the importance of English as a global language and work hard to send their children to English medium schools. But the predicament these children go through is that most parents cannot speak fluent English. The child only communicates in English in his/her classroom. Once outside they still use their native language. The future of English in India looks bright but I think getting rid of some of the problems mentioned above might be very difficult.