Delhi speaks a plethora of languages for people from
all parts of India reside here. The place is like a namkeen (Indian
salty snack) where you taste a little bit of everything. It is an
articulate matrix of different people, different mind sets and their
different way of expressions.
Hindi is spoken and understood by almost all the people in Delhi. Among
the educated, English is also common. You will also find people speaking
Bengali, Malayalam, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Marathi, French, Spanish and
Lebanese (in Paharganj region). However, if you know reasonable Hindi or
English, you will not face any problems. Hindi can vary with its slight
accents of Punjabi or Haryanvi, depending upon which part of Delhi you
are in. Since the city is surrounded by the states of Haryana and Uttar
Pradesh, and states like Punjab and Rajasthan are not quite distant, it
is effortless to find their local influence on the parlance of Delhi
residents.
Urdu is spoken primarily among residents of Old Delhi since the
dominant population of the area is of Muslims. Similarly Bengali is
spoken and understood by almost everyone in Chittaranjan Park, an
unofficial resident area of Bengalis. Almost every youngster and tourist
guide understands English. Everyone from shopkeepers to taxi drivers to
passers-by speak English very well.
