[metalman]

I have wondered if there are people in India who fit a description of certain europeans, in that they are said to speak 9 languages, none of them fluently. My father came from India originaly, but is of the type who is concerned with correctness in all things, but speaks fondly of the fun and games of multi lingual word play, and harder to master languages such as punjabi, and classical persian. I think that India is so multi lingual and large to begin with that there will be regional differences in the use of other languages...portugese, spanish, english, and many others and the concept of "indian english" is realy an intro into a much much vaster world of crosscultural exchange and cominication ongoing for millenia. edit: spelling, always spelling

[jbhoot]

Almost every Indian I know (including me) mixes at least two languages in their daily conversations seamlessly, that too within a sentence. Westerners may find that Indians talking among themselves in their native language(s) drop English words out of nowhere. Again, I can't imagine this to be a uniquely Indian phenomenon. Multilingual people would be doing this.

Lingual purists may find it irritating, but I love such mix-ups!