As a German, who lived in six countries between UK and India, who speaks German (mothertongue), English and Italian, learned Latin, wrestles with Hindi and is surrounded by Sanskrit scholars, I would like to share my perspective.

Every spoken language has a particular rythm and sound. Those sounds create vibrations (or energy if you like). You may check ?Cymatics? and ?Science of Mantras?, which deal with how sounds are vibrations that influence matter, even create it. So when you speak a language, your body system gets into a specific frequency and automatically taps into the language-specific characteristics, history, subtle meanings and collective data field (akasha). Simple example: when I speak Italian, I feel a certain gentleness, playfulness and elegance which I do not get at all when speaking English. The Italian language is dynamic, delicious and very well designed (flow, grammar, timbre etc). In contrast, British English phonetics seem to come with an inevitable supercilious attitude, and I strongly believe that this is connected to the country?s past, its superiority complex and a series of prejudices that come with the language?s pronunciations (posh accent, or not).

Essentially for the ancient sages and seers, sound, vibration and matter were one and the same. And language for them was a way to tap into the cosmic unity of all creation, unlike our contemporary use of languages, which too often fractures us into social, nationalistic and religious identifications. Acc. to Dr. David Frawley, sound is a tool, one that can be used intentionally, whether for uniting us all or keeping ourselves in ignorance.

In my experience, the language you speak can certainly change your attitude and behaviour. Can unfold or supress certain characteristics in you.

I remember very well how the Russian writer Vladimir Nabokow once expressed his gratitude for the richness of his mothertongue Russian. In the course of his life, he learned German and English, and was able to read the translations of his original books. Guess what. He was in shock about the change of content, loss of meaning and character of the English translations. He stated that at least the German translations came close to the original Russian versions, in terms of meaning, colourfulness, subtleties and depth.

Those extradimensional qualities I detect also in Sanskrit, which carries an extra benefit: the connection to the rishis, the data of Sanatana Dharma and the cosmos.

Now, I have been living in India for several years and met people from all strata of society. I came across some Indians who speak very well English. I came across many Indians who do not speak English at all. And I came across many Indians who speak in a patchwork of English and Hindi. Imagine a group of well-off Indian youngsters having dinner in a restaurant or a family than spans two generations having breakfast in a hotel. Typical conversation style amongst them: Boldly beginning a sentence in English ? confident to be able to finish it also in English ? but then suddenly pausing, and ending the sentence in Hindi. Or, speaking a sentence in Hindi and adding a short English expression afterwards. As if the English phrase would add value to the previous Hindi communication. As an observer from abroad, it sounds odd and feels rather painful (uprooted), as none of the two languages is spoken fluently and coherently. Above all, it tends to come with the air of (pseydo-) elitism.

In his business meetings, when the dialogue starts in English, my husband often asks his fellow Indians whether they speak Hindi. The usual answer is Yes. He then often invites them: ‘So why don?t we continue in Hindi?’ And more often than not, the entire atmosphere shifts, for the better.

You speak about Germans. In general, German people tend to be perfectionist (engineers, just think mercedes, bmw, porsche, braun, bosch, linde, mont blanc!) and intellectuals (Germany, the land of poets and thinkers!). Although English is taught at school as obligatory first foreign language, and full or hybrid Anglicisms entered the media, overall the Germans love their mother tongue, which is also flexible enough to allow the creations of new words (there is an annual ?word of the year? published in the linguistic review by the Association for the German Language GfdS), and given the complex German grammar, it allows also infinitely long sentence structures, which can easily spread across several lines ? just like this sentence! 🙂

Germans are inclined to speak a foreign language only until they feel they have reached minimum level of competency. It is not so much a matter of pride or anxiety to make mistakes. It is much more a question of respect for the other language, the heartfelt need to be understood and an awareness about how quickly misunderstandings can happen. Just remember, how long it took F1 champion Michael Schuhmacher to speak Italian publicly when he drove all those years for Ferrari!

At the same time, I have witnessed how even a kiosk owner or taxi driver in Germany speaks broken English and goes out of their way without hesitation to help tourists. In France, however, I have indeed experienced what seems a national resistance against the use of English, but the French-British relation is a different story altogether.

in the long run, Sanskrit will be the best bet. it’s a perfect language, connects with deep wisdom, has dignity and strength, and is for ALL Indians far easier to learn than English, as the sentence construction is similar and all local languages, including Tamil, have Sanskrit words.
and all this talk of link language… only about 10% of Indians speak English reasonable well. just try it out how far you get with English away from your circle of friends.

Many Germans, especially (sorry. was interrupted and it went off by accident incomplete)/ wanted to say that many Germans, especially the older lot knows very little English and even those who once knew it in their youth, forgot it, as they need a little only during holidays… they don’t need it in Germany.
those who keep insiisting that English is helpful for India, why then is Japan, China, Germany doing well? their education institutes higher ranked than India, in spite of Indians being in all likelihood more intelligent?
please see also this link
https://mariawirthblog.wordpress.com/2018/01/01/english-medium-education-weakens-india-the-pisa-test-proved-it/

The article doesnt have much practical sense. As a Bengali how does the author expect me to talk to my fellow Indians from Bihar or Kerala. I know Bengali fluently as most of my friends does. But it is not possible to learn the other Indian languages. English is NOT the official language . Hindi is. But English is the lingua franca, a language of communication.

The author hasn?t suggested any alternative to English. And yet she proceeds criticising it from her half baked perspective.
Most Indians like me are very fluent in their mother tongue and uses English to communicate with other states. India unlike any other country is a storehouse of languages. You cannot equate us to other homogenous countries. Also for your info a country like Japan is also urging people to learn English coz it is a global language and communication is the key. Thank you but I will keep my Indian identity and speak English as well.

Its funny I was just in a forum where a bunch of tourists were criticising some Germans for not speaking English to help them although it is evident they can. I had a very similar experience in Germany. I believe many Germans and French speak English but their refusal to tourists who need help is very rude and something which has been talked about before.
In contrast Indians even if they know very little English will help tourists as much as they can. “Atithi Devta”. English is a functional language and it is helpful to teach it in thr curriculum in my view.

there is no archeological proof whatsoever for the Aryan invasion theory. it was however a perfect tool to divide Indians.

I feel that Indians have subservient attitude towards their masters.

//Well, amazing as it is, many of the Indian elite actually want an ?English India?. It feels natural to them//

You have hit the nail. They want English India? But why? Because, the brown indians always wanted to imitate their WHITE/LIGHT SKINNED masters. Not just before the anglo-saxon people, but when Andronovo-Sintastha aryan people migrated here, the Indus Valley People too wanted to imitate them. They kept the names of aryan masters, called them LORD/SIRE etc,

Even today, the NRIs, american educated people always say that we have to become modern. Majority of these people are well to do family kids, who happen to write GRE/GMAT and get into American Universities, and they work in their white masters organisations. Then they return to become some sort of Entrepreneurs, opening some retail app etc, and try to pose as thinkers with their psuedo americanised tongues. These people propose this as growth model of India, where as it is damaging the entire society.

“Baba Ramdev made me realise how odd it is to continue with English in India. He himself had escaped English education and the slave mentality that often comes with it and certainly is not the worse for it. There are few people who are as knowledgeable, energetic and successful in transforming their vision into reality, as he is. He is connected to his roots via Sanskrit, and can see the damage that the British have inflicted on India.” the lesser that we speak on Baba Ramdev’s intellect, the better it is ?. Hav you heard his views on homosexuality or on capitalism? To say they are regressive is an understatement. Also his business venture has other ‘brainy’ employees who work behind the scenes to grow the company ;don’t giv him too much credit for it.