languageservise

[languageservise]

Importance of Multilingualism: Cognitive, Social, and Economic Benefits

In a time when globalisation is at an all-time high, multilingualism has become a necessity. Whether you're making friends from different backgrounds, building business connections around the world, or exploring new cultures, knowing multiple languages can create many opportunities. But the benefits of being multilingual go beyond just talking to others. It greatly enhances how our brains develop, improves our social skills, and opens up new job possibilities.

In this blog, we'll explore the cognitive, social, and economic benefits of multilingualism and why it's an essential asset for individuals and businesses alike.

What Are the Benefits of Multilingualism

Cognitive Benefits of Multilingualism

Studying multiple languages can significantly enhance brain function. Numerous studies have shown that multilingual individuals experience cognitive advantages over monolinguals in various areas, including memory, problem-solving, and multitasking.

Memory and Brain Function

Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking

Focus and Multitasking Abilities

Cognitive Resilience and Aging

Social Benefits of Multilingualism

The ability to communicate in more than one language opens up new worlds of social interaction. It develops empathy, and cross-cultural understanding, and improves personal and professional relationships.

Cross-Cultural Communication

Social Bonds and Friendships

Empathy and Open-Mindedness

Collaboration and Teamwork

Economic Benefits of Multilingualism

The economic advantages of multilingualism are far-reaching, benefiting both individuals and businesses. Speaking and studying multiple languages is a valuable skill in today’s economy, opening doors to better job opportunities, career growth, and business success.

Job Opportunities and Employability

Higher Earning Potential

Global Business Opportunities

Negotiation and Communication Skills

Customer Relations and Service

Final Thoughts

Multilingualism is a valuable skill that offers many benefits beyond just knowing different languages. It boosts brainpower, improves cultural understanding, and creates new job opportunities. For individuals, it means better job chances, career growth, and stronger personal relationships. For businesses, it helps expand into new markets, improve customer connections, and enhance communication across countries.

At Language Services Bureau, we understand the power of multilingualism. Whether you’re a business, looking for corporate language training to expand globally or an individual seeking expert translation services, we’re here to help.

Our team of professional trainers ensures that the language is learned efficiently in a very conducive atmosphere, using interactive teaching methods tailored to individual learning styles. We focus on practical application and real-life scenarios to help improve understanding and memory. In addition, we also offer high-quality translation and localization services to ensure your message resonates across cultures and languages.

Let us help you connect with the world. Contact us today!

[languageservise]

12 Most Spoken Languages in India

India is a country rich in culture, history, and of course, languages. As you travel around India, you will hear a variety of languages and accents.

So, exactly how many Indian languages exist?

While India has 22 distinct official languages, the country also boasts of 121 languages and 270 mother tongues. It is also the home of Sanskrit, which is among the world's oldest languages.

Language    Speakers

Hindi       528.3 million

Bengali     97.2 million

Marathi     83.0 million

Telugu      81.1 million

Tamil       69.0 million

Gujarati    55.4 million

Urdu        50.7 million

Kannada     43.7 million

Odia        37.5 million

Malayalam   34.8 million

Punjabi     33.1 million

Assamese    15.3 million

Let us take a look at the top spoken languages in India -

1. Hindi

Hindi is one of the official languages of India. It is the most widely spoken language in the country. Hindi is used as a supplemental language in all federal recruitment exams for many significant agencies, institutes, and banks. It is spoken in nearly every state in India, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, and Delhi. 14th September is celebrated as Hindi Diwas when the Constituent Assembly of India took the decision to make Hindi the official language of the Union Government.

Hindi is of Sanskrit descent and has been influenced by Dravidian, Arabic, Portuguese, English, Persian, and Turkish languages. Awadi, Braj, and Khadi bhasha are among the languages spoken in Hindi. There are also many dialects like Bhojpuri and Haryanvi, amongst many others!

2. Bengali

Bengali is India's second most spoken language. Bengali is primarily spoken in the Indian states of West Bengal, Jharkhand, Assam, and Tripura in the east. Bangladesh, The Middle East, the United States, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Canada are the countries where this language is spoken.Bengali has evolved from the Indo - Aryan languages, particularly from Sanskrit, over more than 1,300 years. Bengali literature, with a millennium-long literary history, flourished during the Bengali Renaissance and is one of Asia's most productive and diverse literary traditions. In commemoration of the Bengali language movement, UNESCO designated February 21 as International Mother Language Day in 1999.

3. Marathi

Marathi is India's third most widely spoken language. 83 million people in India speaks Marathi. Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language that is the official language of the western states of India, including Goa and Maharashtra. Marathi is spoken in about 42 dialects.

Marathi is one of the many languages descended from Maharashtri Prakrit, derived from Sanskrit. The earliest evidence of Maharashtri as a distinct language stems from the first century BCE -a stone inscription discovered in a cave at Naneghat, Junnar in the Pune district was written in Maharashtri using Brahmi script. According to inscriptions, Marathi was a standard written language by the 12th century. Marathi Day is observed on February 27, the poet Kusumagraj's birthday.

Check out our blog on the increasing importance of Marathi and other Indian languages here!

4. Telugu

Telugu is a Dravidian language and India's fourth most spoken language. 81.1 million people in India speaks this language. The Government of India has identified Telugu as one of the six classical languages of India. This language is primarily spoken in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Yanam (Puducherry). Beraad, Wadaga, Domara, Salavari, Nellore, Comtao, and Kamathi are among the dialects of this language. It is spoken in many countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, and South Africa. As of 1996, the Telugu language has approximately 10,000 inscriptions, making it one of the most heavily inscribed languages. Telugu Language Day is celebrated every year on 29 August to commemorate the birthday of Telugu poet Gidugu Venkata Ramamurthy.

5. Tamil

The Tamil language derives from the Dravidian language family. It is the official language of both Singapore and Sri Lanka and is widely spoken in Tamil Nadu and the neighboring South Indian states. Tamil is often considered to be one of the world's oldest living languages. It has a literary history dating back over 2,000 years.

Read about the scope of Indian Languages in the market as a language expert here.

6. Gujarati

Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language - the official language of Gujarat, a state in northwest India, Gujarati is derived from Sanskrit. The Gurjars, who lived and ruled in Gujarat, Punjab, Rajputana, and Central India, spoke Old Gujarati, which is the ancestor of current Gujarati and Rajasthani. Gujarati is divided into three dialects: Parsi, Hindu, and Muslim. Despite the plethora of poorly established dialects and regional variants, Gujarati has undergone recent reclassification due to extensive regional distinctions in vocabulary and phrasing. The birth anniversary of the great Gujarati writer Veer Narmad, August 24th is observed as World Gujarati Language Day or Gujarati Diwas.

7. Urdu

It is an official language in West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Telangana, and Jharkhand and also the official language of Pakistan. Urdu, like Hindi, is a Hindustani language. Urdu was chosen as Pakistan's official language in 1947 because it was already the lingua franca for Muslims in the north and northwest British India, while it had also been employed as a literary medium for colonial Indian writers from the Bombay Presidency, Bengal, and Orissa Province. Urdu is written from right to left using an extension of the Persian script, which is an extension of the Arabic alphabet. The Nastaliq style of Persian calligraphy is used to write Urdu.

8. Kannada

Kannada is a Dravidian language and is spoken by 43.7 million people in India, mainly in Karnataka and in other south Indian states. This language is spoken outside of India in Australia, the United States, and Canada. Kannada is considered to have more than 20 dialects.

Old Kannada flourished during the Ganga dynasty in the sixth century and there are many epigraphs with Kannada engravings on them from this time period. The government of India designated Kannada as a classical language of India based on the recommendations of the Committee of Linguistic Experts formed by the Ministry of Culture. Georgia, a US state, declared November 1 as 'Kannada Language and Rajyotsava Day.'

9. Odia

Odia is the official language of India, with the majority of speakers residing in the state of Odisha. 37.5 million people in the country speak this language. Odia is spoken by approximately 3.10 percent of India’s population. Odia is the sixth Indian language to be classified as a Classical language, owing to its long literary tradition and lack of considerable borrowing from other languages. Odia's first documented inscription is from the 10th century CE. Odisha day is celebrated on 1st April as it became a separate province on this day.

10. Malayalam

Malayalam is spoken by around 34.8 million people in India, the majority of which live in the regions of Kerala, Puducherry, and Lakshadweep. The roots of this language can also be traced back to the Dravidian languages. The Vatteluttu script was the first to be used to write Malayalam. The current Malayalam script is based on the Vatteluttu script, which was supplemented with Grantha script letters in order to accommodate Indo-Aryan loanwords. Variations in intonation patterns, vocabulary, and grammatical and phonological element distribution can be observed along the parameters of geography, religion, community, occupation, social strata, style, and register. Like Kannada day, Malayalam day is celebrated on 1st November in India.

11. Punjabi 

Punjabi is the eleventh most spoken language in India, with approximately 3.31 crore speakers, accounting for 2.73% of the country’s population.

A member of the Indo-Aryan language family, Punjabi holds the status of the official language of Punjab. It is written in the Gurmukhi script, which is written from left to right.

Punjabi-speaking communities also have a significant global presence in countries such as Canada, the USA, the UK, the UAE, and South Africa.

12. Assamese 

Assamese ranks as the twelfth most spoken language in India, with around 1.53 crore speakers, making up 1.26% of the national population.Belonging to the Indo-Aryan language family, Assamese boasts a rich literary heritage dating back to the 13th century CE. It is predominantly spoken in the state of Assam.

English in India

English, along with Hindi, is one of India's federal government's official languages. In some Indian states, including Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, English is the official language. Since the days of the East India Company in the 1800s, English has been taught in Indian schools.

As much as 70-75% of Indians do not understand it and rely on Hindi or other regional languages to communicate. If you are looking for language service providers to help you translate or localize content into any Indian language, look no further. Language Services Bureau offers services like localization, transcription, translation, and more to help you with your Indian Language needs. Translations are undertaken by native language experts – linguists with in-depth study of the target language which is their mother tongue, and of the specific domain of the document are chosen for each project. If required, certified Indian language translation [Indian language into English translation and English into Indian languages translation] can be provided for official documents to be submitted to different government / international authorities.