If I received/charged a penny every time someone asks me something like that, then I’d be well on my way to a Ferrari by now.
As a Hindi tutor, I get a flurry of enquiries on a daily basis from a number of people who just don’t seem to know the difference between these two simple words. It’s a common mistake and easy to make for those not familiar with India.
Therefore, I think I owe it to my fellow Indians living outside India, to clear this, once and for all.
HINDU is a person of the Hindu faith also known as Hinduism. It is a religion whereas HINDI is a language, widely spoken in India and among Indian people around the world.
Asking someone if they speak HINDU is like asking someone if they speak lChristian, or if they’re fluent in Buddhist or how proficient their Muslim speaking skills are.
HINDI is a language and so it would be equally wrong to ask someone if they are Hindi.
Also, Hindus speak many languages depending on where in India they hail from. It could be Gujarati, Punjabi, Bengali, Tamil, amongst many more languages popularly spoken in India. That said, for anyone looking to learn Hindi, feel free to get in touch with me and I’d be happy to help and gladly teach you a few fascinating facts along the way about being Hindu.
