What is the most widely spoken language in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh?
When i went to India last year, hindi was the most common language, however alot of people speak in regional dialects. I believe in pakistan alot of people speak urdu though so not sure if there is a common shared language between the two. And yes you’re right not to rely on English, alot of people would not be educated and so may not even have the basics for getting by.
In addition to English which is widely spoken by most educated people, try Hindi. It and Urdu are essentially the same language, although written with different alphabets. It is related closely enough to most of the regional languages in North India and Pakistan to be of some use in basic communication. In South India, and Bangladesh, you’re on your own, and hope someone in the area understands English.
I know you explicitly said you are not doing this but in India and Pakistan the common language even for the natives is English. India’s offical language is Hindi not because its the most commonly spoken but because it has links to India’s tradition. Pakistan and Bangladesh also have a significant amount of their population that speak English.
In Bangladesh, Bengali. In Pakistan, Urdu. In much of India, except Tamil Nadu and perhaps some other areas, Hindi, which is almost the same language as Hindi but not quite (Hindi speakers will sometimes use words and constructions that don’t exist in Urdu and vice versa). However, at a beginning level, you will rarely encounter this difference.
