Are 🇮🇳 Indians native English speakers, too?

Do Indians qualify as 'native' English speakers? Why? Why not?

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[sokosoko]

Nope, 99% Indians aren't native English speakers. They speak it only as a second or third language, or sometimes maybe even fourth. Many Indians speak English fluently, just because how common it is here (it's one of the official languages of India), but that doesn't make them native English speakers because their mother tongue is probably one of Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Punjabi, Kannada, Telugu, Marathi, etc.

[AvinaashInspires]

As an Indian, I consider myself as a non-native first language English speaker.
My mother tongue is Tamil, but I am equally fluent in English.
But I am confused when I see people, like people of Scotland, who consider themselves as native English speaker while their mother tongue is not English.

[premkamble]

Every Indian can speak at least three languages 👍

[SparkElleBeauty]

I think the reason why Indians use English outside their home is because there are a lot of Indian languages and there is no one language that everyone speaks or understand other than English. That is a binding language but we love to talk in our language and in a group where everyone speaks the same language, we prefer using that language over english.

[ajay_]

No
Indian aren't native English speakers. English is not our language.
That's why I am learning😂

[blackman]

If you speak English as your first language then you're a native English speaker.

[Nangsansun]

No. As an Indian, I'm not a native English Speaker, but yes I grew up speaking English at school, college, and in my work place. In fact, we use English in most of our daily official interactions, except at hope and among our friend or members of our community. That's where we usually use our native language(s)

[augth]

If they speak English at home with their parents yes, it’s the definition of a native speaker.

[HI-vwfw]

As an indian i would say "no thank you" 😂😂

[dearpat]

There are Anglo indians among us who are native English Speakers. In addition there are quite a few household who primarily uses English for communication and this coupled with compulsory English for schools, they are practically native English speakers. So many people deny this, because we are so obsessed with Genetics .

[panthkhalsa]

As an indian my self i can tell you that your English only needed at international level. Otherwise we have 28 states and each state has 10 to 16 different languages and india has over 5k dialect.

[aryanmallick]

Yes i am an Indian living in Kolkata and I am a natice English speaker

[aishwariyasweety]

Contrary to the other comments, it isnt a straight "no". English is the first language i was taught. And i know it better than my mother tongue. I think, speak, write in english and for so long. This doesn't take away my closeness with tamil. But saying I've no association with english is a bit ludicrous, its the only language i know functionally well. So much that if you took away english, I couldn't function in society in any meaningful level. And i learned English in India, it was required education.
And most indians i encounter abroad, the only common language between us is english.
And its freaking annoying when you aren't considered a native speaker when its been your whole bloody life. It's also discrimination when seeking employment because you aren't considered a native speaker although there's no difference between us in practice

[alishaserrao]

Yes Indians can also be a native english speaker

[sayandeepbera]

No we are not definitely native English speaker. we don't speak English at home . But we always speak English in University, College and every other cases outside of home .

[sciencedoneright]

I believe that by definition, the term "native speaker' refers to a person who spoke a language as the primary means of communication at an early age. Most Indians grow up learning the language of their state or union territory, and that's usually why Indians speak English as a second language

[manojmohan]

I believe it's time the world recognised Indian English as a legitimate version of English. The Oxford dictionary keeps adopting words from Indian English but still refuses to mention Indian English as a native English form. I believe, I have the same proficiency level in English as any of the so called native English speakers.

[jennjack]

Absolutely! If you think in English and speak English at home...yes! I'm Anglo Indian and I approve this 😅

[Anonymous.N]

I cannot read or write in any other language except English. I spoke it at school. I speak it at home. I speak with my barber in it, the vegetable vendor, my doctor and even the cobbler. Almost everyone. As a north Indian living in South India. It is the only language that helps me communicate locally and internationally. Almost with everyone I meet. There is a reason for huge populations of Indians living in English speaking countries.
I get it. The English language was forced upon us. But we've made it our own. Indian English is recognised.
So yes. Yes I am a native speaker.

[rajl]

I am an Indian.

I grew up in India and got myself an Ivy League education in the United States of America.

They made me take a test of spoken English before I could qualify for admission to my college.

The very notion that my English is suspect inflicted a trauma that, three decades later, I have yet to recover from.