Teaching of Hindi as Second Language in Schools; Biden Receives Proposal from Indian American Leaders

Over 10 lakh members of the fast-growing Indian Diaspora (4.5 million) in America speak Hindi for everyday communication, thereby making it the first most spoken Indian language in the US. Telugu is the second most spoken language in Indian-origin households across America, having pushed Gujarati to the third position among the top 10 Indian languages spoken in the United States. Many universities including Stanford in California, New York, Michigan, Texas, Illinois, Washington, Atlanta and other US states offer Hindi language programs.

“Why not Hindi being taught as a second language at the school level in the US that we call home away from home?” This question continues to be raised by tens of thousands of Indian-origin families running a decade-long campaign for the teaching of Hindi as a second language from the elementary school level. The demand for their linguistic inclusion into the US education system is nearly as old as the campaign for the festival of Diwali to be declared a public school holiday in America.

However, it seems that days are numbered for American schools to introduce Hindi as a second language after English if things fall in place as planned. This petition found space alongside the opening of new Indian consulates and the stamping of H1B visa renewals in the US on the agenda of many Indian American state and local elected officials during Prime Minister Modi’s recent official visit to the US Capitol. They supported the petition citing the highly potential socio-economic impact of teaching Hindi in American schools.

Indian American Impact and the Asia Society, two of the leading groups having good relations with the Democratic Party in power, also wrote to President Joe Biden, requesting the creation of a new Hindi language fund. They proposed to get Hindi introduced as a second language in as many as 1000 schools and pledged Rs 816 crore to the fund for the same. Apparently, this is a fulcrum of the Indian American support to Biden in the 2024 presidential election.

The proposal submitted to President Biden for introducing Hindi as a second language refers to S&P Global Ratings’ recent report forecasting that Japan and Germany would fall behind India as the world’s third largest economy by the end of 2030. The Indian economy is likely to exceed $7.5 trillion in 2031. The current foreign language programs in US schools are not aligned to the upcoming global economy.

“The absence of Hindi from the American school curriculum forces thousands of Indian-origin kids to learn the language as an additional after-school activity. Many kids attend online Hindi classes, cutting off a portion of their family time on weekends. They are overburdened,” said Sourav Agarwal, the Editor of Travel Beats, a leading community portal for Indians in America.

The highly anticipated approval to the proposal will be a welcome news to not only Hindi-speaking Indian American families, but also non-Hindi-speaking Indian households in the USA. Arabhi Sundararajan from South India has been part of the campaign for years in Palo Alto, California. Her children learned Hindi as an after-school program at a non-profit language center when they were elementary students. Thereafter, they were enrolled to Madhu Bhasha Kendra in Fremont. Madhu Bhasha Kendra is a nonprofit organization helping kids develop communication skills in Hindi through community-based activities and cultural awareness programs.

“This essential initiative would strengthen the relationship between the US and India, enhancing the long-term economic prospects of both countries and foster greater inclusion and understanding of the rapidly growing Indian-American community,” said Neil Makhija, President of Indian American Impact, backing the proposal for US schools to start teaching Hindi as a second language. Recently, Neil Makhija, a civil rights advocate and law professor, won the Democratic nomination for Montgomery County Commissioner in Pennsylvania.