How did the Indian born Brits speak English? During the old colonial days when a lot of people from England migrated to India and settled down, what sort of accent did their kids, who were born there speak? Was it similar to how Indians sound when speaking English today or not? Did it depend on whether English was the first language or second?
Most would have been brought up in communities of other Brits, taught by British teachers in British-only schools. I doubt they had much contact with the indigenous population except through servants.
Rudyard Kipling’s first language was Hindi–which he learned from the servants. At the age of 5, he was sent to England. As were most Anglo-Indian children–some said “for their health” but probably also so they would have no choice but to speak English.
I knew this, but Wikipedia quotes from Something of Myself:
Any children whose families could not send them “home” probably didn’t speak “correct” English. His own Kim, an Irish orphan raised in India, spoke several of the tongues like a native; his English probably improved after he was sent to school–even though it was located in India.
This would very much depend if they were born in UK or in India - where they spent their formative years
The biggest factors would be the local accent in UK and their class. They would not have mixed all that much with the locals, or rather the locals they met would probably have had a UK accent as this was something for the locals to aspire, and to an extent it still is.
I have often been told that my English is very good by Indians and they try to copy my speech. They mistake me for Indian - I guess after a month or so out there I look very much like them. I would never pretend to be a speech model but it isn’t unusual for them to listen carefully to how I say things. There are quite a few call centres providing services to UK companies in India so I suppose there is a very good reason to try learn to speak English like a Brit.
Of course my Hindi is totally non-existent
My sister and I grew up in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Then a British colony. We both spoke the local pidgin fluently but our parents would get pretty mad if they heard us. Our English accents were probably what is known as RP.
“Wass dat ting go boom boom boom?”
“I say, what the devil is making all that noise?”
Usually the children of the indigenous elite (nobility, rich merchants, highly ranked civil servants) would’ve attended those same schools so there was some social mixing going on.