Fewer ad-lib translations
When the enumerator reads approved wording, respondents in different districts answer the same question.
Survey app · Languages
Hindi-first for enumerators, the respondent's language for questions
Bharat Survey is a multilingual survey app for India built on a simple split. The app itself speaks Hindi first, with English one tap away, because that is what most field staff read fastest. The questions speak whatever language your respondents use: Marathi in Vidarbha, Tamil in Madurai, Bengali in Malda. You write and check the translation; the app carries it offline to every enumerator's phone.
- App screens in Hindi and English
- Question text in the languages you provide
- Hindi and English labels side by side if you want both
- No machine translation added behind your back
Survey 3/6 · AmenitiesOffline
How is drinking water in your area?
- Comes regularly
- Comes sometimes
- Rarely / never
- Don't know
✓ Section saved on phone · autosave
BackNext
Survey 3/6 · Public amenities
How is drinking water in your area?
- Comes regularly
- Comes sometimes
- Rarely / never
- Don't know
BackNext
✓ Saved on phone · autosave
Sync statussample
6
Safe on phone
8
Synced to server
#BS-0413 · In area · ±12 m Added to accepted count
हिंदीEnglishमराठीதமிழ்বাংলাગુજરાતીతెలుగుಕನ್ನಡ
Two layers
Language in a survey app means two different things. Confusing them is how projects end up with English buttons and badly translated questions.
Layer 1 · App
Screens enumerators use
Shift start, today's work, consent, sync status, visit outcome. These are built into the app in Hindi first, with an English toggle. Terms match what field staff already say: सर्वे, शिफ्ट, गाँव, वार्ड, बूथ.
Layer 2 · Form
Questions respondents hear
Question text, choices, hints and consent wording. These come from your questionnaire, in the languages you choose, and can be different for every project.
Our view
Where it matters
Hindi covers a lot of the country, but not all of it, and not every respondent in Hindi-speaking states is comfortable with formal Hindi.
Western India
Marathi and Gujarati
Household and consumer surveys in Maharashtra and Gujarat usually need questions in the state language, with Hindi for migrant workers in cities.
Southern India
Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam
Hindi is rarely an option for respondents. The form needs full state-language text, and enumerators who read it fluently.
Eastern India
Bengali and Odia
State languages for rural respondents, with dialect notes in hints where words differ between districts.
Hindi belt
Everyday Hindi
Plain spoken Hindi, not official Hindi. Test words like आय versus कमाई with a pilot before assuming respondents know them.
How it works
Regional language survey India: Hindi, Marathi, Tamil in one project
A multi-state study keeps one question structure and adds a label per language: the same question name, the same routing, the same choice codes. Answers export with identical codes whichever language was used, so a Tamil interview and a Marathi interview land in the same columns without recoding. XLSForm files with language columns import this way too.
Scripts on the phone
Android phones display the major Indian scripts. Before fieldwork, open the form on the actual handset models your enumerators carry, because older or low-cost phones occasionally render some conjuncts poorly. The pilot is the place to find that, not the first day of data collection.
Who translates
Your team, a translation partner or Bharat Survey's project team, depending on the engagement. We recommend forward translation, independent back translation and a field pilot for every language. The software does not auto-translate questions.
Keep constant across languages
- Question names
- Choice codes
- Skip and validation rules
- Numeric formats
- Consent meaning
Decision aid
Side by side in one label
- Urban areas with mixed readers
- Enumerators who switch language with respondents
- Short forms such as feedback
- Easy for supervisors to review
Separate language versions
- Long questionnaires
- Rural areas with one dominant language
- Sensitive modules where wording matters
- Multi-state studies with many languages
Before either
- Back translate
- Pilot with real respondents
- Check scripts on field handsets
- Freeze a version before fieldwork
Why it matters
Shorter interviews
Enumerators do not translate on the fly, so interviews move faster.
One dataset
Identical codes across languages mean no merging of language-specific files.
Wider hiring
Enumerators work in the language they read best, while supervisors review in Hindi or English.
Not the right fit if
- You expect the app to translate your questionnaire automatically
- You need app menus in languages other than Hindi and English today
- You need voice or audio questions for non-literate self-completion
- Your team collects on iPhones
A good fit if
- Surveys across several Indian states and languages
- Hindi-first field teams
- Projects where wording is approved and versioned
- Multi-language datasets that must merge cleanly
Features
All platform capabilities.
Learn moreCustomer feedback software
Feedback in the customer's language.
Learn moreField inspection app
Checklists for multilingual teams.
Learn moreSurvey app development
Custom workflows on the core app.
Learn moreWhatsApp and SMS surveys
Messaging channels and their limits.
Learn moreFAQ
Straight answers to the questions people ask most about this topic.
Which Indian languages can survey questions use?
Question text can be written in any language whose script Android phones display, including Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Odia, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. Check the form on your enumerators' actual handsets during the pilot, since some low-cost phones render certain scripts less clearly.
Is the app itself available in regional languages?
The app's own screens are in Hindi and English today. Question text, choices and consent wording follow the languages you add to the form, so respondents hear their language even when the enumerator's menus are in Hindi.
Does Bharat Survey translate questionnaires?
The software does not machine-translate. Translation can be done by your team, a partner or our project team as part of a service engagement. We recommend back translation and a pilot in each language before fieldwork.
Will answers in different languages merge into one dataset?
Yes, when the form uses the same question names and choice codes for every language. Exports then use one set of columns and codes, whichever language the interview was conducted in.
Sources: XLSForm: multiple language support
India Nationwide, Hindi-first
Send the questionnaire and the languages you need. We will show each version running on a phone with the same logic.