Should Nepal Make English an Official Language? (A Mostly Serious Proposal)
Introduction
Nepal is a proud multilingual nation. We value language so deeply that we often use two languages for the same task, just to be thorough. Efficiency is optional; redundancy is tradition.
Take English, for instance. Officially, it is not an official language. Practically, it runs half the country.
The Curious Case of the “Unofficial” Language
Our software is written in English.
Our medical reports are in English.
Our aviation manuals are in English.
Our research papers, contracts, and policy drafts quietly exist in English.
Yet officially, English is treated like a visiting consultant—
heavily relied upon, never formally acknowledged.
It’s an interesting arrangement:
- One language is official
- Another does the actual work
- Everyone pretends this is normal
Imagine a Radical Reform
Now imagine something truly revolutionary.
English becomes an official language in Nepal.
Suddenly:
- Software stops asking whether today is 2082 or 2026
- Developers retire their emotional-support date-conversion libraries
- Government portals speak one language to humans and machines
- International tools work out of the box, without spiritual adjustments
No hacks.
No footnotes.
No “please refer to the English version for clarity.”
Panic, Clarified
Before the cultural alarms go off, let’s clarify:
This is not about replacing Nepali.
Nepali is identity.
Nepali is culture.
Nepali is home.
English, on the other hand, is the instruction manual.
We already use English to execute things while pretending Nepali is doing all the heavy lifting. The result is a system where reality and policy politely ignore each other.
But What About Culture?
Countries with far stronger cultural confidence—India, Singapore, South Africa—manage multiple official languages without spontaneous identity collapse.
Their cultures survived.
Tragically.
Completely intact.
It turns out language can be both:
- A symbol of identity
- A tool for efficiency
Shocking, we know.
The Real Cost of Pretending
The cost of avoiding this conversation is not cultural.
It is operational.
More translations.
More confusion.
More delays.
More paperwork explaining paperwork.
All to maintain the fiction that English is somehow not already running critical systems.
Conclusion
Adding English as an official language would not make Nepal less Nepali.
It would simply make Nepal:
- Less complicated
- Less duplicated
- Less dependent on “unofficial official” solutions
Sometimes reform doesn’t mean changing who we are.
It means officially admitting how we already function.
And maybe—just maybe—letting policy catch up with reality.