The spoken languages of India and Pakistan, Hindi and Urdu, are so close that the true language lover is tempted to take the plunge even though both languages use different and, to us, unfamiliar scripts (Devanagari, and a mixture of Persian and Arabic). Though other languages abound on the Indian subcontinent, Hindi-Urdu united their respective nations and whoever jumps in (despite the current lack of good learning materials) will be able to communicate with a population second only to that of China.