If you’ve edited podcasts featuring multilingual speakers, you’ve likely noticed a pattern: longer pauses, more “ums,” and thoughtful silences — especially from Hindi native speakers when they are interviewed in English. We have brilliant guests that are impressive, not just because of their knowledge on a subject, but because I understand they are managing 2-5 languages in their heads on this same topic. This results in a lot of ums and long pauses when they are interviewed live. At first, it might seem like nerves or hesitation. But the reality runs much deeper, into the very structure of language itself. Understanding this can help podcast editors like you make smarter, more empathetic editing choices. Here’s a bit about how English works, along with several other languages.

Language Structure and Mental Reordering

Different languages organize thoughts differently. English follows a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) pattern:

“The cat eats the mouse.”

In contrast, Hindi uses Subject-Object-Verb (SOV) order:

“The cat the mouse eats.”

When Hindi speakers switch to English, their brains must mentally rearrange the thought before speaking. The natural sequence — subject, object, then verb — must be reorganized on the fly to fit English structure.

This internal reordering takes mental effort, even for fluent bilinguals. The pauses, the “ums,” the slightly longer silences? They’re the brain buying time to repackage the thought.

And it’s not just Hindi speakers.
Other languages like Russian (flexible word order), German (verbs at the end), and Japanese (also SOV) present similar challenges. But Hindi-English switching is particularly demanding because it also requires managing English articles (“the,” “a”) and auxiliary verbs (“is,” “has,” “do”) — elements handled very differently in Hindi.

Why It’s More Noticeable in Live Interviews

In writing or prepared speeches, multilingual speakers have time to pre-plan their English sentences.
But during live interviews, they must think and speak at the same time, triggering more visible pauses.

This is especially true when forming questions or complex sentences. In Hindi, for example, yes/no questions don’t require inversion (“Is the cat eating the mouse?”). Instead, a question word (“क्या” / “kya”) is added at the beginning, keeping the normal word order. English demands flipping the subject and verb — another extra layer to manage while speaking live.

How Podcast Editors Can Handle This Thoughtfully

When editing interviews with multilingual speakers:

  • Expect longer pauses at the start of complex sentences.

  • Don’t remove every “um” — natural hesitations can make speakers sound thoughtful rather than robotic.

  • Compress silence, don’t erase thinking time — tightening without rushing preserves authenticity.

  • Recognize that “ums” are often a sign of careful bilingual thinking, not a lack of fluency.

Good editing doesn’t just “clean up” speech — it respects how different brains process language, especially under the pressure of live conversation.

🎯 Why it’s especially noticeable in interviews or spontaneous speech:

  • Writing or rehearsed speech allows more time to reorder in advance.

  • Live interviews force on-the-fly restructuring, making every word choice more stressful.

  • Hindi speakers may also struggle briefly with English auxiliary verbs (“is,” “has,” “do”), which Hindi structures differently.

🌍 And this isn’t just Hindi speakers:

You’d notice similar patterns among:

  • Russian speakers (deciding emphasis first)

  • Japanese speakers (thinking SOV, no articles like “the” or “a”)

  • German speakers (where verbs often come at the end of a clause)

But Hindi to English has a particularly big mental shift because:

  • Different word order (SOV → SVO)

  • Different handling of articles (“the,” “a” — Hindi doesn’t use them the same way)

  • Different tense structures

🛠️ Practical Tip if you’re editing podcasts:

  • Expect slightly longer pauses at the start of complex sentences.

  • Try not to cut all the ums if it makes the speaker sound natural and careful.

  • In heavy edits, compress the silence without cutting natural thinking rhythms — Hindi speakers often build toward a complete thought instead of improvising halfway through.

Final Thoughts

As podcast editors, we have a unique responsibility: not just to polish, but to honor the speaker’s natural voice and thought process. Understanding how language structure impacts speech helps us edit smarter — and create more authentic, human-sounding interviews.

Next time you hear a thoughtful pause or an extra “um,” you’ll know: it’s not hesitation — it’s a brilliant mind at work.