What the board actually hears
If you prepared in Hindi medium and plan to face the UPSC board in English, the thing to fix is not your accent. The board (the notification calls it "a Board of competent and unbiased observers"; candidates and coaching institutes consistently report five members chaired by a Member of the Commission) has heard every accent in India for decades and does not flinch at one more. What it does register, within the first two answers, is grammar that transfers from your first language and changes your meaning ("I am having a brother in army" says something slightly different from what you meant) and register that is off for the room ("sir" at every clause, "myself Rakesh", "isn't it?" after a statement of fact). Those two things make a board member work harder to follow you, and a board member who is working hard to follow you is not listening to your argument. This page is the fix list, written by TalkDrill, ordered by first language: Hindi and Bhojpuri first, then Marathi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam, with short notes for Bengali, Odia and Punjabi speakers, then a 10-day routine.
The stakes are the usual 275. Per the UPSC Civil Services 2026 notice (Examination Notice 05/2026-CSE of 4 February 2026, opened and text-searched on 21 October 2026; the 2024 notice says the same) the Personality Test carries 275 marks "with no minimum qualifying marks" against 1,750 for the written Mains, a total of 2,025, and about twice the number of vacancies are summoned to it. The medium of the interview is your own choice (English, Hindi or any Eighth Schedule language, with an interpreter arranged for a language other than English or Hindi), independent of the medium you wrote Mains in. We state that rule as it is consistently reported by candidates and coaching institutes and recorded in our research notes: the 2026 and 2024 notices set medium rules for the written papers in detail and say nothing about the medium of the Personality Test, and the choice is reported to be made on DAF-II, the form UPSC opens for 15 days after the Mains result per the 2026 notice. The UPSC CSE 2026 Personality Test schedule is not announced as of 21 October 2026 (the UPSC Interview Schedules page listed only the IES/ISS, CMS and ESE boards when we read it that day); last cycle, as reported at the time, it ran from 8 December 2025 to 27 February 2026, starting about two weeks after the Mains result. For the defence side, NDA (I) and CDS (I) 2027 are notified on 2 December 2026, close on 22 December and are written on 11 April 2027 per the UPSC calendar, and the SSB interview that follows is spoken.
- The board does not mark accent. It reacts to meaning slips and register slips. Fix those in this order: states in the progressive, articles, "only", question tags, "myself", "sir" density, fillers.
- Every section below has the transfer, the fix and a 60-second drill you can do with a phone recorder or the TalkDrill AI mock interview.
- As consistently reported, medium is your choice, declared on DAF-II. If your English needs translating in your head, give the board in Hindi and give it well. Read the medium page, which says exactly what is and is not on paper, before you decide.
- The same habits cost SSB candidates in the personal interview and the lecturette. SSB-specific notes are marked.
The seven habits that cost credibility
These seven appear across all the Indian first languages, with Hindi speakers showing all of them. Each one is a rule you already know; the problem is that under board pressure the first-language pattern wins. The right-hand column is TalkDrill's reading of how a board hears it; UPSC publishes no such list.
| Habit | How it sounds | Why it costs | The fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Progressive for states | "I am having two sisters." "I am knowing this issue." "I am belonging to Darbhanga." | Hindi uses one form for both ("mere do bahan hain" and "main jaanta hoon"); English hears a temporary action. The board hears a learner. | State verbs stay simple: have, know, belong, think, want, understand, believe, own. "I have two sisters." "I know the issue." |
| 2. Missing or extra articles | "I studied in government school." "I want to serve the nation as the IAS officer." | Hindi has no articles, so they are either dropped or inserted as decoration. Dropped articles make nouns sound like headlines. | Singular countable noun needs a, an or the. First mention a, later the. Institutions you name take the: the IAS, the Commission, the state. |
| 3. "Only" as emphasis | "I am from Patna only." "Yesterday only I reached Delhi." "Like that only." | This is Hindi "hi" and Tamil "thaan" translated. In English "only" restricts; the board hears "nowhere else" where you meant "indeed". | Drop it or move the emphasis to stress: "I am from Patna." "I reached Delhi yesterday." |
| 4. Translated question tags | "Agriculture is the backbone of Bihar, isn't it?" "Sir, it is correct, no?" | "Na?" and "hai na?" become "isn't it" and "no?". After a statement of fact to a board it sounds as if you are asking the board to agree, which hands them the opening. | State it and stop. If you want confirmation, ask properly: "Sir, am I right in thinking that the figure was revised?" |
| 5. "Myself" as an introduction | "Myself Priyanka Sharma from Jaipur." | A direct translation of "main khud". In English it is only reflexive. It is the single most recognised Indian-English tell and it comes in the first five seconds. | "I am Priyanka Sharma, from Jaipur." Nothing else is needed. |
| 6. "Sir" or "ma'am" at every clause | "Sir, I think, sir, that the scheme, sir, has two problems, sir." | Hindi "ji" is a softener used at high density. In English the same density sounds anxious, not respectful, and it eats your pace. | Once per answer, at the start or the end. Use it again only to signal a turn: "Sir, may I add one point." |
| 7. Fillers from both languages | "Basically, actually, means, like, you know, so, sir, basically." | "Matlab" becomes "means", and "basically" fills the thinking gap. A board counts them without trying to. | Replace the filler with a silent beat. One second of silence sounds like thought; "basically" sounds like stalling. Our filler guide has the full method. |
Worked example, written by TalkDrill: the same answer twice
Before: "Sir, myself Anil Kumar, I am belonging to Munger district of Bihar only. Basically my father is having small shop and I am knowing the problems of small traders, isn't it, sir. Means I want to work for them only, sir."
After: "I am Anil Kumar, from Munger district in Bihar. My father runs a small shop, so I grew up with the problems small traders face: credit, GST filing and footfall. That is one reason I chose this service, Sir."
Same facts, same candidate, one "Sir", no tags, states in the simple present, articles in place, and a point the board can pick up (GST filing) instead of a plea.
Pace, pauses and being interrupted
Most Indian languages are syllable-timed: each syllable gets roughly equal weight. English is stress-timed: the stressed syllables carry the rhythm and the rest compress. A Hindi-medium candidate speaking English at Hindi rhythm sounds either rushed (every syllable at full speed) or halting (every syllable at full length). Neither is a mark loss in itself, but both make a board member interrupt sooner, because the board cannot tell where your sentence will end.
Three things fix pace without touching accent. First, land the point in the first sentence. Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam all put the verb last, so the habit is to give the context first and the verdict at the end. In English, and in front of a board, the verdict comes first: "I would not support a blanket ban, Sir. Two reasons." Second, pause at the full stop, not in the middle. A pause mid-clause while you search for a word sounds like a gap; the same pause after a complete sentence sounds like composure. Third, aim at about two words a second, which is TalkDrill's working target for a board answer; it is slower than most candidates think, and it leaves room for stress.
When a member cuts in, which will happen, do four things in order: stop mid-word, nod, listen to the whole new question, answer the new question. Do not say "Sir, I was coming to that" and do not finish the old sentence first. If the old point still matters, offer it at the end: "Sir, may I complete the earlier point in one line?" Boards interrupt to test composure as much as to redirect; the candidate who stops cleanly has passed that test before saying a word. SSB note: the interviewing officer uses rapid-fire question sets for the same reason. Answer the last one asked first, then work back, and say so: "Taking the last question first, Sir."
60-second drill: interruption
Pick any question from our question bank. Set a phone timer to buzz at a random point between 15 and 40 seconds. Start answering. At the buzz, stop mid-word, count one silent beat, and say "Yes, Sir" as if a new question had come. Then answer a different question from the bank. Five rounds. The goal is a clean stop with no "but sir".
Register: sir, ma'am, disagreeing and not knowing
Register is the level of formality and the social distance your words signal. Hindi marks it with pronouns and verb endings (aap, tum, ji, -iye); English marks it mostly with phrasing and tone, which is why Hindi-medium candidates often overshoot into servility ("respected sir, kindly permit me") or undershoot into casual ("yeah, that is correct"). A UPSC board wants the register of a confident junior officer briefing a senior one: courteous, direct, no flattery, no slang.
| Situation | Overshoot (sounds servile) | Undershoot (sounds careless) | Board register (TalkDrill) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greeting | "Good morning, respected sirs and madam, it is my great privilege." | "Morning." | "Good morning, Sir. Good morning, Ma'am." Then sit when asked. |
| Disagreeing | "Sir, you are absolutely right, but with due respect I beg to differ." | "No sir, that is not correct." | "I take your point, Sir. I see it a little differently: [one sentence]. The reason is [one reason]." |
| Not knowing | "Sorry sir, I am extremely sorry, I should have known." | "I don't know." | "I am not sure of the exact figure, Sir. My understanding is [what you do know]. I would check the Economic Survey for the number." |
| Being corrected | "Yes sir, yes sir, you are right sir, I am wrong sir." | "Okay." | "Thank you, Sir. I had that wrong." Then wait for the next question. |
| Buying a moment | "Sir, that is a very good question, thank you for asking." | "Hmm, basically..." | One silent beat, then start. If you need longer: "May I take a moment, Sir." |
| Closing | "Thank you so much sirs, it was an honour and a privilege." | "Thanks." | "Thank you, Sir. Thank you, Ma'am." Stand, push the chair in, leave. |
Two register notes specific to Hindi-medium candidates. "Kindly" is not more polite than "please" in spoken English; it sounds like a notice board. And "I will revert", "do the needful" and "the same" belong to office memos, not to a conversation; a board hears a clerk. If you are giving the interview in English but a courtesy comes to you in Hindi ("ji, Sir"), say it; boards are bilingual and a natural "ji" is not a mark loss. What costs is a whole sentence that starts in English and collapses into Hindi because the English ran out. That is a sign to pick the other medium; see the medium page.
60-second drill: disagree three ways
Take one statement you disagree with ("Coaching should be banned for the civil services"). Record three 20-second disagreements: one to a board member, one to a professor, one to a friend. Listen back. If the three sound the same, your register is stuck; the board version should be the shortest and the calmest.
Hindi and Bhojpuri speakers
This is the longest section because it is the largest group: candidates from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Jharkhand, including Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Maithili, Haryanvi and Rajasthani speakers who were schooled in Hindi. All seven habits above apply. Beyond them, five transfers are worth your attention; the pronunciation ones are listed last because they matter least.
Grammar and phrasing
- Present tense for past narration. "In 2019 I go to Delhi and I join coaching." Hindi narrative often uses the present; English needs the simple past for a finished story. Fix: every dated event takes the past form. "In 2019 I moved to Delhi and joined a coaching institute."
- "Since" and "for" swapped. "I am preparing since three years." Fix: for a length, since a point in time, and the perfect tense with both. "I have been preparing for three years." "I have been in Delhi since 2023."
- Doubled verbs and prepositions. "Discuss about", "return back", "cope up with", "comprise of", "order for". Fix: discuss, return, cope with, comprise, order.
- "We" for "I" (Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Maithili). "Hum" is the everyday first person singular in much of Bihar and eastern UP, and it surfaces as "we think", "we are from Siwan" when you mean yourself. A board hears either royalty or a committee. Fix: in the interview, "I" for yourself, "we" only for a real group (my family, my team, my district).
- Yes/no answers to open questions. "Do you think the Bihar prohibition policy has worked?" "Yes sir." Then silence. Hindi conversational habit waits for the follow-up; a board reads it as having nothing to say. Fix: yes or no, then the reason, then the nuance. Three sentences, always.
Pronunciation that occasionally changes meaning
- v and w merged ("wery", "vhat"). Rarely blocks understanding; fix only if you have time, with the v and w read-aloud.
- A vowel before s-clusters ("iskool", "istation", "ispeak"), strongest among Haryanvi, Punjabi and Rajasthani speakers. Fix: start the word with a hiss and no voice: "sss-school".
- sh as s (Bhojpuri, Maithili): "sasan" for "shasan", "sip" for "ship". Fix: minimal pairs, ten a day, from our minimal pairs set.
- v as b (eastern Bihar, bordering Bengali): "bery", "adbantage". Same fix.
60-second drill: states in the simple present
Record a 60-second self-introduction that uses all of these verbs at least once in the simple present: have, know, belong, think, want, understand, believe. Listen back and count every "am having", "am knowing", "am belonging". Repeat until the count is zero three times in a row. Then do the same with the family question ("Tell us about your family"), which is where the habit returns. More in English tenses explained in Hindi and English for Hindi speakers.
SSB note for the Hindi belt. The lecturette is where Hindi-medium NDA candidates most often lose composure: the first minute is in English, the second minute runs out of English and the third is Hindi. Decide the language before you stand up, and if it is English, prepare three sentence frames you can fall back on ("The second point is about...", "To conclude, I believe..."). Our lecturette page has 120 topics with key points.
Marathi speakers
Maharashtra sends a large contingent to both the Civil Services board and the SSB (the NDA is at Khadakwasla, after all). Marathi speakers share habits 2, 3, 4 and 7 with Hindi speakers and are usually stronger on tenses. Three transfers are specific enough to name.
- The preamble sentence. Marathi sentence structure, with its verb at the end and its stacked clauses, produces English like: "Regarding the question of the Marathwada water crisis which has been going on since many years and about which many committees have given reports, what I feel is that..." The board has waited twenty seconds for a verb. Fix: verdict first, in a sentence of under twelve words. "Marathwada needs demand management more than new dams, Sir. Three reasons."
- Flat intonation. Marathi keeps pitch fairly level across a sentence, so in English nothing is highlighted and a list of three reasons sounds like one long reason. Fix: raise pitch slightly on the key word of each reason and drop it at the full stop. The intonation patterns guide has the practice sentences.
- "Na" and "ka" as tags. "It is a good scheme, na?" and the rising "ka?" question. Fix as for Hindi: state and stop.
- v and w is the same merger as Hindi, and "the" as "d" is common but harmless. Fix last, if at all.
60-second drill: verdict first
Take six opinion questions from the extempore topic generator. For each, record only the first sentence of your answer, under twelve words, containing your position. Six sentences in sixty seconds. If any sentence starts with "Regarding", "As far as" or "Talking about", redo it.
Telugu speakers
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana supply a steady stream of Civil Services candidates and a large CDS base. Telugu-medium candidates are usually confident speakers; the transfers are at the sound level and in a handful of phrases, and two of them do change meaning.
- s for sh. "Sip" for "ship", "sare" for "share", "sopping" for "shopping". It matters when the two words both exist in English. Fix: lips rounded and tongue pulled back for sh; ten minimal pairs a day from the confusing sounds set.
- A vowel added to consonant-final words. "Bus-u", "district-u", "ask-u". Telugu words end in vowels, so English words are given one. It is the single clearest Telugu tell and it slows the board's listening. Fix: the final consonant clusters read-aloud, three minutes a day, and the habit of closing the mouth on the last consonant.
- j for z. "Jero", "jone", "organijation". Fix: z is s with voice; hum through an s.
- "And all", "simply", "like that only". "My friends and all were saying" means "my friends and people like them"; a board hears a vague group. "Simply" as in "I simply went" means "for no reason" in Telugu English and "merely" in standard English. Fix: name the group; drop "simply".
- "Saar". The Telugu vowel in "sir" is long and open. Harmless, but if you say it four times per answer it becomes the thing the board remembers. Fix: habit 6, once per answer.
60-second drill: close the word
Read this list aloud into a recorder, twice: district, government, project, respect, aspect, budget, conflict, context, impact, subject. Listen for any added vowel. Then say one sentence about your district using at least four of the words. Thirty seconds each round.
Tamil speakers
Tamil Nadu has a long Civil Services tradition and Tamil-medium candidates often choose the English board for the same reason Hindi-medium ones do: the material was read in English. The Tamil script writes one letter for each pair of voiced and voiceless stops, and that is where most of the transfer comes from.
- p and b, t and d, k and g merged. "Pack" and "bag", "coat" and "goat", "time" and "dime" can come out alike, and in a board answer "the cabinet decided" can be heard as "the cabinet tested". Fix: the voiced sound needs the throat buzzing; put a hand on your throat and say "b, d, g" until you feel it. Then the p, f, b and v read-aloud daily.
- f as p. "Pinance", "coppee", "Pirst". Tamil has no f. Fix: top teeth on the bottom lip and blow; "finance" with a real f is a ten-day fix.
- "Only" and "itself" as emphasis. "Thaan" and "-e" become "only" and "itself": "I came yesterday itself", "in Madurai only". Fix: habit 3; move the weight to stress.
- Rising intonation on statements. Tamil questions and statements share patterns that in English sound like asking. "The Cauvery award was in 2018?" when you meant to assert it. Fix: drop the pitch on the last word of every statement. Practise with the Tamil speakers guide.
- "Is it?" and "correct?" as tags, "means" as a filler. Same fix as for Hindi: state and stop.
60-second drill: voice the stop
Record these pairs, hand on throat: pack bag, pin bin, time dime, town down, coat goat, cold gold. Then one sentence: "The board decided to back the bid for the bigger budget." Listen back; every b, d and g should buzz. Twice a day for ten days.
Malayalam speakers
Kerala has high Civil Services participation and Malayalam speakers are, in our judgement, the group whose English is most often misjudged by boards on rhythm alone: the grammar is usually sound, but the word stress lands on the wrong syllable and the sentence rhythm is even, so a strong answer sounds hesitant.
- Word stress. "DEvelopment" for "deVELopment", "ECOnomy" for "eCONomy", "PERcentage" for "perCENTage". In a board answer full of policy words this adds up. Fix: learn the stress of the fifty words you will use most (development, economy, percentage, administration, agriculture, infrastructure, implementation, committee, environment, particular). Our word stress rules and the stress shifts read-aloud cover them.
- Even rhythm. Every syllable the same length, so the stressed ones do not stand out. Fix: the schwa guide; unstressed vowels shrink.
- Added final vowel ("bus-u", "act-u"), as for Telugu. Fix: close the mouth on the last consonant.
- Register words from office English. "Kindly", "the same", "itself", "I am having" survive strongly in Kerala English. Fix: habit 1 and the register table above.
- "Alle?" as "no?" "It was a good decision, no?" Fix: state and stop.
60-second drill: ten policy words
Say these ten words into a recorder, clapping on the stressed syllable: deVELopment, eCONomy, perCENTage, adminisTRAtion, AGriculture, INfrastructure, implemenTAtion, comMITtee, enVIronment, parTIcular. Then one sentence using three of them. Thirty seconds, twice. Check yourself against the South Indian speakers pronunciation guide.
Bengali, Odia and Punjabi speakers
Shorter notes for three smaller groups. Bengali and Odia speakers: v becomes b ("bhery", "adbantage"), s becomes sh ("shir", "shystem") and the vowel in "a" words rounds towards o ("bonk" for "bank", "Kolkota"). None blocks understanding; the b/v and s/sh pairs are worth ten days of minimal pairs because "vote" and "boat", "sip" and "ship" both exist. Bengali question tags ("na?", "taai na?") transfer as "isn't it", fix as above. Punjabi speakers, a large SSB group: the vowel before s-clusters ("iskool", "istudent") is the strongest tell; "ji" attaches to "sir" ("sir ji"), which an SSB interviewing officer will notice; and the Punjabi tone can make a flat English statement sound like a challenge. Fix: habit 6 for "sir", the hiss start for s-clusters, and the intonation drill from the Marathi section. For all three groups, the seven habits in the table apply first.
A 10-day routine before the board
Forty minutes a day, written by TalkDrill. One habit a day, one drill, one recorded answer, one listen-back. Start on the day the Mains result arrives: per the 2026 notice the form window runs for 15 days after it, and last cycle the boards began about two weeks after the result. If your board is sooner, do days 1, 3, 5, 8 and 10.
| Day | Habit | Drill (10 min) | Recorded answer (15 min) | Listen-back (15 min) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | States in the simple present | Hindi section drill | Self-introduction, 90 seconds (structure) | Count "am having" and similar; count "sir" |
| 2 | "Myself", tags, "only" | Say the before/after example aloud, then your own | "Tell us about your family" and "Why your district?" | Count tags and "only" |
| 3 | Verdict first | Marathi section drill | Three opinion questions from the bank | Time to first verb in each answer |
| 4 | Fillers | Read a paragraph aloud replacing every filler with a beat | One current-affairs question, two minutes | Count fillers; aim under three |
| 5 | Register | Disagree three ways | A question you disagree with the premise of | Does it sound like a junior officer briefing? |
| 6 | Your first-language sounds | Your language section drill | Hobby question, two minutes | Mark only the slips that change meaning |
| 7 | Interruption | Random-buzz drill | A full AI mock interview | Note every clean stop and every "but sir" |
| 8 | Not knowing | Script the three-part "I am not sure" five times | Three questions outside your optional | Did you guess, bluff or frame? |
| 9 | Pace | Read 120 words in 60 seconds, then speak at that pace | DAF-based set (DAF page) | Pauses at full stops or mid-clause? |
| 10 | Everything, once | None | Full 30-minute mock, recorded | Compare with day 1; write the three habits still left |
Practice on TalkDrill
Everything on this page can be done with a phone recorder. TalkDrill makes the listen-back automatic. The AI mock interview asks interview questions, follows up on your answers and gives you feedback after the session, which takes much of the work out of day 7 and day 10 of the routine. The read-aloud drills cover several of the sound pairs named in each language section and give feedback on each attempt. For SSB candidates, group discussion practice is the nearest thing to the GTO group discussion you can rehearse from home. If you are still deciding on the medium, read the Hindi or English page first, and then the 30-day roadmap for the rest of the preparation. Official dates, when UPSC publishes them, appear on the UPSC Interview Schedules page (use the www address; the bare upsc.gov.in address redirected this deep link to the home page when we checked on 21 October 2026) and on our dates and summon page.