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You can write JEE Main in Hindi, Urdu or one of ten other Indian languages. The paper's language rules should shape your books, technical terms and mock tests.
Which languages is JEE Main offered in?
The National Testing Agency's JEE Main 2027 information bulletin lists 13 languages for the question paper: English, Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.
Where you sit the exam matters. According to the same bulletin (section 2.2), English, Hindi and Urdu papers are offered at all exam centres in India, while each regional language is offered only in certain states and union territories. Tamil, for example, is offered in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Three rules to know before you fill in the form:
The question paper is shown in both English and the language you chose.
You cannot change the language after the correction window closes, and you must take the paper in the medium you registered for.
The bulletin says the "English version will prevail in the event of any difference of opinion", and its computer-based test instructions add that only the English version counts for evaluation when a translation is in question.
Should you take JEE Main in Hindi or English?
Pick the language you think in fastest when you read a physics problem. A quick test: read five numerical problems in each language and time how long each takes to understand.
Choose your own language if you studied Class 11 and 12 science in it and read it noticeably faster.
Choose English if most of your notes, practice books and doubt-clearing are already in English, even if you speak another language at home.
Either way, train yourself to read the English version, because it settles any dispute.
If English is the hard part, our guide to studying science in English when you think in another language has a routine for building that reading speed.
Which study materials work for JEE preparation in Hindi?
Start with NCERT. NCERT's textbook site lists Class 11 and 12 Physics in Hindi (Bhautiki) and Urdu (Tabiyaat), and Class 11 and 12 Chemistry in Hindi (Rasayan Vigyan, Parts I and II), alongside the English editions. It lists no physics or chemistry editions in other regional languages; for those, use your state board's textbooks.
For technical terms, use the official source. The Commission for Scientific and Technical Terminology, under the Ministry of Education, exists "to evolve and define scientific and technical terms in Hindi and all Indian Languages" and publishes glossaries and definitional dictionaries.
A sensible mix: one main textbook in your exam language, plus problem books in whichever language has the best questions. Every new English term goes into your term notebook.
How should you learn technical terms in two languages?
Keep a bilingual term notebook, one line per term:
English term
the term your textbook uses in your language
symbol and SI unit
a one-line meaning in your own words
For example: moment of inertia, then your textbook's term, then I in kg m², then "how hard it is to start a body spinning about an axis". Add about ten terms per chapter and test yourself in both directions once a week.
Sometimes the word is clear but the idea is not. The Fermi Concept Library has a lesson for every concept in physics, chemistry and mathematics, so you can rebuild the idea and then add its term to your notebook.
How do you practise mock tests in your language?
NTA's mock test page says its mocks are there "to familiarize the students about processes of Computer Based Test (CBT)". Our guide to NTA's official mock tests covers how to use them.
The bulletin's test instructions say you change the language by clicking your profile image at the top right of the screen and choosing from a drop-down. Practise this until it is automatic; our walkthrough of the JEE Main computer-based test screen shows the rest of the layout.
Time is the constraint. Paper 1 has 75 questions in 180 minutes, according to the same bulletin (candidates with disabilities who are eligible for a scribe get 4 hours), which leaves about 2.4 minutes a question. You cannot read every question twice, so use a switch rule:
Read the question in your language.
Switch to English only if a term is unfamiliar, a sentence reads two ways, or none of the options seems to fit.
Answer, then switch back for the next question.
After each mock, sort mistakes into language errors (misread a word or condition) and method errors (understood the question, solved it wrong). Language errors go into your term notebook. For method errors, the Fermi Problem Library has worked problems with a step-by-step solver that explains the reasoning rather than printing an answer.
Before you fill in the form, check section 2.2 of the bulletin for your exam cities, then start your term notebook with your next chapter.
