We Bhutanese speak Nepali as it used to be spoken in Ilaam and Jhapa. Nepali enough? Oh yeah, lot more Nepali than the gibberish spoken around Ratna Park. We would look confused if you should walk up to us and say "Hett Kyaaa Jhyaaaau garyaaa!" because that is not Nepali enough for us.

(The term "Bhutanese" is parallel to "American." There is no American ethnicity, language or religion. Bhutanese are citizens of Bhutan, but there is no ethnic community or a racial group called Bhutanese. It is a population of approximately 700,000 people made up of as many as 14 different ethnic groups. There are some who still wear animal skin for clothes. There are some who dress up like Tibetans. There are some whose dialects have no scripts. There are some who are animists. It is a small panorama of colorful people. The government wanted to paint this patchwork of colors into all dull grey and hence the political problems and the eviction which some would like to gleefully characterize as 'they all got kicked out')

The most predominantly spoken language is Nepali. The southern plains is pure Nepali. In the north, especially the capital, most of the people understand Nepali. If you are new, lost and need to speak to a stranger in Thimphu, try Nepali. Chances are s/he will understand you and can answer you well.

Heerealone, you should watch out. She might call you to it when you let slip something in Nepali that you shouldn't. Any Bhutanese that gets as far as the US as a student understands Nepali, speaks it and even some Hindi. About 45% of the population of Bhutan used to be nepali and Nepali was taught in schools until as late as the late eighties when the attack on the culture tradition and language began.  With about 100,000 evicted, there are still close to 2 lakhs Nepalis in Bhutan. Two government ministers are Nepalis: Thakur Singh Powdyal as education minister and NL Rai as minister of communications. When I was a kid, there used to be a government-sponsored magazine called "Bhutan ko Pratibimba" replete with stories of ghosts and poems and random stuff. The government mouthpiece, Kuensel, is published in Nepali, Dzongkha and English. The BBS has radio programs in Nepali too. I am not sure about the TV since I have not watched Bhutanese TV yet. So, yes, Bhutan has as many Nepalis as there are people of Tibetan or Indo-Burman origin there.