how many of you know urdu…n by that i don’t mean spoken urdu …i need to know about writing
n those of you who know …when, where n how were you taught …???
did u enjoy it …or was it something like an additional burden…???
how keen u were to learn …n what’s your view NOW …???
if you were to send your kid to some local community centre/ mosque etc, to learn urdu …what do you think will be the right age…???
Re: All you guppies living abroad!!
I can read and write urdu a bit. My mother taught me and as well i well to urdu classes once a week at a community centre. Sometimes I enjoyed it like when my cousins were going but other times I didn't. It also depended on the teacher.
That was when I was about 7-11 years old. After that my mother taught me the basics, like reading urdu storybooks and doing spelling tests of words from those books. I also used to write letters to my phopho in Pakistan. My mother would correct them for me before sending them.
When I started my GCSEs I was keen to do Urdu to get an extra qualification. I used to go every Saturday to my parent's friend's house and she would teach me by going through the specification and past papers etc. This was very helpful and I was able to get an A.
Now I do wish I could read and write fluently but I don't have the time to do all the practice.
When I have children I would definitely like then to learn urdu. I suppose around 7 years would be the time to start sending kids to urdu school but it should be something they enjoy not a burden on them.
Hope this helps :)
Re: All you guppies living abroad!!
'Living abroad' is not be the right criteria. 'Raised abroad' is probably a better term for this question.
I live in the US, but I can fluently speak in urdu, read and write without any problem. Same is true for many of us who have been raised in Pakistan, and move abroad later for further education or what not. However, its the kids of Pakistani origin, who are raised abroad, that may have trouble writing Urdu, or reading it. Most likely they can understand spoken urdu without a problem.
Re: All you guppies living abroad!!
i speak, read and write urdu just as someone who grew up in Pakistan would. My mother was very particular about us learning the language well, and insisted that we speak to her in urdu, write to her in urdu, she bought us many urdu books and encouraged us to write to our cousins in pakistan in urdu. As result when I moved to Pak briefly in my teens, My urdu was above avaerage compared to even the locals.
I will def teach my kids urdu, how..that I am not sure yet.
Re: All you guppies living abroad!!
Faisal. but all of us know the namoonay spoke urdu all their life and who somehow manage to forget urdu 2 years after they move to US. 
I met one character who was in karachi until 10th grade, moved to canada and then 3 years later he could not speak urdu… loser
Re: All you guppies living abroad!!
my written urdu is terrible
i learnt the basics at home and then at secondary school where i did GSCE URDU (at that
time there were only 3 people in the class!!!!)
it was kinda fun ... im so glad i learnt it and will definately teach my girl!
we picked up on common words/sentences through watching paki dramas like UNKAHI & DHOOP KINAREY
so wot bout u Afia........?
Re: All you guppies living abroad!!
Hey Uzzy and Fraudiye, thanx for sharing ur experiences. This would be very helpful for others who are looking forward to teach Urdu from young ages.
I know one family, (the otherwise sweetest) mother would turn into vampire if any of her kidz talk to her or to each other in English in house. She was MBA from IBA herself and married to a buisness professional living in UAE (until their kidz were under 10) then they moved to Canada some 14 years ago. Kidz were going to Amercian school in UAE too and will speak English only in schools, but as soon as they enter home everyone has to forget English at door step and talk in thait Urdu. She continued the same routine here in Canada too and made her kids talk in Urdu only. Today they are grown ups and Uni-going, but when they talk in Urdu its more pure than what we speak in Karachi/Lahore. However only the eldest son got to learn writing Urdu, the rest can read and speak well. This happened since mother couldn't give enough time to the kidz here in Canada in early years.
Re: All you guppies living abroad!!
Even ‘raised abroad’ can’t be a good criteria. How about those who were born and raised in Pakistan but they still can’t speak Urdu properly? I am talking about Burgers.
Re: All you guppies living abroad!!
hmmm....Faisal....yes, you are right ....i should've said 'raised abroad':-)
n yes ...i want to know the experiences of the generation who is raised abroad
i was raised in pak .....but thats not the case with my kids .....
n i'm more concerned specially coz there r no desis living in our neighbourhood ....so i n my husband re the only ppl talking to them in urdu....so far its been great ....speaking isn't a problem ....n luckily they speak even better than some ppl in pakistan
but.....the eldest one (6 years old) is now practicing writing .....i mean the actual words ....
his school ends at 3....n he goes to bed sharp at 8.....in 5 hrs ....he has a lot of things to do .....at first i used to teach him urdu only on weekends ....but it was an annoyingly slow pace .....so i included the weekdays too .....not all but at least thrice a week.......but surely, i don't want him to feel burdened .....thats why i need to know all this!
initially my plan was to cover the standard urdu syllabus each year ....so he can learn like any kid in pakistan ....but somehow ....i couldn't achieve this goal ....year 1 is about to end ....n we've yet to sart proper sentence writing .....
Re: All you guppies living abroad!!
My father was very particular about us knowing urdu too. When we went back to Pakistan I didn;t know a word of urdu (writing) I did a somewhat okay job at speaking it though. I remember relatives and class mates laughing at my urdu :( I was around 10 at the time. It took me about 3 months to learn the alphabet and writing and that was all at school with no extra tutoring. Knowing how to read arabic helped I think and my urdu teacher was really very good too and gave me a lot of attention in class and ofcourse I was a bright kid :D
Re: All you guppies living abroad!!
dont just blame burgers, the “lingo” spoken by lalukhaitya types is to urdu what ebonics is to english
Re: All you guppies living abroad!!
I did my school upto about 2nd grade in pakistan (me thinks) My urdu wasnt as good as my english, even back then. I can speak arrite.. and read as well (takes a bit of time though) but writing is hard :( i can only write my name and "Pakistan Zindabad".. what more do i need to know? hehe
Re: All you guppies living abroad!!
sorry - I don’t mean to offend anyone here… but GCSE Urdu and A-Levels Urdu is something a grade 5 student in Pakistan would be able to outdo without a problem. I’ve taken Urdu at both the GCSE & the A-Levels and you can get your way through the courses by watching the movies (Umaro-Jaan, Tera Afsaney etc.). Ohh… and not to forget in A-Levels Urdu, you can also answer the questions on those short-stories in English 
Back to the subject now… my parents made sure that upto the collegiate level (say gr. 10 - 11ish), there was an opportunity to learn Urdu wherever we were - this took care of the basics… only talking in Urdu at home, and watching dramas etc. also helped a lot.
Re: All you guppies living abroad!!
I learned to read, write and speak in Urdu in Karachi. We still speak in Urdu at home, alhamdulillah. I guess that covers all areas for me.
Re: All you guppies living abroad!!
Someone said Urdu :)
Re: All you guppies living abroad!!
Hum bhi kabhi kabhi urdu bol lete henh, kabhi urdu, kabhi hindi, kabhi punjabi, kabhi pushto or kabhi hindko, agar qalam hath meh ho to likh bhi lethe henh laikin depend karta heh mood peh.
Re: All you guppies living abroad!!
never had a problem with urdu, learned till grade 10 did ghalib ki tashreehs ( well more like rattafying the guide) but know how to read, write and speak perfectly.
Re: All you guppies living abroad!!
exactly…if the person raised in pakistan cannot read or write urdu he/she is definitely a looser..
Re: All you guppies living abroad!!
I don't know if i fit into the "raised abroad" category.
I completed 5th grade in Pakistan and have been abroad since then. I can speak and read Urdu very well, but my weakness is evident when it comes to writing Urdu. I can write it, but the flow isn't as good as I'd like for it to be. I've always wanted to go to Pakistan and spend a few months taking just Urdu courses, but that's a wish that's unlikely to come true anytime soon. :(