My parents are very upset with me. They say my husband and I are not encouraging our kids to speak urdu properly. My urdu is very good mashallah and obviously the credit goes to my parents. I try and speak with my kids in urdu but they always answer back in english. The fact that the kids speak english among themselves and have no pakistanis in their school doesn’t help much. Should we force them to speak urdu or is there any other way to encourage them?
Re: Children and Urdu
**it's a common problem in most desi families. the best way is to talk to them only in urdu and encourage them to talk in urdu as well BUT do NOT FORCE them to do so. just by listening to their parents, learn the language. someday, when there is a need, they will pick up the language fast.
i did NOT speak urdu myself until i was 14 years of age. i spoke only poorbii zabaan [dehii zabaan] and i also did NOT speak English until i came to Canada...BUT, i did understand both urdu as a kid and English when i started High School [grade 10] for the first time...i never attended any school until grade 10.
so, be patient. THey will learn slowly and steadily...remember: slow and steady wins the race :)**
Re: Children and Urdu
Get them started on a healthy diet of Bollywood movies, and they will be speaking in no time. No one actually speaks pure Urdu, and Bollywood movies are very close the commonly spoken Urdu dialect in Pakistan.
Re: Children and Urdu
Agree ^ I've been born n raised in UK myself.. and all the Urdu I speak and understand is because of watching bollywood movies! :)
Re: Children and Urdu
Agree ^ I've been born n raised in UK myself.. and all the Urdu I speak and understand is because of watching bollywood movies! :)
most North American desi kids i know of hate Bollywood movies...they would rather watch Hollywood movies. the trend could be different in the UK i guess.
Re: Children and Urdu
Bollywood films? In this case the end certainly does not justify the means. Whether todays indian films are suitable for children or not is a topic for discussion in itself. But KKF i have seen your urdu on other threads and it is absolutely impeccable! Bohat shaandaar urdu hai aapki, kaisay seekhi?
Re: Children and Urdu
The way I learnt much later in life at the age of 11 ish ( after being raised in the UK my whole life) is because my parents started to ONLY speak urdu at home, at times they wouldnt even reply to me if i spoke to them in english ( which is quite harsh of them) but as a result within months my urdu became decent!
Re: Children and Urdu
But KKF i have seen your urdu on other threads and it is absolutely impeccable! Bohat shaandaar urdu hai aapki, kaisay seekhi?
thank you Miss. :) i learned urdu in Aligarh where i went to study at India's ONLY Muslim University. i got great teachers in Urdu like Dr. Shahryar, Dr. Bashir Badr, Dr. Asloob Ahmad Ansari, Dr. Moin Ahsan Jazbi who are considered great urdu poets. so, i got a great urdu speaking maaHaul...thanx to Allah :)
Re: Children and Urdu
^ Hehe same with me and Pashto.. my mum wouldn't reply to us unless we spoke in Pashto..!
Re: Children and Urdu
Kids are great at picking up languages ... but they have to be given an incentive.
few of the parents I know have taught their children a second language by restricting communication only to the said language while at home.
ex ... child says: hey mom/dad can I get a juice plz -----> no juice till you say it properly in Urdu
each time the child talks/comments in English ... parents remind them/insist upon hearing the comment/question in Urdu.
parents communicate with each other (and child) in Urdu only as well.
It works ... but takes consistency, patience and time from parents.
Re: Children and Urdu
We had a similar problem....and spoke english mostly at home amonst ourselves and with cousins....but we knew spoken urdu ....and used it with grandparents and other elders....until mum started getting angry and saying "tum loog kisi angraiz ke ghar mai nai ho
:(
now we speak urdu mostly....
Re: Children and Urdu
how about select a particular time; may be meals time or quran time, bath time, or play time and speak urdu with your kids and ask them to speak urdu as well and be strict. you dont have to speak urdu all the times but that particular time selected stick to urdu.
my kid speaks urdu/punjabi/english as i try to speak in all languages with her. and its a gift we have that we are able to speak in different languages and i want my kids to do the same.
my sis who couldnt speak and read urdu, only punjabi and english, after going to pak for a month learnt both by reading billboards.
Re: Children and Urdu
My Urdu is okay, but I usually converse in English. I have friends tho, whose parents always asked them to speak to them in Urdu and I think it helped them. I think "forcing" them is not good, but encouraging and reminding them to do it is important, so it sticks. I also make more of an effort to speak in Urdu amongst my grandparents' generation, so perhaps consider increasing their interaction with people who are not as comfortable speaking English. They will do it and learn and become more comfortable from practice. And take them to Pakistan as frequently as you can. When I go, I begin to think in Urdu. :D
MashAllah se my daughter understands and speaks in both English and Urdu at 17 months, thanks to the presence of her grandparents.
Do ask your parents to help you teach their grandchildren Urdu.
Re: Children and Urdu
I speak pretty good Urdu...I think its because my parents forcefully insisted on making sure we spoke Urdu at home.
They never responded to us until we spoke in Urdu.
Re: Children and Urdu
I have actually started doing what most of you guys have suggested, which is to insist that they answer back in urdu and praising them when they do. Sometimes I will say complicated things just to test their comprehension, and I do think they understand more than we give them credit for. I said to my 6 year old daughter yesterday " jao daraaz mein se kaynchee leke ao" LOL, and she actually got the scissors!!!, but then said " here you are mummy"....:)
Re: Children and Urdu
Get them started on a healthy diet of Bollywood movies, and they will be speaking in no time. No one actually speaks pure Urdu, and Bollywood movies are very close the commonly spoken Urdu dialect in Pakistan.
Worst advice! Don't follow this please.
Ontopic: you can show your kids children' programmes in Urdu and read them (bed time) stories in urdu etc.
And everything will be fine, all the best :)
Re: Children and Urdu
what I dun understand is whats gonna happen if our kids dun speak Urdu??
Dun get me wrong, I will want my kids speaking Urdu just because we are from Pakistan BUT I have a feeling that iw ill prefer for them to learn and speak Arabic.. I will probably enroll them in school for that just because I would rather have Arabic as their second language than Urdu! Just because at least that language will probably be more international by the time they grow up and because I will want my children to learn and understand Quran in its original language!
and I am sure my kids will at least understand Urdu because thats what we speak at home, no english except some words here and there.. But I dun see myself going to extreme as in not responding or making sure they speak Urdu! Again, I dun have kids yet so probably I dun understand the extent of it so dun throw jootay at me!
Re: Children and Urdu
Gtg: its gonna take effort on my part to make sure midget rememebers all his urdu now that he is in an instituition that teaches danish.... And its not something im taking lightly cuz he will get all the chances in the world to speak danish and if i dont stress enough... Its gonna be the only language he will learn unless i step in and make another language an option for him... Just like u will with the arabic...
Why i would stress on him knowing his urdu properly ...so he can understand and converse perfectly wi his grandparents and also with those family members that dont speak english at all. I dont want him to sit around and not being avle to enjoy himself cuz he doesnt get what is being said.
He will only learn this if i converse with him in urdu, not respond when he speaks in danish etc... If i were not to, slowly danish will become his language of choice and urdu some hiccup he has to get over fast.
But thats just my choice....
Re: Children and Urdu
I understand your point and I totally respect that but I was just wondering that I know so many girls who grew up where parents really didn't insist on speaking Urdu but then understand it well and even converse when and if needed.. no big deal since they heard their parents talk in urdu all the time.. just like our kids will.. husband and I dun communicate in english at home!
but like I said since I dun have kids in this world yet, so i dunno hwo kids learn probably they will just choose to speak one language and not another one.. we will see how it goes!!
ps: I love your bacha's urdu.. it's adorable mashaALlah!!!
Re: Children and Urdu
cuz we werent forced to speak urdu wen we were kids…urdu isnt too good…i just know the general easy terms…not the faseeh urdu:bummer: