Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
whatever language the gaali comes out ..........
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
LOL @ side track of topic..
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
^If you see a hot girl and say things in your head are those words in Urdu, Punjabi or English?
I sigh, wipe my tears off; all while trying not to stare. Later I might think to myself, "Man she's pretty." A few more minutes pass, "Wait, are those her kids?"
It really depends on where I'm at, what language I was talking/reading in a while ago. If I'm writing a comment here, I'm definitely going to think it over in English. However if I've been having an Urdu conversation or reading it, then it's going to be Urdu. Or it could be both. Like just right now I thought to myself, "Meri marzi mein jis mein bhi sochon." All while this comment is coming out in English.
A truly bilingual person should be ( almost ) equally proficient in both his languages. There are trade offs of course, like my English isn't as good as a native English speaker ( one who went to a decent college ). Nor is my Urdu like someone who studied just Urdu. I don't think I'll ever resent knowing both these languages. Heck I wanna learn another one. Gotta get me a Spanish for Dummies.
Both languages have their place. I wouldn't be able to write on here, communicate with such awesome people if it weren't for English. Urdu is for my peeps in Pakistan.
I love being able to control my voice when talking in Urdu. With English proper enunciation is a chore, one that can make my jaw hurt at times. Enough reason for me to prefer Urdu when talking.
whatever language the gaali comes out ..........
Depends on who I'm around, or what language I'm using at the moment.
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
I'm born and raised in the UK, but I'm fully fluent in Urdu and probably 80% in punjabi.
The more languages you know the better, using the arrogant attitude that "I will never relocate abroad so why bother" is extremely short sighted. With Urdu/Hindi being spoken by hundreds of millions of people, you'd be at a disadvantage not knowing it.
I've never seen it as a cultural thing, just an asset that I have that cannot be taken away from me.
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
i think teaching our ancestral language to kid may be important for us but NOT for the kids. they will hardly speak among themselves. besides, a few generations down the road, the children of overseas Desis will have NO contact with back home, let alone interacting with them in a common language.
i will NOT force my children to speak Urdu because i see no use for them. i would rather teach them Arabic to help them in understanding their religion better.
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
i think teaching our ancestral language to kid may be important for us but NOT for the kids. they will hardly speak among themselves. besides, a few generations down the road, the children of overseas Desis will have NO contact with back home, let alone interacting with them in a common language.
i will NOT force my children to speak Urdu because i see no use for them. i would rather teach them Arabic to help them in understanding their religion better.
You do realise that there are a million and one uses for a language other than "communicating with someone back home"
Can't you see how shortsighted that is?
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
You do realise that there are a million and one uses for a language other than "communicating with someone back home"
Can't you see how shortsighted that is?
well, Urdu is NOT one of them. it's NOT a universal language.
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
^^All KKF is saying is that it's a language that may well not be needed or used much a couple of generations down the line.. as hurtful or difficult that might be to comprehend..
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
Despite being born and raised in America, Urdu is very important to me.. I'd like the language to live on in my future generations but losing it is inevitable. Wish there was some way it could be preserved here.
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
i think teaching our ancestral language to kid may be important for us but NOT for the kids. they will hardly speak among themselves. besides, a few generations down the road, the children of overseas Desis will have NO contact with back home, let alone interacting with them in a common language.
i will NOT force my children to speak Urdu because i see no use for them. i would rather teach them Arabic to help them in understanding their religion better.
Most kids of the new generation who don't know their ancestor's/parent's language and/or have minimal to no contact with their roots, have this disconnection because their parents had the same thinking as you. Because their parents didn't find it important that their kids know urdu or whatever language they speak. So if the parents wont make any efforts, it is logical that the children wont do that either.
Same goes for your comment that a few generations down the road children of overseas desis will have NO contact with back home will be because of the same reason. If their parents never make an effort and instill the idea in their mind that it holds no importance. Then why would the kids be bothered about it?
I understand that the later generations wont have the same connection with back home as there is now. But a total disconnection only happens when you teach (or should I say don't) your kids about it.
And teaching your kids a language is never gone wasted. It will always be of some sort of use.
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
It is extremely important to me and to my husband. We were pretty clear about this issue as soon as our son started to speak. He is now fluent in 4 languages. In the beginning it was important not to confuse the child too much, so we did the 1 parent/2 languages method. It worked out fine and now he is used to the basic languages and we can shuffle around as needed.
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
Growing up us siblings were never allowed to talk in English to each other...resulting me and my brother and sister speaking fluent urdu and punjabi...whenever we go Pakistan we dont feel alienated and can share stories with elders and have proper interaction...
I would like my kids to learn urdu aswell so they can interact to their nanis and dadis the same way we did...Its important for them to feel connected to their on roots and have better understanding of our culture...wouldnt they feel dumb when they visit Pakistan and people cracking jokes on them because they dont understand the language
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
well, Urdu is NOT one of them. it's NOT a universal language.
No language is a universal language, hence why it's a good idea to know as many as possible.
You do realise that hindi is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world?
Not only that Urdu is related to arabic/farsi which may make it easier to learn other languages that are related to these.
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
And teaching your kids a language is never gone wasted. It will always be of some sort of use.
Exactly, there is literally nothing to lose by someone knowing urdu the parents that don't teach it to them must be so arrogant.
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
^How is it arrogant?
All he's saying is that it's just not his priority and it's not mine either..
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
I think its important to teach your mother tongue to future generations ...... I mean what if in future they want to import someone from back home??? How will they communicate with their spouses??
& then there is this communication problem too with in laws when they visit you from back home .....
My 2 cents
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
^How is it arrogant?
All he's saying is that it's just not his priority and it's not mine either..
Thinking a language isn't important enough to teach to your children even though though it's spoken by millions of people around the world as their first language.
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
^How is it arrogant?
All he's saying is that it's just not his priority and it's not mine either..
It is not a deal that it isn't his priority to not teach his children urdu, but the fact that he will make sure his kids don't learn urdu. From his posts it comes off as if he will try his level best to make sure they dont do. I find that odd.
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
How do you think in a language? What do you call thinking in a language? When I think it's either mathematical equations, random chicks or cars floating in my head. Don't know if that made any sense.
Please do reply. I wanna figure out the language I think in.
When you talk to yourself in your head (no, not like a mental lunatic), What language is it in like say for example, you're lost and forgot your way whilst driving...and you say to yourself internally in your head 'I can't remember which direction to go'. Basically, thoughts in ones own head.
Re: How important is your mother tongue for you & future generations?
I sigh, wipe my tears off; all while trying not to stare. Later I might think to myself, "Man she's pretty." A few more minutes pass, "Wait, are those her kids?"
It really depends on where I'm at, what language I was talking/reading in a while ago. If I'm writing a comment here, I'm definitely going to think it over in English. However if I've been having an Urdu conversation or reading it, then it's going to be Urdu. Or it could be both. Like just right now I thought to myself, "Meri marzi mein jis mein bhi sochon." All while this comment is coming out in English.
A truly bilingual person should be ( almost ) equally proficient in both his languages. There are trade offs of course, like my English isn't as good as a native English speaker ( one who went to a decent college ). Nor is my Urdu like someone who studied just Urdu. I don't think I'll ever resent knowing both these languages. Heck I wanna learn another one. Gotta get me a Spanish for Dummies.
Both languages have their place. I wouldn't be able to write on here, communicate with such awesome people if it weren't for English. Urdu is for my peeps in Pakistan.
I love being able to control my voice when talking in Urdu. With English proper enunciation is a chore, one that can make my jaw hurt at times. Enough reason for me to prefer Urdu when talking.
Depends on who I'm around, or what language I'm using at the moment.
When you talk to yourself in your head (no, not like a mental lunatic), What language is it in like say for example, you're lost and forgot your way whilst driving...and you say to yourself internally in your head 'I can't remember which direction to go'. Basically, thoughts in ones own head.
You probably missed my comment. It really depends on the mood and what language I was using a while ago. If somebody gave me the directions in Urdu, I'd probably be wondering in Urdu. If the directions were given in English, it'd probably be English. It varies.