to talk in your mother tongue (i.e. urdu and punjabi) at home?
and how many were encouraged to talk in english (when landed in US, UK, can, aus etc)
Re: how many of you were forced
I grew up in Pakistan, so I had no choice but to talk in my mother tongue because not only the family members but the kids in streets also spoke the same language. However, I am going to encourage my kids to be able to speak perfect Urdu (and also understand/speak a little Punjabi). They will be speaking Urdu to us and they can speak English with siblings, cousins, and friends etc. Although they will be growing up in the US and probably never be visiting Pakistan, they still need to be able to relate to their roots/culture and that’s one way they will appreciate it. Besides, being able to speak in a different language while among all English speaking people has its own advantages 
Re: how many of you were forced
I always spoke Urdu/punjabi with my parents and i never felt “forced” into it. I think i went through one phase of speaking English when i was 10 or 11, and a few months later i felt embarrassed about it
Re: how many of you were forced
well my mum was 4rm pakistan and dad was born and brought up in the UK, mum speaks fluent english, urdu and punjabi wheres dad only spoke english and punjabi
I picked up both urdu and english since mum purposely spoke in urdu to me and dad only spoke i english since he cudnt spk urdu properly, and we dont spk punjabi in our house at all.
Once i started going 2 nursery; school, i stopped speaking urdu all together the same with my siblings, so evenually mum refused to talk or reply to anything if we spoke in english to her since we were totally forgetting urdu 
She was adamant that we dont forget our mother tongue, i use to get so annoyed but totally appreciate that she did that otherwise my urdu wud be awful now!!!
Re: how many of you were forced
i know 'eh 
waise our parents always made us speaking urdu at home, especially in primary school… they were more relaxed in highschool coz they knew ab itni aati hai ke bhooleiN ge nahi… i really value the fact that i can speak it (shukr Allah ka)
Re: how many of you were forced
When I was born, I was so surprised and shocked, I couldn't talk or speak for 15 months.
Re: how many of you were forced
^ good one:cb:
Re: how many of you were forced
were you surprised and shocked or your parents?
Re: how many of you were forced
interesting sharings people…i am actually doing film analysis of bend it like beckham and i have to figure out the target audience (ofcourse along with the reasoning).
and the whole film is in english (even the parents were forcing themselves to talk in english 
…cuz i know my parents will be like “bolti hai urdu k uthaoon joota ”)…similar to all you guyz
therefore, it is obvious that target audience of it, are “Goraz”
Re: how many of you were forced
Main Urdu main hi baat keri thi America aker mother tounge Punjabi seekhi:D
PS: Jab main Pakistan gai tu log “ungushta ba dnadan” thy ky hain English ky bajay yeh Punjabi per kaisy utar aai. Ham ny kaha yahi tu hy GN her kam ulat kerti hy:wink:
Re: how many of you were forced
when I came to US, I had passed the age where my parents could "force" me to do anything...so they had just left it on me to choose whatever language I want to speak.
Though we are punjabis and my parents talk to eachother in punjabi but they never forced us to learn punjabi or speak punjabi with them.
I basically learned my punjabi from massies...lol
Re: how many of you were forced
I don’t understand why the dislike against Punjabi language. Even in-laws/husband don’t speak it, the word “tera” and “tu” is almost a gaali
Re: how many of you were forced
The grass is greener on the other side. Punjabis try to speak Urdu, Urdu speaking try to English, English try to speak Spanish/French, and so on. Personally, I would have a hard time teaching my kids Punjabi (how to speak part) because my wife does not speak Punjabi at all. She understands it but she is an Urdu-Speaking. I don’t want to confuse my kids between Punjabi, English, and Urdu. So, I’ll just teach them Urdu at home, school will teach them English. When they see their father and his family talk in Punjabi, I am sure they will pick it up without being pressurized to understand it.
Re: how many of you were forced
Well if parents dont speak Punjabi at all its' one thing but the ones who do...who dont want kids speaking it. i find it weird.
Re: how many of you were forced
Yeah that beats me. I have seen desi parents that speak Punjabi with each other but they would speak Urdu with their kids in such broke accent and their kids also pick up that broken accent. It's better to just teach them Punjabi rather than embarrass yourself and them in front of people.
Re: how many of you were forced
I had completely forgotten my mother tongue for a couple years during middle school but when my grandma came to live with us, she couldn't speak english very well so in order to talk to her I had to relearn my mother tongue. boy was it hard remembering the words and it was embarrassing too especially with my amerikan accent but because of the embarrassment I felt like proving to all those desis that I can speak the language and now my accent is somewhat ok too.
My parents encouraged me and since most all family is here it was necessary. i'm glad I stuck with it cuz now I know my mother tongue plus a bit of Hindi as bonus!!
Re: how many of you were forced
my believe is that punjabi is considered pandou type...and people dont like to be considred pindu....
me...... i totally luv punjabi i think it is soooo cute...i make special effort to speak it and learn it
Re: how many of you were forced
Sab sy pehly to “TU” gali kysy ho giya ham jab Allah sy dua kerty hain or aksar Hamd suno tu shair Allah sy “TU” keh ker mukhatib hota hy. Chalo ji Allah or bandy main fraq hy bandon ky liy izat afazai ky alag alag miyar hain to ji Arbi main aik akyly kky liy Inta,Tu, Antuman, Tum do, Antum tum sab istymal hota hy Punjabi main tu wahid ky liy istymal hota tha. Urdu danon ny Punjabi’s ko D grade kerny ky liy yeh pukh nikal li ky hushhhhhhhhhhhhhh Adab sy “AP” kehiy.
Mery waldain Punjabi ho ker bhi Punjabi nahi bol sakty thy. Or hamary Multan ky milny waly hamin :AHLY ZUBAN" samjhty rahy magar yeh dislike nahi bas jaise yahan log kehty hain bachon ko sirf English sikhao warna woh ehsasy kamtari ka shikar ho jain gy wohi hal Pakistan main tha jis ka nateeja Mashriqi Pakistan ki alyhdgi ki sorat main nikla.
Re: how many of you were forced
i picked up urdu in pakistan growing up and naturally we spoke urdu at home when moved to canada. all my siblings speak urdu even amongst themselves. english is strictly spoken outside the house along with french.
i hate those parents who speak english with their kids.. :(
Re: how many of you were forced
[quote]
**Sab sy pehly to "TU" gali kysy ho giya ham jab Allah sy dua kerty hain or aksar Hamd suno tu shair Allah sy "TU" keh ker mukhatib hota hy. Chalo ji Allah or bandy main fraq hy bandon ky liy izat afazai ky alag alag miyar hain to ji Arbi main aik akyly kky liy Inta,Tu, Antuman, Tum do, Antum tum sab istymal hota hy Punjabi main tu wahid ky liy istymal hota tha. Urdu danon ny Punjabi's ko D grade kerny ky liy yeh pukh nikal li ky hushhhhhhhhhhhhhh Adab sy "AP" kehiy.**
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aray, i didnt mean literally gaali hai... but i remember my first few months there, hubby dint like me saying "tu" or "tera" cz its looked down upon with them.
and i wish u'd speak english, cz ur posts are so hard to read =//