How important do you think it is to be able to
read and write you native language?
I think its such a handicap not to be able to…
Although not a problem when visiting Pakistan as most of the signs and document are in english… its sad when I cant read the Pakistani newspapers or magazines,
But with school and work and familylife here.. its almost impossible to learn now…
what are you expierences?
The only thing keeping you is your will to learn. And how much trouble parents are willing to take to teach their kids the language. I don't see why its impossible to learn, theres plenty of resources everywhere you look.
what resources...?
Trust me I really do want to learn..
hey Muniya, not a biggie yaar, a lot of men and women in Pakistan don't know how to read and write Urdu...our literacy is around 30% and much more than 70% don't know how to read ad write Urdu...
when your kids start going to Islamic school and learning how to read Arabic na, you can get lessons too...I know an aunty who got lessons when she was quite old...Its not that difficult to learn, I say in 3 months you'll be reading and writing perfectly... :)
Yeah I want to learn to I always wanted to read Pakistani novels my chachee reads because they look so tempting but I can't even write or read my name it seems almost impossible to learn how, living abroad.
samina yaar.. maybe we should do this 2gether over the net?
I found a pretty cool site.
guys dont' mind my saying but it's pathetic and unique perhaps only to people of the indo-pak nations to be so ignorant about learning their own language(s) and culture. why dont we pay attention to this stuff? without our language and cultural heritage where do we stand? why are we so quick to abandon all that is ours in and adopt what's alien to us with wide open arms...? ive never heard of an arab who couldn't read or write arabic, (leaving illiteracy aside), i never heard of an englishman who couldnt read or write in english, never heard of a frenchman who couldnt read or write french but there are countless pakistanis, indians bangladeshis who feel pride in not knowing a single word of their national language. why is it so? its not that our culture is shallow, it's very deep, rich and ancient.
what's wrong then? who can we blame...?
its our own fault i guess...we are all to blame.
lets just hope our rich culture, traditions and languages stay alive in our country and outside forever!
I'm pretty much an english speaker, although I do speak some Urdu.
At this point in time, I would prefer to learn the following languges, in the following order, I have my reasons. smile
Arabic
Farsi
Urdu
Pashto
I think i'ts very important to know your mother tongue. I made a big mistake with my children. They only speak Dutch! When we takl to them in Urdu, they even reply in Dutch adn it's all my own fault. I'm trying to teach them Urdu too now, it's not too late yet, because in my case they are still little, so with time they will pcik it up, in_sha_Allah.
When we were little, my mother spoke to us in Urdu and my father spoke to us in Dutch/Enlgish. So we learnt both. I also have a German friend, who talks one day German, and one day Dutch. And my cousin, she lives in England, she talks at home Urdu, and outside she talks English. I don't know which method is better, but I very much regret not learning my children Urdu before.
I can read and write Urdu like a child can in elementary school, I can read Urdu childrens books, but when it comes to adutls books, or the newspaper, I can't read everything and have to grab my dictionary. But if you know how to read Quran, it's easier I htink. For me it was, we first learnt Quran, and becasue the alphabet resembles a lot, it was afterwards easier to learn to read Urdu.
i never used to be that bothered about learning how to read or write my mother tongue (pastho and farsi) but since my trip to Pak I really want to learn, especially urdu as I feel its a more 'universal' language across pakistan.
yeah..its never ever too late to learn anything, only yesterday i learned about this lady from Pakistan who started studying medicine after having 2-3 kids and when she was in the final year one of her sons was a 1year student in the same medical college.
it is important to stay hooked with one's background and culture otherwise we end up floating in the air without a place to anchor. our host cultures will never accept us as one of their own no matter how much we look like them, act likle them or talk like them, we'll always be 'desis'.
remember how long it took the americans to accept africans as their fellow and equal citizens. not every body shows prejudice and racism but its rooted deep inside the human mindframe. it's an evil thing but its a reality.
so lets leave not our culture folks, lets hold on to it tight. :)
If you can speak and understand the language, I don't understand what the problem is with reading it. All you need is to learn an alphabet- 36 or so characters. It will take you about a week - 5 characters a day !! My son is 5 and he has taken about a month to learn to read urdu (basic level).
On the subject of mother tongue though, my mother tongue is actually punjabi. But I always have spoken urdu as thats what my parents taught me. I can speak punjabi but am not fluent in it. I think it is sad that we Pakistani Punjabis always think it is trendy to lose our culture!!
well i tried learning how to read and write Urdu, but my teacher gave up on me!! i guess since i was learning arabic around the same time and confused them both!! but one thing that i am proud of is that i am fluent in my mother tongue, along with English and Urdu.
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*Originally posted by Khattana: *
I think it is sad that we Pakistani Punjabis always think it is trendy to lose our culture!!
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Its not just you guys :)
Looking at the bigger picture, most parents generally want their kids to learn what they themselves couldn't be good at OR what they think is the need of the time. In karachi I saw countless sindhi/punjabi/pushto/memon/siraiki/etc families teaching their kids only urdu because parents think if their kids learn urdu they'll be able to keep up with the times. True, but they fail to realize the implications of not giving preference to their own language first. Similarly here in the west now parents would rather want their kids to learn english first before anything else.
Reminds me of this saying..
Kawwa chala hans ki chaal tou apni bhi bhool gaya
I think it is important,, if your mother tongue is Urdu then it should be well spoken and written...
See jews with hebrew...almost all of them know how to read and write.. no matter where they are..thats how one retains that common cultural bond...otherwise Arabic is more important.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by samina mm: *
Yeah I want to learn to I always wanted to read Pakistani novels my chachee reads because they look so tempting but I can't even write or read my name it seems almost impossible to learn how, living abroad.
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I hate to say this. But you are really missing out on the Urdu novels Imran series, Inspector Jamshed Series, Jassosi Digest, Akhbar-e-Jahan, Awaam akhbar, Umro Ayaar ki zanbeel, Tarzan ki wapsi and many more.
When I was 14 and in Pakistan I was a book worm. I think I got it from my dad, he is a reader too. In the end even he couldnt keep up with me. Before I moved to the States, I started on English novels, I was done with all the Stephen King, John Grisham, Sydney Sheldon, Sherlock Holmes novels during the summer of 1997. I havent read even half of that summer reading during the last 5 years inclduing my university books.
If you are feeling left out on the Urdu novels try a few Urdu websites where you could learn URDU easy. since you can already speak it ) I HOPE) it should be comparatively easier for you as compared to soembody who doesnt speak it.
Good Luck!