Learn Urdu Not French
Bilingualism is not a problem, it is an asset. As so many pupils in UK have English as a second language or alternative language. We should be celebrating the fact that we have such a diverse language culture in our schools. Indeed, we should try to encourage some of our monolingual native pupils to join in the learning of a community language. Five of the languages that are gaining in popularity are Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian and Urdu. The future for languages in the United Kingdom is very bright, if we abandon the notion that we have to stick rigidly to French and German.
Welcome to a brave new world in which pupils learn Urdu in all schools right from Nursery level. Bilingual Muslim teachers should be appointed in all schools who are well versed in Urdu Language. It is spoken and understood by nearly four million British Asian. It is a common language from Kabul to Burma. Lord Hasting was appointed the first Governor General of Bengal because he was well versed in Farsi and Urdu. It is a lingua franca in all inner cities where Asians are in majority. British education system has never taken keen interest in the teaching and learning of Urdu and majority of British born Muslim children could not learn to read and write. Credit goes to the Imams from the sub-continent who use Urdu in their Masajid and keep the Urdu language alive. But the British establishments with the help of the so called leaders are forcing Masajid to use English instead of Urdu. Indian and Pakistani films are being shown every where. There are nearly a dozen TVs Channels and radio stations broadcasting in Urdu/Hindi for 24 hours, entertaining Asians through out Western Europe. BBC has been requested to set up a TV Channel in Urdu/Hindi. Musical concerts are being arranged all over the country and top singers from the Sub-continent sing songs for the entertainment of the Public.
It is crucial for the Muslim children from the sub-continent to learn Urdu to keep in touch with their cultural roots. Most of Islamic literature and poetry is in Urdu and not in any other Indian Languages. Therefore, in my opinion, both Muslim parents and schools must teach Urdu so that the children can enjoy the beauty of Urdu literature and poetry. I would like to see even native children learning Urdu and not French so that they can learn to respect and understand British Muslim community through Urdu literature and poetry. The Independent news paper also asks for the teaching of Urdu instead of French in British schools for better race relations through a language.
Iftikhar Ahmad
What is the big fuss with the Urdu language, never seen the importance in it. I find the above article kind of pointless, if you want someone to learn Urdu, teach them at Home or the mosque if need be. I done Urdu at Upper School and it was pointless, the teacher made me sit at the back of the class and when to great length to make me drop teh subject so he could maintain his high level of A-C passes.
Urdu causes the current muslims youth a massive problem, i know many imaan who are dead set against learning english and thus it affect communication. Which is essential in propogating islam to the current youth. I would personally would much prefer learning teh arabic language then any other and more attempt should be made by the community in making the youngster learn this language.
Is it mean or does the Urdu language come across as arrogant, too me it does. But I know some youngster who much prefer hearing their speeches in Urdu as it has more passionate and emotion in it, so i not entirely sure on this one. I personally avoid urdu speeches now.
"A true Muslim is thankful to Allah in prosperity, and resigned to His will in adversity."
[url=http//www.guidancemedia.com/videostream.php?id=Burda.mov]Quran[/url]
My Dad wanted me to learn French...but I found it SO hard that I switched to Urdu.
I personally don't see the importance of learning Urdu, its not needed in my day to day life anyway.
Maybe if our elders got over their fixation with the Urdu language more youth would come to the mosques and would actually UNDERSTAND the khutbah's.
Salaam
Urdu is a great language, for the reason of Islamic literature and poetry.
French is an equally valid language.
I disagree with Urdu to create cultutral links, but if one desires to learn the language then provisions should be available.
Gentleness and kindness were never a part of anything except that it made it beautiful, and harshness was never a part of anything except that it made it ugly.
Through cheating, stealing, and lying, one may get required results but finally one becomes
i agree....and thats comin from sum1 whos not pakistani.....Urdu is kinda important
but probably not in school...
The Lover is ever drunk with love;
He is free, he is mad,
He dances with ecstasy and delight.
Caught by our own thoughts,
We worry about every little thing,
But once we get drunk on that love,
Whatever will be, will be.
ɐɥɐɥ
i have a problem
i dont speak urdu at all, understand basics though, dnt speak much punjabi either.
my husband to be's family dont speak english at home and relatives dont understand it.
how on earth do i speak to them!!!!!
im dreading the first meeting
Seeing as there's no girls about at the moment [size=5]apart from Dawud[/size], let me be the first to congradulate you.
congrats Fizzy
so u cant speak Urdu with the in laws and they cant understand u
so what exactly is the prob? :twisted:
I'm a girl?
okay.
Fizzy, just nod and shake your head alot.
Gentleness and kindness were never a part of anything except that it made it beautiful, and harshness was never a part of anything except that it made it ugly.
Through cheating, stealing, and lying, one may get required results but finally one becomes
Salaam
I agree with yuit in that Urdu can be learnt at home or mosque. As a punjabi speaker i dont think its very important but i learnt to read/write at mosque anyway, though i've forgotten how to write it.
French was difficult but i liked it. I took it cos not a single student had any respect for the urdu teacher. Poor guy was subjected to all sorts. It was a "doss about" lesson hardly anyone passed, if they did at the most it was a C grade.
I understand the lectures in Urdu and agree that it is a language in which you can convey emotion more strongly, but still i prefer them in English.
And congrats to fizzy, look at it from a different angle, your in-laws will think "such a lovely girl, doesn't talk constantly"
Wasalaam
lol
im sure you'll pick up some random profanity after the first month.
Atleast this way he wont understand you when ur cussin him... lol.
Match Made Somewhere between heaven and hell.
Back in BLACK
LOL...im a urdu speaker BUT my urdu aint good, i wish i knew how to speak fluently coz its abit sad not knowing your own language and can be very embarressing,
by me i see more importance in learning URDU than french/german etc..
u get the mickey taken out of ya if u cant speak proper,
an u have LOT of communication problems coz u dont know what the hell next persons on bout
Then learn to turn it around on them.
You maynot be able to speak Urdu (your mothertongue im guessing) but they cant speak English a world-wide spoken language.
Back in BLACK
na my mother tongues punjabi.....thats where it all went wrong, its funny when someone talks to you in punjabi ALL these auntys and you have to reply back in urdu...sounds silly when you cant speak ought proper,
yea i do turn it round on them..my bro-in law (thinks hes all that
why is it either/or?
why not learn both?
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
oh im sorry...
raise you're hand if your a member of mensa?
So you could build a time machine so you'd hav enough time to study both languages... not to mention a whole bunch of other really complicated stuff...
Back in BLACK
You are underestimating the kids ability to grasp knowledge.
All kids have a natural ability to learn. It should be exploited.
They do not need to know too much, but a good grounding, with some important vocabulary.
I went to a poor school at first. (kaskenmoor) even there we were taught both spanish and french. And that was secondary school. kids should be taught language from around 8.
And the few Seraph's who are struggling should be given 'special' help
:twisted:
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
how can learning two languages be seen as hard? :roll:
I agree with Mr Admin-
the argument should not learn Urdu not french
its should be learn french AND Urdu
and the choice should be the parents and kids
i would love 2 be able 2 speak Urdu fluently but i can only manage the few sentences when i really have 2! we speak Punjabi Mirpuri style that is at home so never really got the chance 2 learn Urdu that well!
as for being bilingual...its interesting, im studying a course in primary teaching and the tutors are always highlighting the importance of recognising that a child is bilingual and using that as an advantage 2 help them 2 learn better in the classroom e.g. the teacher reading biligual books, bilingual children can amongst themselves speak their 1st language 2 help each other....so bilingualism is recognised and respected...il definitely promote that in my classroom Insha'Allah!
When you say "special" i hope, for your sake, you mean special like special-K and not special like that kid who lives down the road.
FYI i had to learn German, French and Urdu at secondry school... kids hav the ability to learn but not every kid has the same learning rate.
Back in BLACK
See. evem ypu could learn 3 languages (4 including english).
I know there are soe cases that would struggle. However the majority will not.
Aim for the best, and help the worst.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
I'm studying that module too!
its v intresting
and my sister has already done that module
its tru that kids can easily pick up more than one langauge
but I still think the choice should be their own and society should ACCEPT that kids nowadays prefer to speak english
erm... is that not up to the individual, and not the society?
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
are you doing teaching as well?
i think in primary school its not so much about choice but its about not feeling left out....if there are a couple of bilingual kids in a monolingual classroom and one of the kids is poor at literacy/English or whatever then the other bilingual one should be able 2 help him by explaining 2 him in Punjabi or whatever the 1st lang is...about what it is that he has 2 do.
not doing primary teaching-but I have "elective" modeule every year-I can choose one module of my choice from any subject
my sister told me to take this module cos its intresting
MrAdmin I said its up to the individual what they decide to do and that SOCIETY should accept it
Iftikhar,
Congratulations on being the oldest still posting member of the forum! Apparently you have been posting since the original forum - according to which's details you are a 60 some year old fellow, or associate in some scholarly capacity of an Islamic school of some sort.
You should post your opinions more often! You must know lots of stuff and are probably very interesting.
Cheers,
Dave
Not enough for you to be advertising here.
Admin, maybe you can delete this guy's posts and account?
some ppl say urdu isnt important, i think work wise i wd have benefitted more from french, but like i said earlier i really shd also learn urdu.
mum grew up here, and she is completely english, speaks broken punjabi herself, with bits of english thrown in.
when we go shopping in pak the relatives tell her not to open her mouth, or we will be charged more.
thanks all, but im not officially engaged yet. the guy thinks its funny, said he will not help me out and will laugh if i look at the relatives blankly when i dnt understand. i think thats evil.
his sisters and cousins obv speak english, but the hundreds of aunties, uncles, etc and mum and dad dont speak much english.
im planning on going to pak in jan to pick up the launguage. now thats what i call intensive training
Lol-My mum was brought up here too so she speaks broken Urdu too.
I can understand Urdu totally..but I can't speak it.
When I have to speak to my gran or cousins from back home I just get my dad to speak for me...we often have three way conversations like that "Dad tell her...or ask him" etc etc
Maybe your fiancee can do that for you?
Otherwise, just nod and smile...that in itself speaks a thousand words.
that really annoys me when they do that!
good luck
in this country it shouldnt really be a biggie
ALL the daughter in laws of my second gran (my nan's sister) are pure coconuts-they cant speak one word of Urdu nor can they understand it
but my nan loves them all to bits
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