Vinny Singh

Happy New Year guys! I hope 2016 brings you happiness :D

Hello brother. Sorry for the late reply. School has been keeping me very busy. It's almost final exams week. It's freezing here in California as well, but I bet it is nowhere near as cold as it is in the UK. Glad to know you are doing fine. Thank you so much for the website link. I have registered an account on the website and I will begin reading. Hope you are well! Thanks once again.

Hello guys. Just wanted to make an update on how I am doing. I've been really busy with school so I haven't read the newspaper as much as I planned too. However, when it comes to improving my Punjabi, I have been having a lot of conversations with my parents. Not only has my Punjabi improved more than before, but I am also bonding with them more and more. My pronunciation is still not the best, but hopefully it will get better over time. I still sound very "American" when speaking Punjabi. How have you guys been? Hope all is well.

Thank you Paapiman, I will listen to more Katha and read more books about Sikhi in Gurmukhi. I appreciate it brother. I always thought reading the Punjabi newspapers were a plus, not only because I'm improving my reading and speaking skills in Punjabi but I'm also learning about what is going on in India. My parents were shocked when I read an article to them (in a good way of course). I can't thank you enough brother.] My dad always listens to Maskeen Ji's kathas. I have been doing the same too. I admit there are some parts I don't understand but the parts that I do understand are pure wisdom.

Thank you so much dalsingh for Punjabi primer. Since I started it I have learned a lot. I now read an article of Punjabi newspaper out loud everyday (even though I'm kind of slow). My pronunciation and vocabulary are improving a lot. I am also watching more Punjabi movies instead of Hindi and watching the Punjabi channels streaming online. Slowly I hope to get better and better. I still have a long way to go but this was a huge step. Every tip in this thread is very helpful, if their are any other tips you guys have please feel free to share. Thank you all so much.

Thank you so much for the Panjabi Primer. I picked up Lesson 1 pretty fast and decided to start Lesson 2 the very next day. My notebook is filled with a lot of writing in Gurmukhi. I think I will keep practicing these two lessons for a week then I will start another lesson or two. I also borrowed some Punjabi newspapers from my grandpa. Even though I only know 10 akhars and some vowels I can read what I know very well. My mom has also been helping me. I would read a word to her in Gurmukhi and ask her if it is right or not. My pronunciation of one of the akhars were off, so I went on Youtube to find videos that helped me pronounce the akhars better. For example, I thought "phapha" was pronounced "fafa" but it still has the "p" sound (please correct me if I am wrong). My main sources have been the Panjabi primer, my mom, and Youtube lol. Thank you so much once again. I hope to be able to read the Punjabi newspaper to myself out loud so I can really improve my Punjabi speaking skills.

Thank you so much everyone. I decided to learn to read and write in Gurmukhi. I am currently using Panjabi Primer recommended by dalsingh101. I just finished the first lesson and it was very simple to follow along. I am getting a hang of it. If I get better, hopefully I can read the Punjabi newspapers floating around my house. Thank you so much! Question: Should I do each lesson once a week or should I start the second lesson tomorrow? I am also about to listen to Gyani Kulwant Singh jee's Katha right now. Thank you.

Thank you so much for everything guys. This really helps. Which specific Kathas would you reccomend? Would someone like me understand them? Sorry if I am asking too much.

Thank you so much bro. I really appreciate this. When it comes to your question about if I can read Gurumukhi, I do not know how to read or write Gurumukhi. I only know how to speak in Punjabi, and I'm not very good at it. I have become closer to my roots and I wish to speak fluently one day. I will begin listening to katha as you advised as well as continuing to speak in Punjabi. Also, I checked out a book/CD from my local library called "Teach Yourself Panjabi" by Surjit Kalra and Navtej Purewal. I have gone through some of it and have been reading aloud the Punjabi dialogues as well as hearing them on CD and recording myself to see how I sound so I can fix my pronunciation. That's a start, but I hope it gets better from here. Thank you once again bro.

I always thought my Punjabi speaking skills weren't that good because I was born and raised in the United States. However, over the years I have made friends with a lot of people who are Punjabi and they speak Punjabi very well even though they were also born in the United States just like me. Since then I have always wondered: Why is my Punjabi not so good? My parents were both born in Punjab, India and raised there until they migrated here. Since I was a child, I always spoke to my parents in Punjabi, but I had a lot of friends who were White and Hispanic. So at home it was always Punjabi for me, but everywhere else I spoke in English. Fast-forward to now, I am 23 years old and I still speak in Punjabi at home but my pronunciation is still very bad as well as my vocabulary and sentence structure. I know I can speak in Punjabi with my Punjabi friends but they all make fun of me when I try to speak with them. They can understand me, but they stay I speak it very funny and "white-washed". It gets really sad when I'm at the Gurdwara doing seva or at a wedding with elders and people try to make conversation with me in Punjabi and I try my best but then they realize that my Punjabi isn't very good, so they are forced to speak in English to me because of that. What should I do to change this? So far I only speak to my parents and grandfather in Punjabi. Are there any books or videos or anything that can help me learn and make my Punjabi-speaking skills better? Thank you Vinny Singh