How Did You Learn Punjabi

[Punjabee]

I am interested to know how you learnt Punjabi? Was it from talking at home or were you formerly taught?

If you have kids, what methods are you using to help them learn Punjabi.

Punjabee

Edited December 2, 2013 by Punjabee

[dalsingh101]

Primarily I learned through osmosis; i.e. talking to parents growing up. Being 2nd generation it was (in a sense) easier because there weren't that many grandparents, uncles, aunties that could speak English very well (or at all!) so you were sort of compelled to speak it, unlike today, where 3rd generation Panjabis have parents and older relatives who are fluent in English by virtue off growing up outside of India.

 

Later at a young age I went to the Gurdwara to learn Gurmukhi and then (even later) I did a GCSE in the Panjabi. Despite this there were enormous holes in my learning (like being uncertain about the exact sound of certain letters/symbols) and I could hardly understand written Panjabi that was aimed at adults - until a few years ago, when I decided to finally brush up and dedicate some serious time to the matter.

 

I found the Internet an invaluable tool in this respect (and I REALLY mean that!)

 

In order to improve myself I tried translating texts (some of which are scattered throughout this forum), which helped me build up my very limited vocabulary. Having the support of more knowledgeable peers was essential to my development. We also used to have a thread dedicated to difficult vocab too:

 

 

 

After getting asked about learning Panjabi a few times: I strung this together as a guide, though it is mainly aimed at older learners.

 

http://www.sikhawareness.com/index.php/topic/14814-learning-to-read-write-gurmukhipanjabi-tips-on-getting-started/

 

 

 

 

 

Good luck in your endeavor to spread Panjabi learning!

Edited August 19, 2015 by dalsingh101

[DSG]

Hello Punjabee

Like Dalsingh mentioned it was mainly talking punjabi at home , AND having no choice as a kid parents sent me to Punjabi class , where all i remember is oooorahhhh ooooot ( emphasis in the pronunciation) , there wasnt really any inspiration for me to learn punjabi . Then I learnt at Gurudawara , started to read the Gutka , again I cant remember the techniques used and how I got to that point. ( Now i wish i had )

Today my kids learn Punjabi at Gurudawara , there is no structure , i couldnt believe from day one they were writing oorah airrah .... This I felt was completely wrong. Now look at the English alphabet as a kid I was taught to remember abcdefghij...z ....and NOW in reception class kids are taught 5 letters at a time and then sound the words, read and then write them i.e.

SOUND,READ and WRITE

e.g

m a s d t from this you can make basic words m a t ... m a d ... s a d .... s a t and so on. This way the emphasis is on sound getting the phonetics right and once distilled kids can start joining up letters , sounding them and start reading fairly easily.

This method I think is very good and was trying to drill it into the Punjabi class teachers , whether they understood it or not ( I dont know) ...

I read Dals document , which was great and also on you tube theres a series of learning gurmukhi ( from sangat TV) again i thought his method of teaching was like the English one explained above .

From my experience of learning I am a firm believer in getting the Sound right first , then reading and finally writing. There may be different techniques used in different schools , but I havent found any yet other than they teach the orthodox way ( write it , and sound it)

I also think that learning Gurmukhi should be for life and not just at GCSE/A level. Take ENGLISH at the age of 5 - life we use it day in day out , why not the same for Gurmukhi . I dont think it should be about qualification and most importantly I think when learning Gurmukhi at a young age kids should be taught reading and writing the "panj Bania" start off with Japji sahib and slowly progress , so when the child is about 15-16 years he/she knows the panj bania inside out , pronunciation is bang on ...which if they then take the path of Amrit , reading and reciting the Panj Bania will be easy.

[Lucky]

Dalsingh101,

That's some good material you've shown us.

You've down really well in learning gurmukhi and punjabi as a 2nd generation. I bet you know dudes in your age group that wouldn't have a clue !

I kind of made it difficult for myself as i did attempt punjabi school at age 9 or something, but no one in those days done any serious learning.

I am actually in my 40's and a 3rd generation because my grandparents came over in1949/50, and my father was raised there in UK as well. He learned it pretty well because of my grandparents, but it was a different story for me being raised in pure white gora land.

My father was very good and disciplined me well in terms of speaking and understanding punjabi, so i have never had any problems with pronunciation.

Being self taught and starting to seriously learn after my 30's, i still have lots of room for improvement.

I wish i could read it a lot faster.

I do find that reading shabads and gurbani whilst listening to the audio helps improve it a great deal, and i do this as often as i can.

Most of the punjabis I meet, don't ever believe that I'm 3rd generation born in the early 70's, and I know that nearly every 3rd gen. in my same age group got completely 'whitewashed'

Most of the one's I knew got married to gorey and can hardly speak any punjabi.

Anyway, you probably heard this, but the lyrics are quite strong. It's by a late 80's born and raised 2nd generation brummie lad. He went and studied in India to further his punjabi boli

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=1KhHPTLRk9Q

Edited December 5, 2013 by Lucky

[Genie Singh]

From watching bhangra videos and watching punjabi movies + tv which was sometimes painful to watch but insightful plus mixing in bollywood movies which had subtitles which share similar punjabi words

Tried to learn the script, and found punjabi class dead boring so dropped out

Edited December 12, 2013 by JatherdarSahib

[mpsingh]

Traditionally, the online classes were bit boring as the medium was not so effective. these people have come up with a face to face instructor led punjabi teaching classes, try them - http://punjabi.softvirtualtraining.com/courses/

regards

[Suki Kaur]

Hello,

I agree 100% with DSG’s comment. Listening is so important to the learning process. As a child we only listen for the better part of the 1st two years of life! That’s a pretty long time of just listening to the sounds and no writing or reading. 
 

I follow an account on instagram that does a great job in teaching the sounds of each letter, sample words and also grammar! Check it out www.instagram.com/gurmukhi.box

 

I think they launched a product recently for hands on learning of the alphabet too, The Gurmukhi Box. Looks amazing! 

[dalsingh101]

On 3/1/2022 at 2:53 AM, Suki Kaur said:

I follow an account on instagram that does a great job in teaching the sounds of each letter, sample words and also grammar! Check it out www.instagram.com/gurmukhi.box

This is so cool. People have wanted Gurmukhi fridge magnets for decades! lol

[paapiman]

On 3/8/2022 at 8:43 AM, dalsingh101 said:

This is so cool. People have wanted Gurmukhi fridge magnets for decades! lol

You seem to be in mad love with Gurmukhi bro. That's good.

 

Bhul chuk maaf

[dalsingh101]

On 3/10/2022 at 5:57 AM, paapiman said:

You seem to be in mad love with Gurmukhi bro. That's good.

 

Bhul chuk maaf

I think most of us have some affinity for Gurmukhi, it's a natural step of getting closer to your Sikh heritage and identity?