Urdu vs English: Are we ashamed of our language?

[Peregrine]

A must listen poetry for all Urdu lovers

so so sooooo beautiful.

 

[great]

This is impossible position to put someone in. I think learning English is very important these days. Most of the world literature is in English (either translated or written in it). And there is a whole realm of internet which is dominated by English. And you cannot argue the merits of having English communication skills for a job. Yet we are stuck with a pseudo cultural-ism that somehow we are neglecting our ancient culture because of it.

There is no question of inferiority complex as we are not comparing two languages of equal stature in this world. Obviously we are not going to get high paying job if you only speak Hindi/Urdu, are we? Unless that changes this question is irrelevant.

 

[Desert Fox]

 

[Dance]

This is impossible position to put someone in. I think learning English is very important these days. Most of the world literature is in English (either translated or written in it). And there is a whole realm of internet which is dominated by English. And you cannot argue the merits of having English communication skills for a job. Yet we are stuck with a pseudo cultural-ism that somehow we are neglecting our ancient culture because of it.

There is no question of inferiority complex as we are not comparing two languages of equal stature in this world. Obviously we are not going to get high paying job if you only speak Hindi/Urdu, are we? Unless that changes this question is irrelevant.

Thats not the point.

No one is saying you shouldn't learn English because it is the unofficial lingua franca of the world, but you shouldn't disregard your native language completely. In Pakistan and India, if you don't speak English you are sometimes looked down upon and are considered to be not educated. Look at China/Japan, they barely speak English but they are pretty successful in the world. The point is to cherish your native language and stop treating English as superior

 

[Desert Fox]

 

[great]

Thats not the point.

No one is saying you shouldn't learn English because it is the unofficial lingua franca of the world, but you shouldn't disregard your native language completely. In Pakistan and India, if you don't speak English you are sometimes looked down upon and are considered to be not educated. Look at China/Japan, they barely speak English but they are pretty successful in the world. The point is to cherish your native language and stop treating English as superior

Well you are again sticking to pseudo nationalism. Why don't tell those private schools that educate elite in our countries to teach only in Hindi/Urdu like poor government schools.They teach English because it provides pupils with world opportunities. That's their pull to get those students to their schools. So elite learns English while poor learns in local language. So your real question boils down to why does elite look down the poor? That's a universal question that I needn't answer.

Again you cannot compare English with any other language. I understand we need to have pride in our culture but false pride doesn't do any good either. We need to adjust to the contemporary world otherwise you'll be left behind. I don't really believe in inferiority complex BS. Its just plain opportunism.

PS: Chinese are trying to learn English in droves. Many of them come to American schools to learn English paying thousands of dollars. Didn't you read about Party's recent push to educate citizenry in English in a massive scale? Don't tell me Chinese don't consider English as superior.

 

[desioptimist]

Nothing wrong in learning English. People learn it not because of colonialism but because English is the language which will advance their career.It is most widely used language in the world. As we already have a good base of English knowing people, why not use it to our advantage.

People look down upon you when you cant speak English, because most people took the effort to learn and master a second language. You did/could not.
In English speaking country, it is good to learn french / geman /spanish.

 

[Desert Fox]

Nothing wrong in learning English. People learn it not because of colonialism but because English is the language which will advance their career.It is most widely used language in the world. As we already have a good base of English knowing people, why not use it to our advantage.

People look down upon you when you cant speak English, because most people took the effort to learn and master a second language. You did/could not.
In English speaking country, it is good to learn french / geman /spanish.

I agree that learning English is important, no one is denying that fact, however one must also preserve and learn his own language and culture/history.

 

[53fd]

I've really started loving Urdu ever since I left Pakistan 14 years ago. I started reading Urdu adab & shayari, & now I am very fluent in pure Urdu. I've virtually eliminated using any English words in my conversations. But when I was living in Pakistan, I used to be pretty lax with my Urdu as well, although it was not intentional. I never deliberately used English words & sentences in my Urdu conversations.

 

[Desert Fox]

I've really started loving Urdu ever since I left Pakistan 14 years ago. I started reading Urdu adab & shayari, & now I am very fluent in pure Urdu. I've virtually eliminated using any English words in my conversations. But when I was living in Pakistan, I used to be pretty lax with my Urdu as well, although it was not intentional. I never deliberately use English words & sentences in my Urdu conversations.

MashaAllah brother, if only more Pakistanis realize the beauty of their national language.

 

[jamal18]

Well you are again sticking to pseudo nationalism. Why don't tell those private schools that educate elite in our countries to teach only in Hindi/Urdu like poor government schools.They teach English because it provides pupils with world opportunities. That's their pull to get those students to their schools. So elite learns English while poor learns in local language. So your real question boils down to why does elite look down the poor? That's a universal question that I needn't answer.

Again you cannot compare English with any other language. I understand we need to have pride in our culture but false pride doesn't do any good either. We need to adjust to the contemporary world otherwise you'll be left behind. I don't really believe in inferiority complex BS. Its just plain opportunism.

PS: Chinese are trying to learn English in droves. Many of them come to American schools to learn English paying thousands of dollars. Didn't you read about Party's recent push to educate citizenry in English in a massive scale? Don't tell me Chinese don't consider English as superior.

In all countries some people learn english, and it is taught as a foreign language. But the national language is their own, the language of education is their own; and their leaders definitely do not speak to their own people in english. Their tv, radio and cinema is in their own language.

English is restricted as a foreign language.

 

[RezRoll]

Well like I said above: I would partly blame this trend due to British colonialism in the sub-continent and some inferiority complex that persists today because of that.

Its so disgusting to see that there are people in Pakistan who look down on you if you cannot speak English! As if speaking English makes you a more classier, educated, tolerant person compared to someone who cannot

Another problem we have is that regional languages are in danger of being extinct. Nothing wrong with learning English, but don't look down or forget your culture either!

Don't worry, bro, it's not just in Pakistan that this is happening. In Malaysia, it's considered "cool", educated, and upper class if you can speak English fluently, possibly with a British or American accent.

Even our last prime minister, the father of modernization here, Dr. Mahathir Mohammed, proposed a plan to change all school syllabus and education textbooks from the national language of Malay to English. His idea was that having excellent English was alot more essential to succeed in today's modern era of globalization. True, i say, but at the expense of our national language?

Anyway his idea was blocked by the Parliment and Malay nationalist group, so we're still using Malay in schools at the moment. I think this trend of admiring English is prevalent in all British colonized countries.

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Don't worry, bro, it's not just in Pakistan that this is happening. In Malaysia, it's considered "cool", educated, and upper class if you can speak English fluently, possibly with a British or American accent.

Same in Hong Kong actually. The reason is probably because of the legacy of British colonialism.

 

[Solomon2]

"Our language"? Excluding Karachi, how many Sindhis prefer Urdu to English?

 

[Chinese-Dragon]

Look at China/Japan, they barely speak English but they are pretty successful in the world. The point is to cherish your native language and stop treating English as superior

I went to Japan for a vacation once, and even in the biggest tourist areas (Universal studios for example)... the park attendants did not speak even a single word of English. Their attitude is, "Why should we learn English, you should learn Japanese!"

I actually admire them a lot for that.

Luckily, the Japanese language is written using Han characters, so it's easy to communicate with them by writing it down in Chinese characters.