Why is Pakistan swapping English for Urdu?

[Bouncer]

Good move.

Giving Urdu its proper long due status doesn't mean we are going to ban English.

A kid whose parents speak Urdu/Punjabi/Pashto at home doesn't know a word of English until he gets in to a school. Now first he has to learn a new language and then learn new subjects in that new language. Its crazy if you think about it.

Grasping complex mathematical and scientific concepts is difficult. Its even more difficult if these concepts are explained in a language that you have little grasp of in the first place. I believe, this is part of the reason why our education system is tilted towards cramming.

I have worked with Turkish and Chinese engineers for the past few years. Most of the Chinese learnt English in university. Their schooling was in Chinese and their grasp on basic and advanced concepts of my field was still good. My point is that you don't have to learn Algebra or Chemistry or Physics in English to master these subjects. You can do better in Urdu like a lot of developed countries are doing in their own respective languages.

Now the question arises, Urdu is not the mother tongue of a lot of Pakistanis anyways. But we have to remember two things, first Urdu is closer to our local languages than English. Secondly, Urdu is being adapted very quickly across Pakistani homes by educated parents. Our last census was in '98. I wouldn't be surprised if Urdu has gained at least 20 to 30 percentage points since then as primary language in Pakistani homes.

People opposing this idea and saying things like we are going backwards with this plan, no sir.

 

[Hyperion]

Mate, it's a comedy.... a satire......... don't read too much into it....... it's fvcking hilarious!

On topic: Yes, all notifications have to be issued in 'Urdu'.... try translating the gist of the following......... one trillion more to follow:

a mensa et thoro
actus reus
ad coelum
cogitationis poenam nemo patitur
corpus juris gentium

..... it is a never ending list..... calculate the overhead on it??????

Now what about interpretation of these (for the poor bastards who'll translate it).... YOU GOT IT...... laws CAN NOT be translated as EVERY word has a gazillion different meanings, most not even found in the Urdu language.....

Moral of story, let's not jump our guns here....... this is a shit-storm of biblical proportions in the making......... one thing I can say for sure is, it was a masterful stroke by the PMLN gov to gain votes across the political divide AT THE COST of the unsuspecting commoners.... I say good for the jahil awam, you sow what you reap...... let them suffer a 1000 years more!

As for the series, yeah I've been watching it. The factual inaccuracies make me cringe though

 

[Skull and Bones]

Hum sub ko (mubarak / badhai) ho! Imagine a situation, fifteen years into the future, where the most progressive and modern country of the subcontinent is Bangladesh.......... now that would certainly fvck my mind to the max!

They already screwed us in cricket, there goes one big thing I can never troll them again.

 

[Al Bhatti]

where your name and details are that is in English, I think that's due to a set international format. Correct me if I am wrong.

The barcode on that page is of a set international standard, not confirmed about the text.

THe proceeding pages though have English and Urdu both...Visas and Passports is written in both languages if I remember correctly.

Passport formats and barcodes and biometric information on the chip are internationally standardized as per ICAO

As for holder's detail's you can have it in any language as long as the details are also in English or French. Some countries have passports in more than 2 languages some even having 5 languages

So I can't see why we cannot have it in Urdu and English.

Below is from wikipedia


---------------------------------------

In 1920, an international conference on passports and through tickets held by the League of Nations recommended that passports be issued in French, historically the language of diplomacy, and one other language.[44] Currently, the ICAO recommends that passports be issued in English and French, or in the national language of the issuing country and in either English or French. Many European countries use their national language, along with English and French.

Some unusual language combinations are:

• Passports of European Union states bear all of the official languages of the EU. Two or three languages are printed at the relevant points, followed by reference numbers which point to the passport page where translations into the remaining languages appear. In addition to the official EU languages, British passports bear Welsh and Scots Gaelic.
• The Barbadian passport and the United States passport are tri-lingual: English, French and Spanish. United States passports were traditionally English and French, but began being printed with a Spanish message and labels during the late 1990s, in recognition of Puerto Rico's Spanish-speaking status. Only the message and labels are in multiple languages, the cover and instructions pages are printed solely in English.
• In Belgium, all three official languages (Dutch, French, German) appear on the cover, in addition to English on the main page. The order of the official languages depends on the official residence of the holder.
• Passports of Bosnia and Herzegovina are in the three official languages (Bosnian, Serbian, Croatian), in addition to English.
• Brazilian passports contain four languages: Portuguese, the official country language, Spanish, in accordance with neighboring nations, English and French.
• Cypriot passports are in Greek, Turkish and English.
• The first page of a Libyan passport is in Arabic only. The last page (first page from western viewpoint) has an English equivalent of the information on the Arabic first page (western last page). Similar arrangements are found in passports of some other Arab countries.
• Iraqi passports are in Arabic, Kurdish and English.
• Macau SAR passports are in three languages: Chinese, Portuguese and English.
• New Zealand passports are in English and Māori.
• Norwegian passports are in the two forms of the Norwegian language, Bokmål and Nynorsk, and in English.
• Sri Lankan passports are in Sinhala, Tamil and English.
• Swiss passports are in five languages: German, French, Italian, Romansh and English.

Passport - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

---------------------------------

Swiss passport

The data page/information page is printed in the 4 Swiss official languages: German, French, Italian, Romansch. English is also used.[7] (except for the last cover page where certain Information for Swiss citizens is only in the 4 Swiss official languages. On page 2 there are 13 languages which of 12 are the official languages from the EU (German, French, Italian, Romansh, English, Danish, Greek, Norwegian, Portuguese, Swedish and Spanish).

On the back cover page there is the sentence also in all

This passport contains 40 pages.

Swiss passport - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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[Gentelman]

Tgere is greater scope of Pakistanis being more united and becomming a nation after this move while on other hand in the field of studies urdu faced criminal negligence and till now we don't have proper teaching naterial in urdu even till FSc language. If GOP is sincere then major investment of resources and planning is required to start translation and publishing urdu books from today.

 

[Al Bhatti]

@Jango

Below is a standard bilingual Omani passport.

UAE issues electronic, biometric passports as per ICAO requirements to all it's citizens and it has two languages as well.

 

[xyxmt]

I was part of that generation which was experimented upon using Urdu and then our exams were taken in English.

I have to confess one thing I do not remember a single item from my matriculation examination in 1989 but remember and understood each and every thing I learnt in Urdu.

Nevertheless, this time they are only talking about changing letter writing in Urdu, for colleges medium of instruction will remain English.

It will be a good move since as a "zehni gholam" we tend to waste alot of time correcting English in offices. We will get rid of this thing.

exactly my sentiments
conducting official business in Urdu does stop anyone from learning and speaking english, beside even with 100% education, majority of Pakistani will still not be able to speak, read or write english, and it will eliminate babu culture and babu log will have to learn to write urdu

 

[Talwar e Pakistan]

The government is set to make Urdu its official language, 68 years after the country achieved independence from Britain.
16 Jul 2015 02:04 GMT | Politics, Asia, Pakistan

Pakistan is to abolish English as its official language in favour of Urdu.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is backing the move, which would mean a range of government documents - including passports, utility bills and websites - will be published in Urdu.

All speeches made at home and abroad, from the president down to state representatives, will also be conducted in Urdu.

The plan is to completely replace English with Urdu for official business within the next 10 to 15 years.

It follows concerns that many young Pakistanis are shunning their national dress and language to adopt a more Western point of view.

Is this part of a cultural and nationalist revival? Or will it lead to a breakdown in communications?

And how does this translate around the world?

Presenter: Richelle Carey

Guests:

Javed Siddiq - Resident editor at Nawaiwaqt, a leading Urdu newspaper in Pakistan.

Mandana Seyfeddinipur - Director of the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

Olga Fischer - Professor of English Linguistics at the University of Amsterdam.


Why is Pakistan swapping English for Urdu? - Al Jazeera English

Great move, our national language is Urdu so why do we study english more than Urdu?

 

[sparten]

Great this nonsense again. Look, the governments have been ":ordering" a switch from English to Urdu god knows how many times in the last few decades. Zia ul Haq at his most brutish could not effect it. Do you really thing NS can do so in the age of the Internet?

All they are going to do is cosmetic changes, print more stuff in Urdu, make the occasional speech in it.

 

[livingdead]

Pakistan going to Arabic, India going to Sanskrit. Welcome to 12th century mate!

when people dont have much to achievement show they want to go back to their 'glorious' past.

However I do think urdu or a common man's language(sindhi for example) need to be accepted in official work so that ordinary people dont have to pay money to understand whats going on.

This should also apply to judiciary too.

 

[Hamartia Antidote]

You can switch this forum to Urdu and point and laugh at the Google Translate posts.

 

[VCheng]

You can switch this forum to Urdu and point and laugh at the Google Translate posts.

Please don't give the uber patriots here any ideas, it is crazy enough as it is, already.

 

[Al Bhatti]

Imagine the job opportunities being created for translators, just for an example; translating documents of foreigners in Pakistan from their language to Urdu.

 

[Salik]

Till now its ok. PM giving speech in Urdu in UN general assembly, foreign office giving briefings in urdu. Spreading the feeling of Pakistanihood. Urdu sar char ke bole gi.

Law as long as taught in english, like LLB etc., cases will remain in english, having a technical reason.

There is another side of the story. PML N has history of trying to influence Pakistan Army one way or the other. This move will have same effect on army, it is really a big change. One may expect other similar moves that will directly affect the army. Fulfilling their agenda ultimately.

N League is playing a game very deep in the water. Their soft corner for extreme religious elements is one sign of that. If they don't change their course, the'll be EN-D League soon.

 

[Al Bhatti]

Also at least when in Pakistan, the President, PM, ministers and members of Local and National Assemblies should comply to the national dress code when appearing in media or receiving counterparts and dignitaries from outside Pakistan whether on official or private visit.