crash course in Pakistan
correction on yesterday's announcement: bowa's good name does not include "gerald"
i am getting kind of worried about the next month... i have a lot of schoolwork to do, and then i found out yesterday that i have a telephone interview to assess my urdu capabilities before the 30th. i mean, its good they want to interview me, but now i need to prepare.
my problem is not that i can not speak, it is that i too often use a sanskrit based word instead of the urdu word. see, urdu and hindi are basically the same language at the low proficiency, but once you start talking about fancy topics, there are fancy urdu words. soooooo, i will prepare by listening to bbcUrdu everyday to increase my listening comprehension, talking to Guddu only in Hindi to build up my "flow", and by reviewing common Urdu words. I will say "talim" instead of "padhai", "walid" instead of "pita" etc. i need to beef up my knowledge of current events in Pakistan-- earthquake, "dictatorship", Kashmir, f-16 purchases, hunt for osama, women's rights, capsized ferries, etc.
Pakistan is developing some posh areas. How about a flat at the CreekMarina?
south asia is a very interesting place, linguistically speaking. the majority of the population is tri-lingual, knowing some English, their mother-tongue, and Hindi/urdu. the result is that no one has a high proficiency in any language. even in the US, most americans probably barely reach the level 4 out of 5 on the government's scale. to reach a 5, you need to be able to speak confidently, using SAT words, and maintaining a constant stream of thought. people shouldn't feel too bad, i suppose. President Bush, afterall, probably would only score a 3+ in English.
i am getting kind of worried about the next month... i have a lot of schoolwork to do, and then i found out yesterday that i have a telephone interview to assess my urdu capabilities before the 30th. i mean, its good they want to interview me, but now i need to prepare.
my problem is not that i can not speak, it is that i too often use a sanskrit based word instead of the urdu word. see, urdu and hindi are basically the same language at the low proficiency, but once you start talking about fancy topics, there are fancy urdu words. soooooo, i will prepare by listening to bbcUrdu everyday to increase my listening comprehension, talking to Guddu only in Hindi to build up my "flow", and by reviewing common Urdu words. I will say "talim" instead of "padhai", "walid" instead of "pita" etc. i need to beef up my knowledge of current events in Pakistan-- earthquake, "dictatorship", Kashmir, f-16 purchases, hunt for osama, women's rights, capsized ferries, etc.
Pakistan is developing some posh areas. How about a flat at the CreekMarina?
south asia is a very interesting place, linguistically speaking. the majority of the population is tri-lingual, knowing some English, their mother-tongue, and Hindi/urdu. the result is that no one has a high proficiency in any language. even in the US, most americans probably barely reach the level 4 out of 5 on the government's scale. to reach a 5, you need to be able to speak confidently, using SAT words, and maintaining a constant stream of thought. people shouldn't feel too bad, i suppose. President Bush, afterall, probably would only score a 3+ in English.
posted by skibak8 at 2:43 pm
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