Dialogue

Vocabulary

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Lesson Notes

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
Eric: Hi everyone, Eric here, and welcome back to UrduPod101.com. This is Basic Bootcamp Lesson 2 - Talking About Nationality in Urdu. This is the second in a five-part series that will help you ease your way into Urdu.
Afrah: Assalam u Alaikum. I’m Afrah!
Eric: In this lesson, you'll learn how to introduce yourself and tell people where you are from.
Afrah: Yes, and knowing how to do this is essential if you’re traveling to Pakistan, because that will be the first question people will probably want to ask you!
Eric: Definitely! Let’s listen to a simple conversation between two people who are meeting for the first time.
DIALOGUE
Saba :السلام علیکم. میرا نام صبا ہے. میں پاکستانی ہوں
Ali : السلام علیکم. میرا نام علی ہے. میں امریکن ہوں.
Eric: Now let’s hear it one time slowly.
Saba :السلام علیکم. میرا نام صبا ہے. میں پاکستانی ہوں
Ali : السلام علیکم. میرا نام علی ہے. میں امریکن ہوں
Eric: And one more time with the translation.
Saba: السلام علیکم. میرا نام صبا ہے. میں پاکستانی ہوں
Eric: Hello, my name is Saba, I am Pakistani.
Ali: السلام علیکم. میرا نام علی ہے. میں امریکن ہوں
Eric: Hello, my name is Ali, I am American.
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Eric: One of the most incredible things about learning Urdu is that you are bound to meet other people studying the language who come from all over the world.
Afrah: Yeah, it’s really amazing. There are so many people who study Urdu.
Eric: So that’s where being able to talk about where you come from is really handy.
Afrah: That’s right. Not only for introducing yourself to Pakistani people, but also to your fellow learners.
Eric: It’s funny. If you're studying at an Urdu language school, you’ll mostly be speaking with other foreigners. Another thing that’s interesting is finding out all of the reasons that people are learning Urdu.
Afrah: So what are some of the reasons?
Eric: I think a really big one today is for travel. Many people have found that if they can speak Urdu, they can learn and see more. They can touch and feel the real Pakistan.
Afrah: I also think that some people study it to have a better insight into more traditional culture like folk music or sufi singing, or to study the history of the people living in this part of the world.
Eric: Yeah, folk singing and sufi songs have become a part of mainstream music not only in Pakistan, but in countries like the United States and Australia. Many musicians and singers come from these countries to listen to traditional folk and sufi music produced in Pakistan.
Afrah: So how about you Eric? What was your reason for studying Urdu?
Eric: Well, I enjoyed watching Pakistani dramas, because of their more-meaningful stories and wonderful songs, and became interested in Urdu.
Afrah: Wow! That’s really great.
VOCAB LIST
Eric: Let’s take a look at the vocabulary used in this lesson. First we have...
Afrah: Pakistani
Eric: "Pakistani."
Afrah: Pa-kis-ta-ni
Eric: Next is...
Afrah: Amrikan
Eric: "American."
Afrah: Am-ri-kan
Eric: And next...
Afrah: Mein
Eric: "I"
Afrah: Mein
VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE
Eric: Let’s take a look at this lesson’s dialogue line by line. First we have...
Afrah: Assalam u Alaikum
Eric: Remember, this means "hello." We learned this greeting in Bootcamp 1.
Afrah: Mera naam Saba hai.
Eric: As we also learned in Basic Bootcamp lesson 1, you can introduce yourself by using the structure...
Afrah: Mera naam Afrah hai.
Eric: "My name is Afrah," for example. What’s new in this lesson is...
Afrah: Mein Pakistani hoon.
Eric: "I am Pakistani."
Afrah: The basic word order of a Urdu sentence is a subject, then a compliment or object, and then the verb. This is different from English sentence order.
Eric: "I" for men or women is mein.
Afrah: Hoon is equivalent to the verb "to be" in English.
Eric: So Afrah, how do we say "a Pakistani person"?
Afrah: Pakistani
Eric: This is the name of the country, just modified.
Afrah: It became Pakistani, "from Pakistan." In the next line, Ali said Assalam u Alaikum
Eric: "Hello."
Afrah: Mera naam Ali hai.
Eric: "My name is Ali."
Afrah: Mein Amrikan hoon.
Eric: "I am American." In Urdu, “America” is...
Afrah: Amrika. So “American” becomes Amrikan.
Eric: How about England?
Afrah: We call English people Angrez, and the English language is known as Angrezi in Urdu. Now I'm going to say a nationality. Eric, can you guess the meaning?
Eric: Ok, I’ll try.
Afrah: Japani
Eric: That would be “Japanese.”
Afrah: Right. And next is Russi.
Eric: Which means "Russian."
Afrah: Correct. And next, Chinni.
Eric: "Chinese."
Afrah: That’s right, Eric. So now, let’s move onto the grammar section.

Lesson focus

Eric: Let’s take a look at the word order. In the dialogue, we had
Afrah: Mein Amrikan hoon.
Eric: “I am American.” Just remember that the basic word order of an Urdu sentence is subject, object, and verb or subject, compliment and then the verb, which is different from the English order. So first, the subject here is...
Afrah: Mein which means "I" in English.
Eric: Then we have the nationality "American."
Afrah: Amrikan.
Eric: And after that we have...
Afrah: hoon, which is the equivalent of the verb "to be."
Eric: "I am American."
Afrah: Mein Amrikan hoon. There you have it. You have made a full sentence!
Eric: Now we can try out this structure in other sentences. Afrah, how would you say "We are American."
Afrah:Hum is "we." So we would say Hum Amrikan hain.
Eric: "We are American." Can you say "I am American" again?
Afrah: Sure. Mein Amrikan hoon.
Eric: Now "We are American."
Afrah: Hum Amrikan hain.
Eric: Please notice that there are two differences here.
Afrah: Mein
Eric: Meaning "I"
Afrah:Becomes Hum
Eric: "We."
Afrah: And also hoon becomes hain.
Eric: You may have noticed that Urdu verbs change according to the subject. In English, it's like "I am" or "we are."
Afrah: So the verb "to be" in Urdu would be hoon...
Eric: with "I" and with "we" it's...
Afrah: Hain
Eric: So it’s kind of like "I am American, we are American." The subject changes, and the verb too. So Afrah, how would you say, “I am Pakistani?”
Afrah: Mein Pakistani hoon.
Eric: How about “We are Pakistani?”
Afrah: Hum Pakistani hain.

Outro

Eric: Ok listeners, that’s all for this lesson. Thanks for listening and see you next time!
Afrah: Goodbye. Phr milenge.

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