Urdu, belonging to the Indo-European family of languages, is the official language of Pakistan and one of the 15 officially recognized languages of India. Though it is the mother tongue of about 50 million people, it is spoken and understood by almost the whole population of Pakistan and is the primary means of written communication in that country. Being quite similar to spoken Hindi, it is widely understood in India, and the Indian film industry has given it a great boost. Urdu boasts an extremely rich literary tradition, which has enriched itself for centuries and continues to do so even in our times.
1101 Elementary Urdu I
Study of Urdu language, with appropriate cultural background; development of listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills.
Prereq: Not open to students with credit for 101, or to native speakers through regular enrollment or EM credit. This course is available for EM credit. GE for lang course.
The goals of Urdu 1101 are to introduce students to the Urdu alphabet, elementary vocabulary, basic grammar and sentence structure, and to enable students to identify the elements of the spoken and the written language. Students will also learn about the culture, traditions, and history of Pakistan and India. By the completion of the course, students are expected to have enough vocabulary to participate in a basic conversation, and to be able to read and write simple sentences.
1102 Elementary Urdu II
Continued study of Urdu language, with appropriate cultural background; development of listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills.
Prereq: 1101, or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for 102, native speakers, or EM credit. This course is available for EM credit. GE for lang course.
In Urdu 1102 and 1103, students are further trained to develop their skills of speaking, comprehension, reading and writing. An introduction to some famous Urdu poets and their poetry is presented. Urdu comedy forms and commonly spoken proverbs are also introduced. After studying these three courses, the students should be able to engage in dialogue in Urdu comfortably. Also they should be able to write simple letters to their friends and enjoy reading newspapers and simple prose and poetry books.
1103 Intermediate Urdu I
Continued study of Urdu language, with appropriate cultural background; development of listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills.
Prereq: 1102, or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for 103, 104, or to native speakers or EM credit. This course is available for EM credit. GE for lang course.