I use English almost all of the time in school. At home I mostly use the Mirpuri dialect of Punjabi, which is a bit different from Balvinder's, though we can understand each other. I talk in Mirpuri with my brothers and sisters and often with my Dad (he and I get on really well).
As it happens, I'm maybe not as close to my Mum and I speak in Urdu with her, like I do with my Gran. Urdu is a bit more formal and 'posh', and it's the national and written language of Pakistan. My Mum is teaching me to write in Urdu.
I go to mosque school on Mondays where I learn traditional Arabic, because I'm a Muslim and our holy book is in Arabic.
This is what Urdu looks like when you write it:
It's almost the same as Arabic. Both of them are written from right to left, not like English. |
