Beginning Urdu: A Complete Course - Softcover

Pien, Joshua H.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1589017781 ISBN 13: 9781589017788

Publisher: Georgetown University Press, 2012

Synopsis

Beginning Urdu is a complete first-year textbook designed to help learners acquire the language by actively using it in realistic situations. The book and its accompanying audio files on CD contain all that is needed to complete one full year of study, including clear explanations of language structures; useful, fun, and engaging activities; and an organizational format that makes it easy to chart student progress.

FEATURES
Develops all four skills ― listening, speaking, reading, writing ― through a wide range of tasks and activities, including role plays, games, and short conversations

Beautifully illustrated with full-color, authentic images and written in an accessible style

Introduces the sound system and script of Urdu

Organized around functional themes such as home and family, everyday life, the marketplace, personal responsibilities, and travel

Features straightforward grammatical explanations and topically organized vocabulary lists for each of the 34 chapters

Integrates cultural information within the thematic units and also presents culture through aphorisms, poetry, and photographs

Provides an activity set for each unit along with review activities, including tips for increasing fluency and sets of questions to help personalize learning

Contains Urdu―English and English―Urdu glossaries

Includes three appendices ― Urdu numbers, additional grammatical structures for moving to advanced levels of proficiency, and a suggested syllabus

Beginning Urdu covers approximately 150 contact hours and is designed to bring learners to the ACTFL proficiency level of mid- to high-intermediate in all four skills. The book also serves as a valuable resource for independent learners.

About this title

About the Author:

Joshua H. Pien is a faculty researcher and Hindi-Urdu language specialist at the National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland. Previously he was an assistant professor of Hindi at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California. He has also taught Hindi at the University of Wisconsin.

Fauzia Farooqui teaches Urdu and Hindi at Princeton University. She has also taught Urdu-Hindi at various other institutions, including the University of Virginia, the Defense Language Institute, University of Michigan, and the American Institute of Indian Studies in Lucknow, India. Her other publications include a monograph on the prose poem in Urdu and various original pieces of poetry, short fiction, and literary criticism, which have appeared in leading Urdu literary journals.

Review:

"Beginning Urdu is a welcome addition to the study of South Asian languages. I commend this book for its accuracy, thoroughness, and usefulness. Going through the book, one can clearly see that the authors have a meticulous understanding of language pedagogy principles and a knack of presenting materials with great sensitivity to learners' needs. One feels a fresh breeze in the selection of content and methodology here." ― Surendra Gambhir, University of Pennsylvania

About this edition

• Publisher: Georgetown University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1589017781
• ISBN 13: 9781589017788
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 688