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Urdu is a living language which, according to estimates, is spoken by close to 100 million people around the world. It is the official language of Pakistan, a status which it shares with English. It is also spoken and understood in parts of India, Bangladesh, Nepal, the Middle East, and many other countries around the world where Pakistani communities have settled.
In India, Urdu is spoken in places with large Muslim communities or cities that were once power centres of Muslim Empires. They include parts of Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Kashmir, Bhopal and Hyderabad. Some Indian schools teach Urdu as a first language and have their own syllabus and exams.
The Urdu community in the UK numbers about four hundred thousand speakers.
The closest relation of Urdu is Hindi. Spoken Urdu and Hindi are almost identical at the day-to-day functional level, apart from certain words. After learning Urdu, you’ll find it much easier to speak and understand Hindi but written Hindi will remain a mystery as it’s written in a different script.
Other languages written in the same script as Urdu include Pashto, Kashmiri and Panjabi, although Panjabi is also written in a script called Gurumukhi. The Urdu script is over 90% similar to the Persian and Arabic scripts as well, so learning Urdu will help you to read the Arabic and Persian alphabets. Urdu vocabulary also borrows about 40% from Arabic and Persian.
See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/other/urdu/guide/facts.shtml
Urdu requires students to develop their knowledge of vocabulary and structure in a range of settings.
Students continue to develop their skills in listening, speaking, reading and writing in the target language. They are encouraged to work independently, in pairs, in groups or as a class, on various tasks. Students are expected to do homework and to learn vocabulary on a regular basis. There are end of unit/ task tests in which all skills are tested.
Students in year 7 are introduced to the alphabet and taught basic reading and writing skills.
Students in year 8/ 9 study the following topics personal identification, family, education, house and home, food and drink, health and fitness , shopping, hobbies and interest and weather and climate.
The edexcel GCSE in Urdu consist of four units based on the following skills: speaking listening, reading and writing.
The GCSE combines controlled assessments of speaking and writing skills foundation or higher tier external assessments for the listening and reading skills.
Urdu qualification requires students to:
The following topics are covered for reading/listening
Topics which are covered for speaking and writing
Pupils are taught to:
Urdu G.C.S.E is a two year course, students either be entered to do the short course or the full course.
Full course consist of reading, .speaking, listening, writing.
Short course consist of listening and speaking or they can do writing and reading.