About the Punjabi Language

• Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-European language family. It is unique for being the only tonal language in this family.
• There are ten Punjabi dialects which are mostly mutually intelligible. This course teaches the Eastern Punjabi dialect as spoken in India.
• Punjabi is spoken by approximately 110-112 million people world-wide.
• It is an official language in the Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, and is also spoken elsewhere in northwestern India. Although not considered an offical language in Pakistan, it is spoken by the majority in the Pakistani province of Punjab.
• It is also spoken by expatriate communities in Bangladesh, Canada, Fiji, Kenya, Libya, Malaysia (Peninsular), Mauritius, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States. In Canada, Punjabi is thought to be the sixth most frequently spoken language.
• Punjabi is most commonly written using the Gurmukhi script. The reading lessons in this course teach how to read the Gurmukhi alphabet.

Pimsleur's Comprehensive Punjabi Program

The Pimsleur(R) Method: the easiest, fastest way to learn a new language. Completely portable, easily downloadable, and lots of fun. You'll be speaking and understanding in no time flat Punjabi, Comprehensive includes 15 hours of spoken language practice and one hour of reading instruction in thirty, 30-minute lessons.

In the first 10 lessons, you'll cover the basics: saying hello, asking for or giving information, scheduling a meal or a meeting, asking for or giving basic directions, and much more. You'll be able to handle minimum courtesy requirements, understand much of what you hear, and be understood at a beginning level, but with near-native pronunciation skills.

In the next 10 lessons, you'll build on what you've learned. Expand your menu, increase your scheduling abilities from general to specific, start to deal with currency and exchanging money, refine your conversations and add over a hundred new vocabulary items. You'll understand more of what you hear, and be able to participate with speech that is smoother and more confident.

In the final 10 lessons, you'll be speaking and understanding at an intermediate level. In this phase, more directions are given in the target language, which moves your learning to a whole new plane. Lessons include shopping, visiting friends, going to a restaurant, plans for the evening, car trips, and talking about family. You'll be able to speak comfortably about things that happened in the past and make plans for the future.

Reading Lessons are included at the end of Unit 30. These lessons, which total about one hour, are designed to give you further practice in reading Punjabi using the Gurmukhi script. You'll be reading words, phrases, and short sentences using familiar vocabulary as well as new vocabulary. A Reading Booklet to be used with the audio lessons is also included.