Publisher's Synopsis
This book has been written with a view to enriching existing material for the teaching of Panjabi in schools and other institutions where the teachers wish to use students’ experience of using English as their first language. The writer has limited the use of English for the learning of Panjabi at this early stage. Continued use of Roman or any other script is detrimental to the whole idea of inculcating self esteem and pride in the students. However, the use of translation and bilingual methodology as a strategy is both fun and productive. Many other writers have also made commendable contributions in this field and deserve to be congratulated for their efforts.
Many of the Roman phonemes used for the English language are only approximately equivalent to the Gurmukhi phonemes, therefore pairs of Roman letters are used to represent Gurmukhi phonemes. Any phonological problems, therefore, should be tackled at an early stage. It will require a good deal of practice in listening to, and distinguishing from, words with similar sounds. There is scope for ‘look and say’ as well as bilingual methodology. Use of flash cards and matching words with pictures is strongly recommended at the early stages of teaching reading.
Before embarking on the teaching of Panjabi it is important to give the students a taste of listening and speaking Panjabi in social and perhaps religious environments. A dozen of pages have been added to the last edition for the purpose.
