When I first enrolled as a student in Zabaan, the name suggested Urdu to me, all the way. I did not even think any other Indian languages were taught at Zabaan. I was astonished to find out much later that Urdu was only a small part of the offerings of this amazing school.
In this blog Rakesh Saraf talks about the challenges he faced while learning how to read and write Urdu. “Arabians learn Arabian with the speed of summer lightning. And the Hebrews learn it backwards, which is absolutely frightening.” I remember these...
In this blog Rakesh Saraf talks about the benefits of continuing learning well into one’s silver years. I was 67 years old when I looked at my collection of old Urdu literature, with prints from the 1920s onwards, once again in despair. Was I going to the...
One of our student coordinators, Varsha, shares her thoughts about the importance of learning any language. रफ़्तार से दौड़ती यह ज़िंदगी और इस ज़िंदगी में ‘ज़बान’ की अहमियत बहुत कम लोग समझ पाते हैं । ज़बान ही तो है जो कभी नज़रों में उठा देती है और कभी नज़रों से गिरा...
In this blog Mira talks about spending a year in Florence on exchange. Sette Via Montebello. Sette Via Montebello. I muttered these words under my breath over and over, for fear that something would distract me, and I may forget them. It was autumn of 2004, and I had...
We could be heroes! Me and you! That song is pretty good in another context, and in my opinion also fitting to language learners and teachers. To be sure, I am using the word hero to mean a person who is admired, especially for having done something difficult or...