Students practise their Urdu with…The Consul General of Pakistan

27 Feb 2013

The Consul General of Pakistan Ehsan Ullah Batth visited the University recently to meet our Urdu language students.

It was just one of many interesting lessons on the course, which also includes shopping and going for a curry in Rusholme!

Urdu is one of the 20 language courses currently available to our students and staff, which are also open to members of the public.

During his visit, Mr Batth spoke to the students in Urdu about their experience of the class and their reasons for choosing to study Urdu.

Urdu teacher Sheraz Ali says: “I like to emphasise a communicative approach to the teaching so that the students develop a basic functional competence in the four skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing.

“I encourage my students to practise Urdu in the local community. In fact, of all the languages taught by the University, Urdu is the easiest to practise outside the classroom, with so many Urdu-speaking shops and curry houses just down the road.”

Mr Ali says that successfully completing the Urdu course should enhance his students’ employability as it shows they have a willingness to engage with other languages and cultures. Knowledge of Urdu can also be useful for students who plan to follow careers with a community focus.

The picture shows Mr Batth and the Director of University-wide Language Programmes, Dr John Morley,  presenting a book to Urdu language student Sarah Hunak.