Story time is an important and fun way to pass on the love of Urdu to young children. Not only does it increases their vocabulary but it also develops their interest in the language and the curiosity to learn more. Here is your one-stop destination for all resources you need to introduce your children to Urdu Story Time, conduct your own or join our weekly one! My daughter and I conduct a Story Time every Saturday on the Urdu Mom facebook page at 8.30 pm Pakistan Time, 9.30 am MST, 11.30 am EST and 3.30 pm GMT.
why teach urdu?
Let’s start with the basics though. Why do you want to teach your children Urdu? Do you want to raise them bilingual due to cultural or intellectual reasons? Good news for you! Your child will get all these benefits and more!
Read all the benefits I shared earlier of being multilingual here. And I’m sure you will feel very motivated to raise a multilingual child after this.
Why is teaching urdu difficult?
I live in Canada and moved here from Pakistan. I was naturally raised bilingual by learning both English and Urdu as I grew up in Pakistan. However after my daughter was born in Canada, I realized that I needed to teach her Urdu myself since there was no natural environment or support from the school.
Immigrants face settlement challenges as they move to a new country and teaching children their home language sadly falls on the back burner. I chatted with Tasneem Anjum a couple of months ago about this issue since this is the subject of her research. Read all about it here as she discusses the reasons and effects of losing your home language in immigrant children.
Even parents who live in South Asia, sometimes find it difficult to keep Urdu relevant and fun for their children as there are pressing needs on their children to excel in English due to perceived professional and educational reasons. Many parents also feel that the language resources in Urdu such as books, poems and electronic content is not as “upbeat” and engaging as the ones available in Urdu.
How to teach urdu then?
Given all the challenges quoted above to teach your children Urdu, how do you go about it whether you live in Pakistan, India or anywhere in the world?
I have compiled some fun ways to teach Urdu to children here along with resources and support material.
The importance of Urdu Story time
Urdu Story time is an extremely valuable tool to make the learning of Urdu social and engaging for children. Incorporating stories, poems and action songs in the story time increases the interest and vocabulary of the children.
If you do not have an Urdu Story Time happening near you, you can plan your own! Here are the tips and resources I shared earlier on how to plan your own Urdu Story Time.
If you have more babies and toddlers in your group, they will really enjoy these games that build Urdu vocabulary.
how to get great urdu books for children
One of the questions that I get asked the most on the blog is how to find great Urdu Books for children in Pakistan or if you live abroad. Here is the blog post I wrote, with resources, links and the works! Hope this helps.
urdu mom story time
My daughter and I do a weekly Urdu Story time via Facebook live videos every Saturday! The time is 8.30 pm Pakistan Time, 9.30 am MST, 11.30 EST and 3.30 pm GMT. Our facebook page is www.facebook.com/urdumom.
We have a theme every week about learning the Urdu words for colours, numbers, feelings etc. These days we do one Urdu alphabet a week and have covered “alif, bay, pay, tay” so far.
We do stories, songs and games. The session is very interactive and we love reading the comments of children and asking them questions. Do join us every week!
Since we are visiting Pakistan these days there is a slight change for this week. We will have the story time on Sunday since we are busy with family on Saturday. The time stays the same.
Urdu Mom YOuTube channel
We also have a YouTube Channel that has many of our stories, poems and sessions. Do check it out and subscribe to it!
Hope you enjoyed all this chat about Urdu Story Time. Do give us your feedback and join us for our Urdu Story Time every week!