Thoughts on the Punjabi language

I have been, in a puttering manner, learning to speak, read, and understand Punjabi, and, to a lesser degree, Hindi. Currently I can read punjabi in a decoding way, perhaps as a struggling 1st or 2nd grader would read. I am still learning hindi letters, which seem to have more twists and funny loops.
Anyways, there are many businesses which offer to teach English here, but no one offers classes in Punjabi. However, no native speakers I know has the pedigogical know-how or the patience to build my skills. I have one teacher who promises that I can visit her school, where I planned to explore the option of attending their punjabi classes, but I have been put off twice since her principal's approval. I have some sympathy for them, because the few times I walked by a nearby school as the students were leaving, I received gawking, giggles, stares, and 'hellos.' A visit from me may put a strain on the 'classroom management' aspect of the school day. I will try Monday to just walk in to a few nearby schools, and see if I have any luck..

So far, my materials have been an Activity Book, and Navjot, who has been essential in providing a broken record for Punjabi sounds, letters and words, chunked together gradually.

In the past, I have made some general statement like: There are 5 ways to sound t in Punjabi! Therefore it is hard for me to learn! This is true, but here I will list the different ways. In the punjabi alphabet these letters are parsed out into two sounds, but when you sound it, it is the combination of the two sounds, heard together.
Sorry, I don't know how to put punjabi symbols here.
Ts: tainka, t(h)at(h)ta (hard t sound), tudha, tata (this t is the end of Navjot's name, a 'soft t') thatha (lispy), and thudha (lispy form of tudha).

Ds: dhadha, dudha, (hard and soft, different tongue placements)


CH: chicha, chhuchha (strong ch sound, as in much), and chaja

Ks: kaka, khakha (hard k), khuga

Ps: papa and puba

S, H, N, F. G, L, B, Y and M sounds are the same as english, they serve as lifeboats. E, A, and O are quite similar but their sounds are fixed, they do not vary the way they do in English, so sometimes I find myself 'modifying' unnecessarily.

And if that weren't enough, the language has modifiers which allow even more vowel and nasal variety to nuance and color the language. The vowel combinations sound more familiar than the nasal sounds: ung and ng.

One of the most challenging sounds for me is the last 'letter' of the alphabet, 'erdhara'. I have to flip my tongue forward from the roof of my mouth, which I can do, but I have been practicing making that sound within a word, like the word for horse, kgoherda (hahahahaha, I know Indians would not translate the word to these letters).

Practicing speaking sentences in gradually larger chunks with Nav helps me to understand each word as it occurs in 'regular speech time' I have also been writing sentences to help me learn the different ways to say 'you'...one for elders, one for younger people, one that relates directly to you, such as, "you are nice' and one that is possessive, like, 'your hair.' Verbs also change according to the male and female designation of the object, which I've tackled by writing sentences. However, I find my mind is not ready to commit these sentences to speaking memory, so, in the most useful way, my sentences are mostly unavailable. Fortunately, I brought the notebook to the old neighborhood I lived in briefly in 2004, and I read questions to right out my notebook tothe people who wanted to chat with me. They have been so kind, and so helpful to me, only they make my written practice more meaningful.

The construction of the spoken Punjabi language also does not translate well. Here are a set of directions from my kid-level activity book, directly translated to English in order:

Every one line in one fruit and one animal of name hidden is. Find.

I already know translating everything to English is NOT learning the language, but this translation makes it very clear that along with learning how the male/female/class and age distinctions are built into even the simplest aspects of the language, I have to learn these cultural codes within a different language construct.

My brain still needs to perceive the activity directions above as:

One fruit name and one animal name is hidden in every line. Find the names.

Navjot and I stumbled onto a little game which is helping me to become more familiar with the language construct. We were playing around a little with Punjabi during lunch a few days ago, and Navjot started asking me to move items around on the table. Very simple directions, such as: Put the spoon on the plate. Put the glass on the plate. Put the cucumber on my plate. Put the spoon in the glass. Another exercise: I had to move either my right arm or my left arm above, below, front, behind. Or he moved, and I had to name the direction in Punjabi. This kinesthetic learning is much more fun for me, so I am hoping to create similar language activities. Again, since I know nearly all of the words already in these very simple directions, the purpose here is that I have to comprehend the ORDER in which the information is presented, then act, not speak! The sentences are short enough that I don't reach out for English or for translation help. I have to wait for the verb! I have to keep track of all the things that are involved in the action, and their relationships, until I learn the action....at the end.

All right, that's all from here today. I am going to turn on the AC and go to sleep.