Welcome to the Department Of Foreign Languages
 Punjabi Studies

            Punjabi is originally the language of people of Punjab, the land of the five tributaries of the mighty Indus River in the northwestern part of South Asia, where the Indus Civilization flourished 4700 years ago. That land now comprises Punjab (India) and Punjab (Pakistan).

           Over 100 million speakers of the Punjabi language now make their presence felt in almost all continents of the world. Punjabi Diaspora brought their language, religion and culture with them. A new generation of Punjabi learners wishes to mirror the cultural and linguistic diversity of the global community.

Phonetic features of the Punjabi language are easy to decode as there is hardly any ambiguity in the script and the sound. Most consonants are grouped according to their place and manner of articulation. Aspirated and un-aspirated consonants in Punjabi form distinctive phonemes, whereas in English, these are only variants.

The Program :
The program is financed by the Sikh community of the Sacramento Valley through the Sikh Temple Sacramento.

Fall 2009
The Beginning Punjabi 1A course will introduce modern Punjabi as spoken in Punjab and neighboring states.  While emphasizing teaching of four language skills:  speaking, reading, listening, writing, students will also learn interpersonal communication in Punjabi.  Grasping the basics of the language, students are expected to interact with the community members on real life situations, and will include reading comprehension and writing brief compositions.

Spring 2010
The Beginning Punjabi 1B course will be a continuation of the Beginning 1A course above.

NEW COURSE: Ethnic Studies 122 - Spring 2009: Sikh Americans and Globalization: A upper division GE course. See the flyer for more information.

Class information: Fall 2009 Class meetings: M 4:15-6:00PM MRP 2000 (lab) W 4:15-6:00PM Tahoe Hall 1027 Punj 1A Syllabus Punj 1B Syllabus

The Faculty : Dr. Amrik Singh Office: MRP 2023 Office hours: 3:35pm-4:05pm M & W Telephone: (916) 278-5379

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Department of Foreign Language

Revised: August 28, 2009 (ls)

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