Getting acquainted by the fountain in Urdu
A talk in the yard in Urdu. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «سلام! کیا حال ہے؟» — Hi! How are you?; «میں ٹھیک ہوں، شکریہ۔ تم کیسے ہو؟» — I am fine, thank you. And you?
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a talk in the yard. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- سلام! کیا حال ہے؟salam! kya hal hai?Hi! How are you?
- میں ٹھیک ہوں، شکریہ۔ تم کیسے ہو؟main thik hun, shukriya. tum kaise ho?I am fine, thank you. And you?
- میں بھی ٹھیک ہوں۔ آپ کا نام کیا ہے؟main bhi thik hun. ap ka nam kya hai?I am fine too. What is your name?
- میرا نام عمر ہے۔ مجھے خوشی ہوئی!mera nam Omar hai. mujhe khushi hui!My name is Omar. Pleased to meet you!
- میں روس سے ہوں۔main rus se hun.I am from Russia.
- خدا حافظ! پھر ملتے ہیں۔khuda hafiz! phir milte hain.Goodbye! See you!
Lines one by one
| Urdu | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| سلام! کیا حال ہے؟ | salam! kya hal hai? | Hi! How are you? |
| میں ٹھیک ہوں، شکریہ۔ تم کیسے ہو؟ | main thik hun, shukriya. tum kaise ho? | I am fine, thank you. And you? |
| میں بھی ٹھیک ہوں۔ آپ کا نام کیا ہے؟ | main bhi thik hun. ap ka nam kya hai? | I am fine too. What is your name? |
| میرا نام عمر ہے۔ مجھے خوشی ہوئی! | mera nam Omar hai. mujhe khushi hui! | My name is Omar. Pleased to meet you! |
| میں روس سے ہوں۔ | main rus se hun. | I am from Russia. |
| خدا حافظ! پھر ملتے ہیں۔ | khuda hafiz! phir milte hain. | Goodbye! See you! |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Urdu in this situation?
“سلام! کیا حال ہے؟” (salam! kya hal hai?) — Hi! How are you? The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.