A talk at the playground in Urdu
A playground in the park, two parents on a bench in Urdu. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «کیا یہ آپ کے بچے ہیں؟» — Are these your children?; «جی، لڑکا اور لڑکی۔ ایک گھنٹے سے کھیل رہے ہیں۔» — Yes, a boy and a girl. They have played an hour already.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a playground in the park, two parents on a bench. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- کیا یہ آپ کے بچے ہیں؟kya ye ap ke bache hain?Are these your children?
- جی، لڑکا اور لڑکی۔ ایک گھنٹے سے کھیل رہے ہیں۔dzhi, larka aur larki. ek ghante se khel rehe hain.Yes, a boy and a girl. They have played an hour already.
- کتنے برس کے ہیں؟kitne bars ke hain?How old are they?
- لڑکا سات برس کا ہے، لڑکی پانچ کی۔larka sat bars ka hai, larki panch ki.The boy is seven, the girl five.
- میری بیٹی نوجوان ہو گئی، اسے یہاں اب دلچسپ نہیں۔meri beti naudzhawan ho gai, use yahan ab dilchasp nahin.My daughter has grown — it is no longer interesting for her here.
- سمجھ گیا۔ ہفتے کو ہم سب پکنک پر جا رہے ہیں۔samajh gaya. hafte ko hum sab piknik per dzha rehe hain.I see. On Sunday we all go on a picnic.
Lines one by one
| Urdu | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| کیا یہ آپ کے بچے ہیں؟ | kya ye ap ke bache hain? | Are these your children? |
| جی، لڑکا اور لڑکی۔ ایک گھنٹے سے کھیل رہے ہیں۔ | dzhi, larka aur larki. ek ghante se khel rehe hain. | Yes, a boy and a girl. They have played an hour already. |
| کتنے برس کے ہیں؟ | kitne bars ke hain? | How old are they? |
| لڑکا سات برس کا ہے، لڑکی پانچ کی۔ | larka sat bars ka hai, larki panch ki. | The boy is seven, the girl five. |
| میری بیٹی نوجوان ہو گئی، اسے یہاں اب دلچسپ نہیں۔ | meri beti naudzhawan ho gai, use yahan ab dilchasp nahin. | My daughter has grown — it is no longer interesting for her here. |
| سمجھ گیا۔ ہفتے کو ہم سب پکنک پر جا رہے ہیں۔ | samajh gaya. hafte ko hum sab piknik per dzha rehe hain. | I see. On Sunday we all go on a picnic. |
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?
“کیا یہ آپ کے بچے ہیں؟” (kya ye ap ke bache hain?) — Are these your children? 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.