A talk about a loan in Urdu
The loan adviser’s desk at a bank branch in Urdu. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «معاف کیجیے، مجھے ہاؤس لون چاہیے۔» — Excuse me, I need a mortgage; «جی، آپ کی آمدنی کیا ہے؟» — Yes, what is your income? The conversation is predictable: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: the loan adviser’s desk at a bank branch. The conversation is short and predictable — which is exactly what makes it good for a first try: few lines, and almost all of them repeat from one exchange to the next.
- معاف کیجیے، مجھے ہاؤس لون چاہیے۔maaf kidzhiye, mujhe haus lun chahiyeExcuse me, I need a mortgage.
- جی، آپ کی آمدنی کیا ہے؟dzhi, ap ki amdani kya hai?Yes, what is your income?
- آمدنی اچھی ہے، لیکن بچت تھوڑی ہے۔amdani achchi hai, lekin bachat thori haiThe income is good, but the savings are small.
- کوئی بات نہیں، اقساط تھوڑی ہوں گی۔koy bat nahin, aqsat thori hun giNo trouble, the payments will be small.
- بہت اچھا! یہاں سائن کیجیے؟behot achchha! yahan sain kidzhiye?Excellent! Do I sign here?
- جی، شکریہ آپ کا۔dzhi, shukriya ap kaYes, thank you.
Lines one by one
| Urdu | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| معاف کیجیے، مجھے ہاؤس لون چاہیے۔ | maaf kidzhiye, mujhe haus lun chahiye | Excuse me, I need a mortgage. |
| جی، آپ کی آمدنی کیا ہے؟ | dzhi, ap ki amdani kya hai? | Yes, what is your income? |
| آمدنی اچھی ہے، لیکن بچت تھوڑی ہے۔ | amdani achchi hai, lekin bachat thori hai | The income is good, but the savings are small. |
| کوئی بات نہیں، اقساط تھوڑی ہوں گی۔ | koy bat nahin, aqsat thori hun gi | No trouble, the payments will be small. |
| بہت اچھا! یہاں سائن کیجیے؟ | behot achchha! yahan sain kidzhiye? | Excellent! Do I sign here? |
| جی، شکریہ آپ کا۔ | dzhi, shukriya ap ka | Yes, thank 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?
“معاف کیجیے، مجھے ہاؤس لون چاہیے۔” (maaf kidzhiye, mujhe haus lun chahiye) — Excuse me, I need a mortgage. 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.