The interview in Urdu
A room in a small firm; the head talks to a person who answered an ad in Urdu. 8 phrases that the conversation is made of: «آداب! آپ کون سا کام کرتے ہیں؟» — Hello! What work do you do?; «میں اکاؤنٹنٹ ہوں، پہلے سیکرٹری بھی رہا ہوں۔» — I am an accountant; I used to work as a secretary too.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: a room in a small firm; the head talks to a person who answered an ad. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- آداب! آپ کون سا کام کرتے ہیں؟adab! ap kun sa kam kerte hain?Hello! What work do you do?
- میں اکاؤنٹنٹ ہوں، پہلے سیکرٹری بھی رہا ہوں۔main akauntant hun, pehle sekretari bhi reha hun.I am an accountant; I used to work as a secretary too.
- پچھلی نوکری میں آپ کے اوپر کون تھا؟pichhli nokri main ap ke upar kun tha?At your last job, who was your superior?
- منیجر۔ ہر مہینے اسے رپورٹ دیتا تھا۔minedzher. har mehine ise riport deta tha.The manager. Every month I submitted a report to him.
- کیا آپ چھوٹی ٹیم کی قیادت کر سکتے ہیں؟kya ap chhoti tim ki qiadat kar sakte hain?Could you lead a small crew?
- جی ہاں، تین سال میرے ماتحت دو ملازم رہے۔dzhi han, tin sal mere mathat do mulazim rehe.Yes — for three years I had two subordinates under me.
- آپ کی کام کی جگہ یہاں کھڑکی کے پاس ہوگی۔ap ki kam ki dzhaga yahan khirki ke pas hogi.Your workplace will be here, by the window.
- جواب کب تک ملے گا؟dzhawab kab tak mile ga?When should I expect an answer?
Lines one by one
| Urdu | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| آداب! آپ کون سا کام کرتے ہیں؟ | adab! ap kun sa kam kerte hain? | Hello! What work do you do? |
| میں اکاؤنٹنٹ ہوں، پہلے سیکرٹری بھی رہا ہوں۔ | main akauntant hun, pehle sekretari bhi reha hun. | I am an accountant; I used to work as a secretary too. |
| پچھلی نوکری میں آپ کے اوپر کون تھا؟ | pichhli nokri main ap ke upar kun tha? | At your last job, who was your superior? |
| منیجر۔ ہر مہینے اسے رپورٹ دیتا تھا۔ | minedzher. har mehine ise riport deta tha. | The manager. Every month I submitted a report to him. |
| کیا آپ چھوٹی ٹیم کی قیادت کر سکتے ہیں؟ | kya ap chhoti tim ki qiadat kar sakte hain? | Could you lead a small crew? |
| جی ہاں، تین سال میرے ماتحت دو ملازم رہے۔ | dzhi han, tin sal mere mathat do mulazim rehe. | Yes — for three years I had two subordinates under me. |
| آپ کی کام کی جگہ یہاں کھڑکی کے پاس ہوگی۔ | ap ki kam ki dzhaga yahan khirki ke pas hogi. | Your workplace will be here, by the window. |
| جواب کب تک ملے گا؟ | dzhawab kab tak mile ga? | When should I expect an answer? |
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?
“آداب! آپ کون سا کام کرتے ہیں؟” (adab! ap kun sa kam kerte hain?) — Hello! What work do you do? 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.