Introductory Punjabi - Inside

I honestly love the example sentences in this book. They feel like they've been taken out of random conversations that we don't have the context for.  You could make up mini scenarios for most of these.

"I too slapped him."

"But she seemed quite young."

There are quite a number of sentences about thieves and beatings.

"If Bihari Lal dares open his mouth, I will fix him well."
I feel like every language book should include this sentence with [insert name here]. It should be an essential phrase.

And, of course, at the end you have your vocabulary.

And a few more sentences I never thought I'd see in a phrase book but am now saddened by the fact that I haven't. These are phrases of living rather than visiting.

"Not to talk of running, he can't even get up (from his seat)."
"Paramjit! what a hell of a girl she is?"
"A girl! she is a virtual bat."
"Do not step on the engine." "Don't keep your arms outside the window." "Do not jump from a running train."
2 different ways to say "Plucking flowers is prohibited."
"May you be a widow!" "What can such children do for the country?"
"Some body told me that you have lost your clothes."
"Well, when we are turned out of this house, you may come."
"Your performance has been much better than what we expected of you."
"Rather than act in such a manner, you should have thrown yourself in the river."
"My father, who is over forty now, still plays hockey."
"As soon as you entered his room you could appreciate his aesthetic sense."
"Stop here for octroi." "Beware of quack doctors." "Get yourself vaccinated." "He was sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment."
"Her husband drinks (wine) too much." "A boy was run over by a motor car." "He is just a yes-man."
"The sight of the yellow fields of Saron is very delightful during the spring season."
"Death is inevitable."

Introductory Punjabi

The Language learning book with my most favorite example phrases is Introductory Punjabi, put out by Punjabi University Patiala. Looks like the school is still around, too.

I'm going to assume the authors listed were instructors there. Bahri appears to have written a few other texts on the language as well as one on Hindi. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Introductory+Punjabi+bahri&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss

We even get the price the students had to pay for their textbook.

WorldCat lists 3 different editions - this 1968 one, 1987 and 2003. 30 libraries have a copy including the Library of Congress. https://www.worldcat.org/title/introductory-punjabi/oclc/62665?referer=di&ht=edition

This book is not actually for English speakers despite being in English.

So this text isn't truly complete as is. You need familiarity with Punjabi cultural items and a native speaker to listen to and practice with.

The back cover of the book just has the price again. It's 114 pages and 22 by 14cm.

Next post will be the interior.

Hindi in a Month - inside

So inside you find the normal parts of a language workbook: lists of vocabulary, exercises requiring you to translate short paragraphs, instruction on how the language is used. What's interesting is the choice of words for vocabulary and the example sentences used. An American or English book might not give you the translation for the castes or worry about whether you could say "Incarnation".

"Palpitating" is also not a word I would expect to learn in a beginner's course.

The vocab sections are broken up into examples of words starting with a certain written character and sections with a theme. Here's one on hygiene and self-care.

Here's a section on disease. Note: Fatness can be cured in 40 days.

There are also several pages with common sayings, many of which are familiar to me. Some of which are not.

Then grammar. Don't do it?

We have example sentences.

And here are sentences from the section on cloth.

A bit of instruction on fruit and vegetables.

Mangoes are mentioned quite a bit in the book. Mangoes are mentioned quite a bit in the book on Punjabi I also own. This is why I like seeing language books published elsewhere - they have a different flavor from what I am used to.

Hindi in a Month

I like old, bilingual dictionaries and learn to speak another language books. I especially like old bilingual books when they were written and sold in another country. You get an entirely different set of example sentences and textual flavor than you do when they're from your own country, written with someone of your background in mind. So when I see them at my local library book sale I snap them up. I've found quite a few gems and I've wanted to share them.

I have been unable to find a copy for sale or referenced online outside of Worldcat - there are 7 copies of what appears to be 3 different editions, none of which quite match mine. This one here was published for the Varma Brothers in 1964. It is 205 numbered pages, 18 cm.

The other cataloged books were published 1962, 1966 and 1951. The last was published by National Book Stall. It appears to have gone through several editions. The author is only listed as J.S. Bright but his entry on library pages gives the name Jagat Singh Bright.

Looking at other works he is connected to it appears he made quite a career writing and editing books about Indian history, language and important figures. A cursory search turns up nothing on Rajendra Kushwaha. This copy was sold at Minerva Bookshop.

Are Simla and Bombay completely separate locations? There's a Shimla north of New Dehli but I'm not finding any on the map near Mumbai. Did Minerva Bookshop have two stores? Is the Minvera Book House in Shimla the inheritor of the Minerva name? Not amazing detective work but I'm being lazy. Here's the back cover.

And here's a list of their other publications:

I'm especially interested in "Friends: How to win and retain them", "Ideal jokes", "Timber calculator" (I have no idea - do you calculate timber? probably.) and my favorite - "How to increase your height".

More on the contents of the book in the next post.