Learning Urdu to Pursue Career Goals

Kubarah Ghias plans to use the Urdu skills gained through the CLS program to pursue a career as a bilingual therapist. (Photograph courtesy Kubarah Ghias)

I am a bachelor’s student of psychology and neuroscience at Temple University, Philadelphia. I studied Urdu under the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program at the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) in Lucknow, in 2022. My goal is to become a health professional and use my language skills to offer therapy to clients from the United States and India.

I grew up in a traditional Indian household in Philadelphia. My parents, both immigrants from India, spoke to me and my siblings in the Urdu of Tamil Nadu, which can be best described as a mix of Dakhni and Tamil languages and differs from standard Urdu.

During college, I learned about culturally-informed psychological therapy and research. I realized there was a need for bilingual therapists in the United States, particularly Urdu-speaking ones. I knew that to pursue my career goals, I would need to learn standard Urdu and applied for the CLS program.

Learning Urdu in Lucknow

I was accepted into the program in 2022 and spent eight weeks at AIIS Lucknow. Our teachers were incredibly patient and broke down learning material in simple terms. Classes covered different topics every hour. By the end of the program, I had graduated from an intermediate to an advanced speaker.

During the CLS program, my favorite way of learning Urdu was through our weekly baat-cheet [get-together] class. These classes greatly improved my pronunciation. I had never studied Urdu poetry earlier and initially struggled to understand it. Throughout the CLS program, I was able to work with my teachers to improve my skills and appreciate the beauty of it.

After the CLS program, I continued my Urdu language learning in the United States by reading short stories, watching media, and interacting with native speakers on italki, an online language learning platform.

Additionally, my hometown of Philadelphia is home to many Urdu speakers. After my return from Lucknow, I connected with Philadelphia’s Urdu-speaking community by participating in community service projects.

I plan to pursue a Ph.D. in clinical psychology to research the efficacy of Western psychological treatment on collectivistic cultures and provide therapy for Urdu speakers. My Urdu language training will be very helpful in my professional work.

Bridge of languages

The United States is home to a diverse population of Urdu speakers. Programs like CLS are instrumental in deepening diplomatic relations and promoting cultural understanding between the people of the United States and India. In learning any language, one must also be able to appreciate cultural traditions and aspects.

To know Urdu is not just to know a language. It is to know the sweetness of adab (respect), community and literature, and for this reason, I’d highly recommend learning Urdu to anyone and everyone.

Kubarah Ghias is pursuing her bachelor’s degree at Temple University, Philadelphia.