Technology in Everyday Life

Technology in Panjabi

Panjabi borrows many technology words from English and writes them in Gurmukhi script, so you can already read a lot of them. Each example is a Panjabi word with its English meaning. A full sentence looks like this: ਮੈਂ ਫੋਨ ਵਰਤਦਾ ਹਾਂ (main phon vartda haan), meaning I use a phone.

Four words to start

Start with four technology words. Each is an English word written in Gurmukhi.

Match each word to its meaning

Sound it out

Here is the trick with Panjabi technology words: most are borrowed from English, so if you read the Gurmukhi letters and blend the sounds, an English word often appears. Say the sounds slowly and listen for the English word inside.

Which word is the internet?

Which Panjabi word means the internet?

• ਇੰਟਰਨੈਟ
• ਡਾਊਨਲੋਡ
• ਅੰਕੜੇ
• ਗਾਣੇ

Spot the English loanwords

Select the TWO words that Panjabi borrowed from English.

• ਡਾਊਨਲੋਡ
• ਨੈਟਵਰਕ
• ਖਤਰਾ
• ਸੁਨੇਹਾ

Match each action

Borrowed or Panjabi

Some technology words are borrowed from English and sound like it. Others are native Panjabi words you learn. Reading both tells you what a message is about.

Find the borrowed words

Tap the TWO words that Panjabi borrowed from English.

• ਇੰਟਰਨੈਟ, the internet
• ਖਤਰਾ, danger
• ਡਾਊਨਲੋਡ, a download
• ਗਾਣੇ, songs

Reading a sentence

Now read a full Panjabi sentence: ਮੈਨੂੰ ਗਾਣੇ ਪਸੰਦ ਹਨ (mainu gaane pasand han) = "I like songs". The word ਪਸੰਦ (pasand) means liking, and this frame, ਮੈਨੂੰ ... ਪਸੰਦ ਹਨ, is how Panjabi says I like something.

What does it say?

In ਮੈਨੂੰ ਗਾਣੇ ਪਸੰਦ ਹਨ (mainu gaane pasand han), what does the person like?

• Songs
• Messages
• The internet
• Data

Send a message

Put the steps of sending someone a message into a sensible order.

• Unlock your phone
• Open the messages app
• Type your message
• Check what you have written
• Send the message

Complete the technology facts

Panjabi borrows many technology words from English, called _____. The word ਇੰਟਰਨੈਟ means the _____. The word ਗਾਣੇ means _____. A native Panjabi word, ਅੰਕੜੇ, means _____. To read a borrowed word you sound out each _____.

Read the screen

Use what you know to read each Panjabi word on a screen. Choose each time.

• A button reads ਡਾਊਨਲੋਡ (daunlod). What will it do?
• A setting reads ਇੰਟਰਨੈਟ (intarnet). What is it about?
• A warning reads ਖਤਰਾ (khatra). Is this a borrowed English word or native Panjabi?

Explain the technology words

In English, explain how you can often read a Panjabi technology word even before you learn it, and give examples. This is written in English and is not auto-marked.

• Explain why many Panjabi technology words are easy to read
• Give two examples of English words written in Gurmukhi
• Name one native Panjabi technology word and its meaning
• Write one full Panjabi sentence, for example ਮੈਂ ਫੋਨ ਵਰਤਦਾ ਹਾਂ