Urdu | John Speak Language Trust

My John Speak Scholarship took me to Pakistan for a period of ten months to perfect my command of the Urdu language; widely accepted as the lingua franca of the Indian Subcontinent, a rich blend of Persian, Arabic and Turkish vocabulary with a Hindi grammatical base. Much like the English…

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Edward Mortimer

Tagged with: Pakistan, Scholarship, Tribe, Urdu
Posted in Blog

Oceans Full of Words…

I am now almost in the final week of my John Speak scholarship. I have been enjoying reading in Urdu a lot of late, perusing literally anything I can get my hands on (discarded flyers, road signs, food packaging…you name it). I find reading in any language a very empowering…

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Edward Mortimer

Tagged with: language, metaphor, ocean, reading, Urdu
Posted in Blog

Feeling Humbled

I have been reflecting a lot on education of late, and how the receipt of it (or not as is often the case here) can have such a profound impact on person’s life. But that said I have realised intelligence is not just about ‘what we know’, i.e. naming the…

Posted on April 22, 2014 by Edward Mortimer

Tagged with: childhood, disadvantage, education, intelligence, opportunities, Pakistan, Urdu
Posted in Blog

Our Changing World

It is now drawing closer towards the final month of my scholarship, so I want to make an effort to blog more regularly. I would like to give readers an insight into what life is like here, and the potential ways to strengthen ties between the UK and Pakistan in…

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Edward Mortimer

Tagged with: cultural identity, development of languages, English, globalisation, Pakistan, Urdu
Posted in Blog, News