Urdu in the United Kingdom: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 07:10, 20 April 2023

Urdu is the fourth most commonly spoken language in the United Kingdom.^[1] According to the 2021 census, 270,000 people (0.5% of UK residents) listed Urdu as their main language.^[2] Ethnologue reports the total number of Urdu speakers in the UK at over 400,000.^[3]

Education[edit]

Britain’s Anglophone tradition and inheritance centralises English as the national lingua and vernacular. Radical opportunities exist however for the productive growth of minority Commonwealth migrant languages such as Urdu and Punjabi, particularly in curriculum-based education,^[4] for instance students in the UK are able to take Urdu as a GCSE subject^[5], which is examined by the AQA exam-board.^[6] In 2015, Manchester Metropolitan University became the first university in the UK to offer an Urdu degree.^[7]

Digital Media[edit]

BBC Urdu Service,…

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 [[File:Queen Victoria’s Urdu signature.png|thumb|[[Queen Victoria]]’s Urdu signature]]
-”’[[Urdu]]”’ is the fourth most commonly spoken [[Languages of the United Kingdom|language in the ”’United Kingdom”’]].{{Cite web |last=Panjwani |first=Abbas |date=2017-10-12 |title=BBC investigation exposes sectarian content in UK Urdu language newspapers |url=https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/bbc-investigation-exposes-sectarian-content-in-uk-urdu-language-newspapers/ |access-date=2020-06-04 |website=Press Gazette |language=en-US}} According to the [[2021 United Kingdom census|2021 census]], 270,000 people (0.5% of UK residents) listed Urdu as their main language.{{Cite web |title=Language, England and Wales – Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/language/bulletins/languageenglandandwales/census2021 |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=www.ons.gov.uk}} [[Ethnologue]] reports the total number of Urdu speakers in the UK at over 400,000.{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=GB|title=Ethnologue report for United Kingdom|publisher=[[Ethnologue]]|access-date=11 April 2015}}
+[[Urdu]] is the fourth most commonly spoken [[Languages of the United Kingdom|language in the United Kingdom]].{{Cite web |last=Panjwani |first=Abbas |date=2017-10-12 |title=BBC investigation exposes sectarian content in UK Urdu language newspapers |url=https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/bbc-investigation-exposes-sectarian-content-in-uk-urdu-language-newspapers/ |access-date=2020-06-04 |website=Press Gazette |language=en-US}} According to the [[2021 United Kingdom census|2021 census]], 270,000 people (0.5% of UK residents) listed Urdu as their main language.{{Cite web |title=Language, England and Wales – Office for National Statistics |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/language/bulletins/languageenglandandwales/census2021 |access-date=2023-01-25 |website=www.ons.gov.uk}} [[Ethnologue]] reports the total number of Urdu speakers in the UK at over 400,000.{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=GB|title=Ethnologue report for United Kingdom|publisher=[[Ethnologue]]|access-date=11 April 2015}}
 ==Education==
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 ==Use in politics==
 When Pakistani-origin Scottish MSP [[Bashir Ahmad (Scottish politician)|Bashir Ahmad]] was elected to the [[Scottish parliament]] in 2007, he took his oath in both English and Urdu.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/7876038.stm|title=Scotland’s first Muslim MSP dies|work=BBC|date=6 February 2009|access-date=19 May 2015}} [[Queen Victoria]] was taught to write Urdu by her [[Indian Muslim]] servant [[Abdul Karim (the Munshi)|Abdul Karim]].{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-12670110|title = Queen Victoria and Abdul: Diaries reveal secrets|work = BBC News|date = 14 March 2011}}
 [[File:Queen Victoria’s Urdu.png|thumb|Queen Victoria’s handwritten political briefing.]]