Learning Pashto Online, All Pashto Websites On The Web, Pashto to English online Translation, Learning basic pashto Grammar

Learning Pashto Online

Pashto (????), also called Pakhto, Pashtu, Pakhtu, Paxto, Paxtu, Pushto, Pushtu, Pukhtu, or Puxtu, is the first official language of Afghanistan spoken by the majority ethnic population of the country, the Pashtuns or Pashtoons, in Pashtunkhwa (North West Frontier) Province of Pakistan and by the Pashtun Diaspora around the world (an estimate says that 40 hundred thousands Pashtuns live only in Karachi, Pakistan�s biggest city). This ancient language belongs to the Eastern-Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian language family. There is a particular focus on learning this literature-rich language of the Afghans due to the ongoing war on terror and the increasing interest of the world to learn about the language, the Pashtuns, their culture and customs.

Learning Pashto is as learning any language of the world: the learners have to have an interest in the language and its culture, willingness to learn and access to resources they need. As the Pashto language has never enjoyed patronage of any emperor or any powerful and independent state throughout history, but had been a target of the regional powers until late, and has managed to survive through continuous attempts against its existence, there are not as much learning resources available for it as for the other languages of the world. Yet enough books of grammar, about the usage of the language, and dictionaries from Pashto to other languages and vice versa have been written and printed and are available today that can help those who are keen to achieve their goals.

Fortunately, for Pashto learners around the world who do not have access to the printed material, there are online resources which can be proved helpful and useful in improving their reading, writing and speaking skills of Pasho. There are websites which have free libraries where you may find books about Pashto grammar, usage, general information, proverbs, idioms, etymology, etc. On other websites you can listen to music, news programs, and political discussions and so on. Regular visits to these websites and practicing your reading and writing will improve your skills in no time.

Useful websites

www.qamosona.com. Qamoos (?????) or seend (????) means dictionary in Pashto. This website has several free dictionaries from/to Pashto. You can download them or use tehm online.www.mylanguageexchange.com. On this website you can find or become a language partner. If you are English speaking and want to find someone who speaks Pashto for language and help exchange, just sign up and do a search. You will find Pashto speaking people who want to meet English speaking people to improve their English. There are other similar websites, such as www.sharedtalk.com, which you can find by googling �language partner.�

Reading Pashto

To identify Pashto alphabets and their sounds, this wikipedia article may help you (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pashto_language). And this is more useful (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/pashto.htm). Here are complete lessons with pronunciations and pictures. (http://www.afghanan.net/pashto/pashto/learn/phon.htm). After identifying the alphabets, you can visit these websites to read Pashto articles and discussions: www.tolafghan.com, www.benawa.com, www.taand.com, and www.romaal.com. Pajhwok Afghan News (www.pajhwok.com) publishes the same news stories in both English and Pashto and in Dari as well. But you have to subscribe to access.www.tolafghan.com has a library (???????) where you access free books. And there is a forum (? ??? ???????) where you can discuss things with other members, primarily Pashtuns. The same you can do at www.khyberwatch.com forum.

Listening to Pashto

Listening to Pashto programs can improve your understanding and speaking skills of the language. www.bbcpashto.com, www.voadeewa.com, and www.azadiradio.org can help you in this. You can listen to Pashto music on www.mastana.net and watch videos on www.youtube.com. Several more websites also have similar content which you can find by searching on google. (Do not search for sex or pornographic material in Pashto as you will find nothing).

The use of Pashto ya (? ???? ?????? ???????)

There are five yas (??????) used in Pashto: ?? ?? ?? ?? ? Following are some examples for the proper usage of each:

? is called small ya and is used primarily in singular words. It is silent if it comes after alif (?), for example, ???? (God), ??? (place). Examples of its usage in singular words:

??? (man); ???? (pottery water-pot); ????? (colleague)

??? ???? ??? ????? ?? ??

My brother is also my colleague.

Hint: In the Pashto script that is used in Pakistan, ? is used instead of ?. So they write the above words like this: ???, ????, ?????.

? called big ya and is used primarily in plural words. Examples:

??? (men); ???? (pottery water-pots); ????? (colleagues)

????? ??? ???? ?? ?? ??? ??

The girl is carrying two water-pots.

When it is not used at the end of the word, it is not necessary to be used only in plural words. Examples:

???? (love); ????? (beautiful); ???? (machine)

? called soft ya and is used primarily in words with deep sound. Examples:

????? (songs); ???? (pages); ???? (soft); ??? (small)

When it is not used at the end of the word, it is not necessary to be used only in plural words. Examples:

???? (house; fort); ????? (a maid);

? is another Pashto ya used only in words of command. Examples:

??? ?? (go), ?? ?? (do not go), ??? ?? ??? (stop working)

?? ????? ?? ?????? ?? ?? ???? ?????.

If you want to succeed, work hard.

? is the fifth and last ya used primarily in feminine words. Examples:

????? (a girl), ?????? (the moon), ????? (a family).

?? ? ?????? ???? ??????.

I read the fairy tale.

Remember that this ya is used only at the end of the words.

Pashto vocabulary

Here is some general and technical Pashto vocabulary you may find helpful.

Ghag (??): voice; sound

Atann (???): dance

Shaer (????): poet

Kitab (????): book

Tolga (?????): collection

Loomray (?????): first

Chaap (???): print

Daaley (????): present; gift

Moar (???): mother

Plar (????): father

Wror (????): brother

Khor (???): sister

Aokhai (????): brother-in-law

Kheena (????): sister-in-law

Khusar (???): father-in-law

Khwakhey (?????): mother-in-law

Trah (???): uncle (father�s brother)

Mama (????): uncle (mother�s brother)

Da trah zoye (? ??? ???): cousin (male)

Da trah loor (? ??? ???): cousin (female)

Wraz (???): day

Shpah (???): night

Miasht (?????): month

Kall (???): year

Halak (???): boy

Kor (???): home; house

Zhond (????): life

Khog, khozh (???): sweet, dear

Zrah (???): heart

Lass (???): hand

Pakha (???): foot

Khidmat (????): service

Dard (???): pain

Leekwal (??????): writer

Hewad (?????): country

Musiqi (??????): music

Ghareeb (????): poor

Khukalai (????): smart

Khukale (????): beautiful, attractive

Jannat (???): paradise

Shpelai (?????): flute

Shoondey (?????): lips

Rooh (???): soul

Ghar (??): hill

Zmaka (????): earth, land

Pattai (???): field

Jagrah (????): war

Shkharah (????): conflict

Deewa (????): candle

Zhaba (???): tongue

Muska (?????): smile

Khanda (????): laugher

Mazi or ter wakh (???? ?? ??? ???): past

Ratloonkai (????????): future

Khoowanzai or Shoowanzai (??????): school

Wolaswali (???????): district

Welayat or ayalat (????? ?? ?????): province; state

Zaroorat or arrtiya ( ????? ?? ?????): need

Maloomat (???????): information

For more useful and good information about Pashto language and Afghanistan recent news Visit the young and famous Afghan journalist and writer Abdulhadi Hairan's Website: http://www.abdulhadihairan.com 

Tags: Learning Pashto online, Pashto language basic Grammar, Pashto to English Translations, Pashto proverbs with English meaning, Pashto online teacher, Pashto all basic sentences!