Fast and easy Urdu/Kashmiri (speaking/reading/writing) classes for all levels to all age groups, beginners to intermediate

Find out more about Uzma

• Tell us more about your subject. How did you develop an interest in this field?

  As I'm a native Urdu speaker, I've grown up talking in Urdu, always had outstanding scores In the same, have absolute hold on the language and realised that I don't really see Urdu being taught and communicated as easily as it should, I decided that I should teach Urdu and share my love for the language. Next thing I know is that I was already teaching Urdu through Superprof.

• What or who is the motivation behind you choosing to teach & why?

  Well, I was drawn to public speaking and conferences since my childhood but most of it grew while I was in business school, as I got to participate in most of them. I'd like to add a bit of background here, my mother was a teacher, and the type of work she talked about, the kind of human interaction and joy associated with teaching really appealed to me. However, it wasn't until I taught at a community teaching center, which operated for a short while during a political situation in Kashmir to help students cope up with the academic loss in my first year, that I began to develop a highly specific shift towards sharing my knowledge, helping people learn and interacting with them, which I could only see coming to reality through teaching. I sought and tried numerous ways to do the same and eventually ended up here on Superprof. One of my early motivation and role models were, like many, my parents who taught me with utmost pleasure and made me understand what being a teacher really meant. Later in my life, when I actually came face to face with the satisfaction teaching provides, I didn't need anything else to motivate me.

• How does your work help society?

  I think the helping hand teachers provide to the society need no explanation or description at all. I would say their role and service transcends the classroom where they can share their philosophy and approach to leading in the classroom. Teachers can give talks, provide training and leadership to others in their community so that more people can learn and model the values and traits that teachers possess. But about teaching language, as said earlier I chose to teach Urdu as I felt it wasn't being communicated as it should have been. I think different languages create a different aura. So learning just words won't help. language allows us to express our thoughts and feelings, it allows us to communicate and share knowledge with one another. You won't full master a language unless you understand the culture, just like you'll never fully understand a culture until you've immersed yourself in a study of their language. As I read somewhere, Learning a language without comprehending the culture is like going to the vibrant Mexican marketplace pictured above and only eating hamburgers from McDonald's. So I try to provide a positive contribution to the society by trying to communicate the essence of the language as much as possible and not just teach mere words and grammar.

• If you had to think of a role model for your work, who do you think of & why?

  I can only relate the term role models to my parents. Parents play an important role in a child's life. But why are they my role model? My parents always supported me to chase after my dreams and pursue what interests me, knowing the risks. They always insisted that everyone must make mistakes to learn from them. My parents have taught me that family is essential, and no matter what, my family will always be there for me. They are my role models because live so simply yet gracefully, always putting others before themselves. Whenever I'm in a tough situation I always think to myself what would my parents do if they were in this situation. One of the motives of my life is to be, if not exactly then, half as good and kind them.

• Tell us about your hobbies outside teaching.

  I'd say, nothing, really. As a hobby means "an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure" And by nothing I mean nothing other than what I teach. I teach everything I love, as I believe that one cannot teach well what he doesn't love doing himself, and if one loves what he teaches, he will enjoy doing it and would want to do the same in his free time for pleasure as well, which makes my work and hobby, almost ,the same. So I'd say that when I'm not teaching the stuff I love, I'm doing that exact same stuff.

• Do you have an anecdote to tell us about your student or professional life?

  While I was in business school I developed a keen interest in learning new languages, and in my journey of learning new languages I tried a lot of language learning platforms where I came across different people who shared my passion for languages. Fun fact: Learning new languages is scientifically speaking, brain food, it promotes brain activity and makes your mind sharper. To me it quickly became food for the soul as well. I took immense pleasure in learning languages. But not until a fellow Spanish learner asked me to teach him a language I knew (I'm fluent in 4 languages, that means I can read, write, speak, and understand all 4 of them, one of which is a regional language and also partially educated in 2 more) did I realise that teaching languages has the same effect on me as learning them. So, that folks is how I ended up teaching Urdu.