Language

Punjab Pakistan
The population of the province is estimated to be 86,084,000 in 2005 and is home to over half the population of Pakistan. The major language spoken in the Punjab is Punjabi (which is written in a Perso-Arabic script in Pakistan) and Punjabis comprise the largest ethnic group. The language is not given any official recognition in the Constitution of Pakistan. Punjabis themselves are a heterogeneous group comprising different tribes and communities, although the different castes in Pakistani Punjab has more to do with traditional occupations such as blacksmiths or artisans as opposed to rigid social stratifications.

The most important tribes within Punjab include the Muslim Rajputs, the Gakhars, the Gujjars, the Jats (see also List of Jat Clans of West Punjab), the Dogar, the Arain, the Punjabi Shaikhs and the Syeds. Other smaller tribes are the Awans, Rawns, Pukhtuns, Baloch, Afghans and the Maliks. Other smaller ethnic groups in the province include the Siraiki, Hindko, Kashmiris, Sindhis, and Muhajirs. Three decades of bloodshed in neighbouring Afghanistan have brought a large number of Afghan refugees (Tajik, Pashtun, Hazara and Turkmen) to the province.

The population of Punjab (Pakistan) is over 99% Muslim with a Sunni majority and Shia minority. There are small non-Muslims groups of Zorastrians, Bahá’ís, Christians, Sikhs,Hindus and Ahmadiyya communitiy.

The dialects spoken in different regions of the land have a common vocabulary and a shared heritage. The shared heritage also extends to a common faith, Islam. The people of Punjab have also a shared spiritual experience, which has been disseminated by Tassawwaf and can be witnessed on the occasion of the remembrance-fairs held on the Urs of Sufi Saints.

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http://www.frenchpod101.com

Learn French words using the Learn French with Pictures series from FrenchPod101.com.
Beautiful images clearly show French vocabulary divided into units by topic.
Each word is introduced in English and French. It’s a great way to study new vocabulary words that will build up your proficiency in French and lead you on your way to mastering this beautiful language!

In this French lesson you’ll learn the French vocabulary related to kitchens: sink, plate, bowl, kettle, pot, frying pan, knife, spoon, chopping board, and fork.
Have a French friend coming over for dinner? You can try out your new vocabulary with them as you set the table. If you do a good job, maybe they’ll wash the dishes in return!

If you learned a lot with this video, stop by our French language learning website and get other language learning content including other great videos like this one, audio podcasts, review materials, blogs, iPhone applications, and more.
Join the friendly community of learners at www.FrenchPod101.com, and start mastering French today!

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report, from http://voaspecialenglish.com

The lack of clean drinking water is a major problem worldwide. The World Health Organization says more than one billion people live in areas where renewable water resources are not available. The problem is especially serious in Asia and the Pacific.
A United Nations report says water availability in that area is the second lowest in the world, after Africa.
Nearly seven hundred thousand people in Asia and the Pacific lack safe drinking water. The U.N. report notes that the world’s poorest countries are also the ones that use the most water for agriculture. Agriculture uses about eighty percent of the water in the Asia-Pacific area. There has also been an increase in water used for industry. China and India more than tripled their industrial water use between nineteen ninety-two and two thousand two.
The lack of clean drinking water around the world forces millions of people to drink unsafe water.
This leads to an increase in diseases like diarrhea, the second leading cause of death in children under five. Floods, droughts, pollution and
climate change have created
even more problems.
The Millennium Development Goals
for two thousand fifteen call for a
fifty percent decrease in the number
of people without safe drinking water
and basic sanitation.
Scientists, governments and aid organizations around the world are increasing their efforts to meet these goals. Still, the U.N. says there is much work to be done. During its yearly World Water Day observance in March it called on the international community to work together to solve the water crisis. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are doing just that.
The American and South Korean researchers are investigating a new technology for turning sea water into drinking water. The new technology is called ion concentration polarization. The process uses electricity to
help separate electrically charged
salt particles from water to
make it drinkable.
The researchers tested their desalination process on a computer chip the size of a postage stamp.
The chip removed ninety-nine percent of the salt and other harmful substances from water samples.
So far the method purifies only small amounts of water. But the researchers say it may someday be available as a personal water purification product.
And that’s the VOA Special English Development Report.

(Adapted from a radio program broadcast 05Apr2010)

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I already know that my french isn’t very good. I am just explaining why I want to learn French so desperately.

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TORONTO is the CANADA’S LARGEST CITY, the CAPITAL of ONTARIO PROVINCE, and the HOME to a DIVERSE Population of more than 4.7 Million people as of year 2008.

TORONTO is home to virtually all of the world’s culture groups and is the city where more than 100 languages and dialects are spoken.

The Diverse City of Toronto celebrates DIVERSITY. The Different People with Different Culture make the City DIVERSE or DIVERSE City. DIVERSITY of race, religion and lifestyle help define and set Toronto apart from other world cities.

Almost three-quarters of Torontonians aged 15 or older have direct ties to immigration. About one-half (52%) are themselves immigrants while another 22% are 2nd generation immigrants with at least one parent born outside of Canada. The remaining 26% of the Toronto population (aged 15 or older) is comprised of individuals who were born in Canada to two Canadian-born parents.

In 2006, people of European ethnicities formed the largest cluster of ethnic groups in Toronto, 52.6%, mostly of British, Irish, Italian, and French origins. The FIVE Largest Visible Minority Groups in Toronto are South Asian (12.0%), Chinese (11.4%), Black (8.4%), Filipino (4.1%) and Latin American (2.6%). Aboriginal peoples, who are not considered visible minorities, formed 0.5% of the population.

This DIVERSITY is reflected in Toronto’s Ethnic neighbourhoods which include Little Italy, The Junction, Little Jamaica, Little India, Chinatown, Koreatown, Greektown, Portugal Village, Corso Italia, Kensington Market, and Bloor West Village.

CHRISTIANITY is the largest religious group in Toronto. The 2001 Census reports that 31.1% of the city’s population is Catholic, followed by Protestant (21.1%), Christian Orthodox at (4.8%), Coptic Orthodox (0.2%),[69] and other Christians (3.9%). Other religions in the city are Judaism (7.0%), Islam (6.7%), Hinduism (4.8%), Buddhism (2.7%), Sikhism (0.9%), and other Eastern Religions (0.2%). 18.7% of the population professes no religion.

While English is the predominant language spoken by Torontonians, many other languages have considerable numbers of local speakers, including French, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Tamil, Spanish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Filipino (Tagalog), and Hindi. Chinese and Italian are the second and third most widely spoken languages at work. As a result, the city’s 9-1-1 emergency services are equipped to respond in over 150 languages.

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