Welcome to Desipora
This is a self paced course to learn your desi language’s alphabet. Currently we offer courses in Punjabi, both Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi but are currently working on ones for Urdu and Hindi. More will follow.
We recommend setting aside about 15 minutes every 2 days for 3-4 weeks to complete the course.
Is This Course for You?
If you can understand the basics of the language, follow your relatives, or were once conversational but have become rusty, and you never learnt to read, this course is designed for you.
If that is not you, the course is probably still of some benefit. It teaches the script rather than the language. When you finish the course, you will be able to read the words and become familiar with the sounds of the language. That is an important step, but you will only know a handful of random words.
What This Course Does
It teaches you to understand the alphabet of your chosen language. It spaces the information out in an efficient manner to allow you to be able to recognise and read words in about 2 to 4 weeks.
This is a highly targeted course, designed to teach the singular skill of reading. It does not teach grammar, conversation, or how to speak the language.
Each lesson takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Each lesson follows the same structure
- Letters are introduced. Each is shown with an example word in your heritage language and an English word with the same sound (or a similar sound, and instructions on how to modify it).
- Explanations and examples: a short briefing on how the sounds combine, with a few example words.
- Recognition practice: a short flashcard test on the letters you have just learnt, and on how the consonants combine with vowels.
- Vocabulary transliteration: you read your new letters in whole words. You do not need to know what the words mean, only how to read them. You can add them to a flashcard activity to learn the meanings if you wish.
- The test: passing it unlocks the next lesson.
There are some recommended activities to do between the lessons: short practice rounds on the letters, and a recall deck that brings words back before you forget them.
An example card
ਸੱਸਾ sassa
s · as in “sun”
This consonant is a simple "s" - the same sound English uses. Remember, its default reading with the built-in vowel is "sa".
This is one card from the first lesson. There are 41 letters that we introduce in 12 lessons.
Signing Up
You do not need to sign up to try it out. No credit card, no email, just start learning your first three lessons by clicking the link below. After you finish the first quarter of the course, decide if you like it and want to purchase the course.
To unlock the full course, an AUD $20 one off payment applies. There are discounts for your next purchases if you want to learn another script after you finish your first course. Of course, you are welcome to trial the first quarter for free for all of our scripts.