No English Test For Sikh Preachers Entering Uk

[Manchester_Sikhi]

And also, the youth of today who are born in the UK will often consider ENGLISH as their primary language and pubjabi as their secondary language, so in some sense they DO know their own first language and it is the Granthis who should be able to speak some of the the NATIVE language of the the UK as well as appealing to those who know Punjabi.

[One Man Army]

Gurfateh jio

i dont fink it shud b a problem if they can speak english or not, i fink us as sikh youth should go out of our way to learn punjabi so we can understand better. its part of our identities and we shud try sticking to punjabi rather then english. Maharaj didnt wrte gurbani in english, so to fully understand maharaj we must learn punjabi. i think it is so important to try n learn punjabi bcuz by our next generation no 1 will know how 2 speak it!

[gss]

Nearly every Gurdwara has Panjabi lessons, so its not that difficult to learn Panjabi for the youth! Plus if we start doing everything in English, stop using Panjabi... Panjabi will become a language of the past. Do we really want that to happen? Even if English is a worldwide easily understood language, we should still keep Panjabi as our number one language.

[Manchester_Sikhi]

Yes, but I'm the sure the Gurus didnt think like that...I'm sure they preached and taught in the language that they were travelling within. I'm sure they didnt expect all their followers to take up Punjabi to understand Sikhi. If Sikhi is a religion for all, then why isnt should it be limited to those speaking Punjabi?

The other major religions all have embraced the language and preach in the language their priests and religious leaders are based within, why should it be any different for Sikhi?

And why should that ever lead to degredation of Punjabi?

There will always be more Pubjabis then english-speaking sikhs for the near future, so to run parallel english programs in Gudwara's will aid both the older generation and the younger generation and attract others to find out about Sikhi and the SIkh way of life.

[Khalsa4ever]

Yes, but I'm the sure the Gurus didnt think like that...I'm sure they preached and taught in the language that they were travelling within. I'm sure they didnt expect all their followers to take up Punjabi to understand Sikhi. If Sikhi is a religion for all, then why isnt should it be limited to those speaking Punjabi?

The other major religions all have embraced the language and preach in the language their priests and religious leaders are based within, why should it be any different for Sikhi?

And why should that ever lead to degredation of Punjabi?

There will always be more Pubjabis then english-speaking sikhs for the near future, so to run parallel english programs in Gudwara's will aid both the older generation and the younger generation and attract others to find out about Sikhi and the SIkh way of life.

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Waheguroo jee ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo jee kee Fateh!

Totally right! The gurus taught in the language of the place they were in, and our granthis should be the same. As well, think of this: to get across the message of sikhi, what is easier, teaching panjabi to 300 kids who don't CARE about sikhi, or teaching a single granthi english?

Waheguroo jee ka Khalsa!

Waheguroo jee kee Fateh!

[ParwinderSingh]

There are reasons why Guru ji used Gurmukhi, we cannot change the lanuage which has been used, someone who knows more than me ought to tell us why Gurmukhi is important n why Gurbani was written in that lanuage.

Yes translations and katha should be done in both languages so that the youth can understand it also. you do hav a valid point about the granthis needing english, but i think this duty rests more on the gurudwara commitees to do more.

Anyway as a starting point the youth should be taught in english translations and language and then they should learn gurmukhi as they progress? This has been seen happenin with our gora sikhs in usa etc.

As someone else stressed, we dont want punjabi being phased out in the 21st century.

[randip singh]

WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH

I just wanted to know do you think this is a bad thing or a good thing that Sikh preachers dont have to enter England after passing a english test.

I personally think this is a bad thing because this could mean that the Sikh youth wont be able to associate themselfs and understand what the preachers are saying in the Gurdwara because of the language barriers.

And i think if there is pressure put on the preachers in India to learn english so they can preach in the Uk, then more Sikhs could start coming to the Gurdwara, because they will get the advantage of understanding Gurbani in english and Punjabi. (which is why most dont come to the Gurdwaras  coz they dont understand punjabi much) but this if the preachers will be able to speak both languages then this could help us (to understand more of Gurbani).

I look forward to seeing your views.

WAHEGURU JI KA KHALSA WAHEGURU JI KI FATEH

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This is a backward step in my opinion!

We need more english presentations rather than less.