Panjabi Go is not a kids' app. It is for you, the parent, so that you can pass Panjabi on. Children learn a home language mostly from the people who speak it to them every day. If you speak and read Panjabi with confidence again, your children hear it from you, at meals, at bedtime and on the way to school.
Learn it so you can pass it on.
I grew up in the UK speaking Panjabi quite well, but English became my default at school. I learned Gurmukhi at Sunday school, and the reading got rusty. When I had kids, I worried that they would lose the language, so I built Panjabi Go.
Why should you learn it yourself?
The amount of Panjabi that children hear at home matters most. In a study of 1,899 bilingual families, the linguist Annick De Houwer found that about 74% of children with one parent, one language (OPOL) at home spoke the home language. When both parents spoke only the home language, it was 97%. Children learn each language roughly in proportion to how much of it they hear.
So the parent's own Panjabi is the starting point. A class once a week cannot match a parent who speaks it every day. Without that, the language often goes in two or three generations. A study of the grandchildren of immigrants in the US found that most spoke only English by the third generation. I wrote about how this happens in why Punjabi is disappearing in the diaspora.
What do you need to relearn?
| What you need | Why it matters at home | How Panjabi Go helps |
|---|---|---|
| Everyday speech | You talk with your children all day | Short daily lessons and AI Voice Chat |
| Clear pronunciation | Children copy the sounds that they hear | Feedback on each sound and 3D mouth videos |
| Reading Gurmukhi | You can read books, cards and homework together | The 35 akhar, laga matra and Muharni |
| Family words | Children learn what to call each relative | Lessons on family relations |
| Culture | Sayings, festivals and the gurdwara give the language a reason | Akhaan, the Nanakshahi calendar and gurdwara phrases |
How long does it take?
You can use family words and simple phrases at home from the first week. Most adults can read Gurmukhi in 4-6 weeks, and a basic conversation takes six to twelve months of regular practice. Adults are slower at some things, such as a perfect accent, and faster at others, such as spotting patterns. I explain this in learning Punjabi as an adult.
Can my children use Panjabi Go?
Panjabi Go is for ages 13 and up. A teenager can have their own seat with the Family Pack, which gives four people a Fluent seat each. You can compare all the plans on the pricing page.
For younger children, the app is for you, and you bring the language home. I collected ideas for songs, ages and routines in how to teach kids Panjabi at home.
What does a week at home look like?
- Do one short lesson each day, for yourself.
- Use one new word or phrase at dinner, and keep using it.
- Read one Gurmukhi word with your child: a name, a sign or a label.
- Keep answering in Panjabi, even when your child answers in English.
- Give the language a reason: a call with the grandparents, a visit to the gurdwara or a festival.
More ideas for a home plan are in helping your child learn Punjabi.
What can't Panjabi Go do?
- It is not made for young children. It is for ages 13 and up.
- It has no web app. You learn on an iPhone or an Android phone, and it is launching soon on both.
- It has no offline mode, so you need an internet connection.
- One device can be signed in to an account at a time.
- It teaches standard Panjabi in Gurmukhi, not Shahmukhi.
Sources
- One person, one language (Wikipedia)
- Parental language input patterns and children's bilingual use (De Houwer, Applied Psycholinguistics, 2007)
- Dual language exposure and early bilingual development (Hoff et al., Journal of Child Language)
- Only English by the third generation? Loss and preservation of the mother tongue among the grandchildren of contemporary immigrants (Alba et al., Demography, 2002)
Questions people ask
Is Panjabi Go an app for children?
No. Panjabi Go is for ages 13 and up. It is made for parents and other adults who want to speak and read Panjabi with confidence, so they can use it at home with their children.
Can my teenager use Panjabi Go?
Yes, from age 13. The Family Pack gives four people a Fluent seat each, so a parent and up to three family members each keep their own progress.
I understand Panjabi but cannot speak it well. Is Panjabi Go for me?
Yes. Short daily lessons, pronunciation feedback and AI Voice Chat help you turn what you understand into what you say.
How long before I can use Panjabi at home?
You can use family words and simple phrases from the first week. Most adults can read Gurmukhi in 4-6 weeks, and a basic conversation takes six to twelve months of regular practice.
