It is tempting to learn Panjabi written in English letters - "romanised" Panjabi. It feels faster at first, but it quickly runs out of road. Panjabi Go teaches the real Gurmukhi script instead, and here is why.
Romanisation is inconsistent
There is no single agreed way to spell Panjabi words in English letters, so the same word gets written several different ways. That makes it hard to read other people's messages, and hard to be understood.
It hides sounds the script captures
Gurmukhi represents sounds that English letters blur together. Reading the real script makes your pronunciation far more accurate, because you are seeing the actual sounds rather than an approximation.
It limits what you can read
Real Panjabi - signs, books, messages, and texts including Gurbani - is written in Gurmukhi, not in English letters. Learn the script and the whole written world opens up. Stay with romanisation and you stay locked out of it.
The good news
Gurmukhi is very learnable, and Panjabi Go teaches it from the first letter, one small step at a time. A little effort early on pays off for everything that follows.
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