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Punjabi marching ahead in Canadian Punjab
VANCOUVER: Much interest was elicited in Punjab this past week as sections of the media reported some language related demographic figures claiming that the latest census in Canada has shown a 35 per cent increase in Punjabi-speaking people over the 2001 figures, and thus Punjabi was well on its way to become become the fourth largest spoken language in Canada.
Right now, Punjabi is at number six, following English, French, Chinese, Italian and German. Of course in British Columbia, often called the "Canadian Punjab", it has already clocked the fourth position. With Punjabis crowding immigration applicants, the language may soon surpass Italian and German in another five years, experts said.
Some media reports quoted Balwant Sanghera, president of the Punjabi Language Education Association (PLEA) that is celebrating the sixth International Mother Language Day on February 24, as citing census figures to underline that 367,505 people have put their mother tongue as Punjabi compared, thus resulting in a 35 per cent jump over 2001 figure.
Punjabi is one among ten most spoken languages out of a total of 6,000 in the world. In British Columbia province, Punjabi is taught in the University of British Columbia (UBC), Simon Fraser University, University College of the Fraser Valley, Kwantlen University College and many schools.
Hospitals, city halls, airports and markets carry Punjabi signs. Many are proud to mention the event when Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan spoke in Punjabi taking every one by surprise at a Sikh function.
Among the two leading lights who have pushed for Punjabi's cause are the retired BC school psychologist Sanghera and Sadhu Binning, professor of Punjabi at the University of British Columbia.
: 13 February 2008
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