3.10 Reading Short Texts

Overview of Reading Short Texts in Urdu

At the intermediate level, you begin to move from isolated sentences to understanding whole texts in Urdu. In this chapter, you will focus on how to approach short texts such as very simple articles, notes, announcements, and short stories. You will not only read for meaning, but also learn practical strategies to decode unfamiliar vocabulary, recognize common patterns, and guess meaning from context.

This chapter does not teach you all the grammar and vocabulary you may see in texts. Instead, it gives you tools and techniques to work with what you already know, and to make intelligent guesses about what you do not know.

Types of Short Texts You Will Encounter

Short texts are usually one or a few paragraphs. They are long enough to contain a complete idea, but short enough to read in one sitting.

Common types include:

You will see different styles: more formal in simple articles or notices, more informal in messages and posts, and more narrative in short stories.

Reading Strategies for Short Urdu Texts

Skim First, Then Read in Detail

When you see a short text in Urdu, do not start by translating every word.

1. Skim the text:
• Look at the title.
• Look at any dates, numbers, names, or places.
• Read the first and last sentence quickly.
2. Ask yourself:
• What is the general topic?
• Is this news, a story, an announcement, or an opinion?
• Is the tone formal or informal?
3. Then read again, more slowly, to understand details.

Use Context to Guess Meaning

In almost every short text, you will meet unknown words. This is normal and useful. You can often guess the meaning from context.

Common context clues:

When you guess a meaning, keep it flexible. It can be approximately right, not perfect.

Recognizing Signal Words and Structure

Many short texts use words that show the structure and logic of the text. These signal words help you follow the writer’s idea.

When you see these, pay attention: they show how one sentence connects to the next.

Working With Short News-style Texts

Short news notes are common practice texts. They follow certain patterns that you can learn to recognize.

Typical Structure of a Simple News Note

1. Headline: very short, usually without verb.
2. First sentence: tells what happened, where, and when.
3. Next sentence(s): give details, cause, or reaction.

Example headline and text:

Headline:
لاہور میں کل شدید بارش
(Heavy rain in Lahore yesterday)

Text:
لاہور میں کل پورا دن شدید بارش ہوئی۔ کئی سڑکیں پانی میں ڈوب گئیں اور ٹریفک متاثر ہوا۔ محکمہ موسمیات کے مطابق بارش کا سلسلہ آج بھی جاری رہ سکتا ہے۔

Translation with notes:

Even if you do not know some words, you can see the pattern: event, effect, expectation.

Practice: Focus Questions

When reading a short news text, ask:

• Who?
• What happened?
• Where?
• When?
• Why or how? (if given)
• What is the result?

You do not need every detail to answer these questions.

Reading Very Short Articles

A simple article usually explains or describes something, rather than reporting a single event. It may talk about a habit, a problem, a festival, or a place.

Recognizing Explanatory Style

Explanatory texts often:

• Use present tense a lot.
• Use general subjects such as لوگ (people), ہم (we), بچے (children).
• Use reason and example words such as کیونکہ, اس لیے, مثلاً.

Short example:

آج کل بہت سے لوگ موبائل فون کا زیادہ استعمال کرتے ہیں۔ اس کی وجہ سے وہ خاندان کے ساتھ کم وقت گزارتے ہیں۔ مثلاً، کھانے کے وقت بھی اکثر لوگ فون دیکھ رہے ہوتے ہیں۔ اس لیے گھر والوں کے ساتھ بات چیت کم ہو جاتی ہے۔

You can see:

• General statement (many people use phones too much)
• Cause (because of this)
• Example (for example, at mealtime)
• Result (conversation decreases)

When you read this type of text, focus on:

• Main idea of each sentence.
• Relationship between sentences (reason, example, result).

Reading Short Stories and Narrative Texts

Narrative texts tell you what happened. They have characters, actions, time, and place.

Typical Features of Short Narratives

Narratives often contain:

• Past tense verbs (e.g. گیا, آئی, دیکھا, کہا).
• Time expressions (کل, صبح, شام کو, ایک دن).
• Sequence words (پہلے, پھر, اس کے بعد, آخر میں).
• Dialogue with quotation marks.

Mini-story example:

ایک دن علی صبح دیر سے اٹھا۔ اس نے جلدی جلدی ناشتہ کیا اور اسکول کی طرف دوڑا۔ راستے میں اس کا دوست بلال ملا۔ بلال نے پوچھا، "تم آج اتنی تیزی سے کیوں جا رہے ہو؟" علی نے ہنس کر جواب دیا، "کیونکہ میں پھر سے لیٹ ہو رہا ہوں!"

You can recognize:

• Time: ایک دن، صبح
• Actions: اٹھا، کیا، دوڑا، ملا، پوچھا، جواب دیا
• Dialogue: " ... " with verbs like پوچھا, جواب دیا

Following the Sequence

When reading a narrative:

1. Underline or notice time and sequence words.
2. Map the story in your mind:
• Beginning: situation or problem.
• Middle: actions or attempts.
• End: result or punch line.

You do not need every descriptive adjective to follow the story. Focus on verbs and who does what.

Dealing with Unknown Words Efficiently

At this level, you cannot and should not look up every new word. This will slow you down and damage your feel for the language.

Which Words to Ignore

You can usually ignore:

• Many adjectives, if you understand the general situation.
• Very specific details that are not central to the main idea.
• Repeated words, if you already guessed them once.

Example:

باغ میں اونچے سبز درخت تھے اور نیچے نرم گھاس تھی۔ بچے خوشی سے کھیل رہے تھے۔

If you do not know اونچے (tall) and نرم (soft), you still understand: there is a garden with trees and grass, and children are playing happily.

Which Words to Look Up

It is useful to check:

• A key noun that seems central (e.g. a disease name, an object in a story).
• A verb that appears many times in the text.
• A word connected to the title or headline.

Strategy:

1. First read once for general meaning without dictionary.
2. Mark 3 to 5 words that you think are important.
3. Look these up after your first reading.
4. Read again, now with more understanding.

Using Text Layout and Punctuation

Even without full vocabulary, layout and punctuation give you clues.

Visual Clues

• Title in bold or larger letters: main topic.
• Paragraph breaks: each paragraph is usually one sub-topic or step in a story.
• Lists or bullet points: each point is usually a separate idea.

Punctuation Clues

Pay attention to where sentences start and finish. Try to understand one full sentence at a time.

Simple Parallel Text Examples

Reading with a translation can help you see patterns, but do not depend on word-for-word matching.

Example 1: Notice / Announcement

Urdu text:

اعلان
کل اسکول دوپہر ایک بجے بند ہو جائے گا۔ تمام طلبہ سے گزارش ہے کہ وہ اپنے والدین کو اطلاع دیں۔ کھیلوں کی سرگرمیاں معمول کے مطابق ہوں گی۔

Parallel table:

Notice typical announcement phrases:

• اعلان (announcement)
• گزارش ہے کہ (are requested to)
• معمول کے مطابق (as usual)

You will see these again and again in formal notices.

Example 2: Short Informal Message

Urdu text:

سلام احسن! میں آج تھوڑا لیٹ آؤں گا، تقریباً سات بجے کے بعد۔ مہربانی کرکے میٹنگ شروع کر دینا، میں آ کر شامل ہو جاؤں گا۔ شکریہ!

Parallel table:

This shows a casual tone, but polite with مہربانی کرکے and شکریہ.

Building a Reading Routine

To improve your reading, small regular practice is more effective than rare long sessions.

Suggested Weekly Routine

• 3 times a week, read one very short text (5 to 10 sentences).
• Spend 10 to 15 minutes each time.

Steps for each text:

1. Skim: title, first sentence, last sentence.
2. Read fully without dictionary.
3. Write in English in 2 or 3 simple sentences:
• What is the text about?
• What is the main point or result?
4. Mark 3 to 5 key new words, look them up.
5. Read again more carefully.
6. Optionally, copy 2 or 3 useful sentences by hand to feel the structure.

Choosing Appropriate Texts

At B1 level, choose:

• Short news notes about daily topics, not politics or complex economics.
• Short blog posts or social media texts with clear language.
• Children’s stories or simplified narratives.
• Notices and simple announcements.

Avoid:

• Long opinion pieces.
• Very literary texts with many metaphors.
• Complex political or religious analysis.

You will reach those at higher levels.

Creating Your Own Mini Reading Exercises

You can turn any short text into an exercise without a teacher.

Ideas:

1. True / False
   Write 3 statements about the text (e.g. “The school closes at 3 p.m.”) and mark them true or false.
2. Find and underline
   In the text, find:
• all time expressions,
• all place names,
• all verbs in past tense.
3. Title change
   After reading, give the text a new short title in English. This checks if you understood the main idea.
4. Gap sentence
   Choose one Urdu sentence from the text and copy it with one or two words missing. Later, try to fill the gaps from memory.

These activities help you look at the text more deeply, not just once.

New Vocabulary from This Chapter

The list below focuses on words that are useful for reading and talking about texts, not on every word in the examples.

Use these words when you talk about your reading in English, or when you discuss texts in a mixed-language classroom. Over time, they will help you manage longer and more complex Urdu reading materials.