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I love exotic languages as much as I love travelling so one destination I'm considering for my next trip is Pakistan where a language famous to linguists for not being related to any other language is spoken in some areas.

Burushaski on Wikipedia | Burushaski phrasebook stub on Wikivoyage

Apparently it is spoken in the Hunza Valley region, parts of Nagar, Kashmir and Ghizer areas.

What I'd like to know but haven't had much success finding out, is whether some language teaching opportunities exist in any of these areas, such as a course or a known teacher.

This might involve knowing which of these areas is most accustomed to tourism and in which areas the language is most prevalent in day-to-day life.

pnuts
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hippietrail
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2 Answers2

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I am very interested in this question since I love languages myself. I spent quite a long time trying to find an answer, searching all over the internet using English, Arabic and some Urdu. Unfortunately I found no teacher, course or school. However, I found the Burushaski language page in the Endangered Languages Project site, which led me to the Burushaski Language Documentation Project page, and that led me to the members who contributed to this project.

I have managed to get in touch with two of the members. It turns out that Burushaski is an oral language and no school or any academic institution teaches using that language and there are also no schools to teach the language to people who want to learn it. That does not mean you are not able to learn the language, locals will be very happy to teach you Burushaski, and you will be able to find many people who speak English there. So I suggest once you arrive try to befriend a local who speaks English and learn it from him/her. According to the Burushaski native I was in touch with this should be easy and welcomed as well.

Thanks to Mr. Piar Karim for helping me in providing the answer.

pnuts
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Nean Der Thal
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I am native Burushaski speaker but unfortunately we can't afford schools to teach Burushaski. The best way to learn such a language to work and live with locals and I would recommend Hunza (Karimabad, Aliabad) where you can find people who are interested in learning your language and in exchange they can help you learning Burushaski.

We have an organization called BADA in Karimabad, Hunza and they have contributed a lot to Burushaski in past decades. Probably, Allama Haji Nasir Hunzai has started it.

amjad
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