Everything You Need To Learn Urdu
Urdu, the official language of Pakistan, is a member of the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European family. Around 100 million people are believed to speak it worldwide, fifty percentage of whom live in India, where Urdu is one of the 22 official languages.
In terms of linguistic classification, Urdu is the south-western descendent of the Khari Boli vernacular. It is closely related to Standard Hindi, sharing around 75% of its vocabulary, making the two languages somewhat mutually intelligible.
Urdu is written in a modified form of the Arabic alphabet, which has been specially adapted to suit Urdu’s phonetic system. The script is written from right-to-left.
Though the list of learning resources isn’t very long, there are more than enough Urdu learning materials to get you to a decent level in the language.
Urdu Language Learning Books
If you’re just starting out, you might want to get yourself a comprehensive Urdu course book that will introduce you to the basics of the Urdu language, including Urdu grammar, the writing system, and how to structure sentences. You’ll come away with a solid foundation to build upon.
A necessity for all serious learners is an English-Urdu dictionary. It will become your go-to resource for when you come across words or phrases that you don’t understand.
If you think you’ll have particular trouble with the Urdu writing system, consider getting a book that focuses specifically on teaching the Urdu script and alphabet.
Urdu Children’s Books
One of the best ways to give your language skills a boost, once you’re done with your study course, is by reading children’s books in Urdu.
Urdu kids’ books are written to be easy-to-read, with short sentences and colorful pictures to aid in memorization. This makes them perfect for beginners looking to improve their vocabulary, reading comprehension, and overall command of the language.
Urdu Digital Courses
If book-study isn’t really your thing, you might do better with Urdu e-courses. These types of courses are generally audio or video-based, the former focusing on teaching you how to speak and understand the language, while the latter nurtures your overall Urdu skills.
Udemy’s Urdu digital course is comprehensive and affordable, giving you a staggering 17 hours of video lessons, downloadable worksheets, and lifetime access across any smart device. This is great for beginners who want to build their Urdu listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.
URDU UDEMY COURSES
URDU AUDIO COURSES
Audio-only Urdu courses exist, too. Pimsleur’s Basic Urdu course is great for those who don’t have time to sit and study, and for people with busy schedules. The course offers hours of audio lessons, designed to get you to conversational level in Urdu without you ever having to pick up a book or pen.
Pimsleur Basic Urdu: 5-CD Audio Course for Beginners
