The best free online resources for learning Urdu

Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan, and an official language in a number of Indian states. Learning Urdu will give you access to 70 million native speakers plus some 100 million who speak Urdu as a second language! These numbers are even higher when we consider that Urdu is in spoken form almost exactly the same language as Hindi, which functions as the lingua franca of India. The total number of speakers of Hindi and Urdu – or ‘Hindustani’ – is about 250 million. Definitely no shortage of people to practice with!

In spoken form, Urdu and Hindi have only some differences in vocabulary and accent; recent history has however driven them apart as each one was equated with particular political and religious views. In written form however, हिन्दी and اردو are both beautiful but mutually unintelligible, using the Devanagari and the (slightly adapted) Arabic alphabets, respectively.

As exotic as they might look and sound, the languages are actually classified under the Indo-European family tree, so their structures can appear familiar. However, a language in which ‘haha’ is an affirmative answer, ‘or’ means ‘and’ and ‘tomorrow’ is the same word as ‘yesterday’ will surely make for a learning journey that is puzzling like the Indian head wobble: even when you know what it means, it still every time causes a second of utter confusion before understanding hits.

How to learn Urdu for free online?

A Door Into Urdu
This is a complete course developed by the US Department of Education to learn Urdu, and it also exists in a Hindi version. Perfect if you (like me) want to learn both side by side! I study grammar through Urdu (as I already knew the Arabic alphabet) and note new vocabulary in the two writing systems, learning Hindi along the way.

Aamozish: learn the Urdu script
A great project from the Rekhta foundation: a full online course to learn the Urdu script. Here is an overview of the alphabet, including the corresponding letters in Hindi.

Rekhta Foundation Pinterest
This Pinterest page features a beautiful collection of Urdu words and poetry.

Transparent Urdu
Transparent Language has educational blogs in a range of languages, the best thing being the word of the day option: sign up for a daily new addition to your vocabulary right in your inbox.

Ourdou de poche
For those who speak French: this book offers a really nice and succinct grammar overview and conversation guide. You can download it for free after signing up (or drop me a message and I can share it with you).

Urdu in three minutes
These YouTube playlists offer the basic sentences you will need to get by. Nice to start with, but it offers no grammar.

Video: Hindi and Urdu – a Single Language?
Confused about the difference between the two languages? I found this a nice informative clip (as are most of this channel’s other videos!).

Photo of mural at the top of this page by artist Seb Toussaint.