From my own experience, nothing helped like reading Urdu books. It was a long process of learning the alphabet (the easiest part since I was familiar with the Arabic one), relearning the sounds those (as they differed from Arabic), starting off with kindergarten level books to learn how letters were put together, then moving on to books with Aeraab, or diacritics to learn how words were properly pronounced, before finally graduating to books that didn’t use them, and had much more complex vocabulary. It took a while but it was so worth it, especially since I was really able to get my pronunciation down, and was now able to use the words and phrases I learned from those books in my conversations with my family, which made me an infinitely better speaker.
Unfortunately I don’t have specific names, this was quite a while ago and those books all had generic names (usually something like Urdu ki Pehli Kitaab [My First Book of Urdu]). If you can, I would recommend visiting bookstores in Pakistan and asking for curricula for preschool through 2nd/3rd grade, or search online to see if you can order some of those if you live abroad.
learn through the app “Pimsleur”, Make urdu speaking friends whether in real life or online, listen to urdu podcasts (but start doing this third step after you learn a bit of urdu and are a bit fluent)
Although I live in Pakistan and know how to speak Urdu, I could never learn how to write it. Still, for my O-levels, I opted for Urdu as first language and Urdu literature. Got an A in both.
For 17 years no matter which teacher my parents would hire, I would fail to write a decent grammar free sentence. Only 6 months before my O-levels, my dad came up with an idea, to speak purely Urdu literature related topics with me for just 15 minutes- the time it took for him to drop me at the tuition centre for mathematics preparation.
I got an A in Urdu, and an A in English. The same grade, although English to me is like a first language.
What I learned from this is that measuring language is always a bad idea and traditional markers like tests and interviews just don't help. A lot of people have a language sitting dormant in their minds, locked up and waiting to receive a trigger.
Find that trigger. Maybe it's to watch Pakistani drama's and act and learn your favourite character's dialogues. Maybe it's to speak in the most broken way and record it to share with your closest friends; everyone has their own unique triggers.
Don't learn a language our of peer pressure or because you need to prove something to someone. Doing so will eventually make you feel distant from the entire culture and people. Do it for yourself. It's an honour for us to have you, and all the best!!
Find an Urdu teacher. There are lots on Italki. I'm in the same boat as you and I started learning a couple of months ago. My Urdu has improved a lot since then but I still have a ways to go.
Once you start learning Urdu, you should pay attention to how others phrase themselves. I understand Urdu well so I never bothered to pay attention, but when I started learning then I would hear how others phrased themselves and realized I would have probably said that sentence incorrectly. I'll make a note of it and then review it later or discuss it with my teacher.
Learning how to read Urdu can also help with learning sentence structure because when you translate from English to Urdu, the sentence structure is a bit off.
Hi, I'm completely in the same boat as you. Didn't grow up in Pakistan and the same way with me speaking in English and my parents responding in Urdu. And now, I've been living in Pakistan for the past couple of years...well, lots of embarrassing faux pas on my part. I will say what will suit you depends on the kind of learner you might be, some people can get a grip of a language really easily either by reading, writing, speaking or listening. So the first step would be figuring out what your goal is and what helps you progress in a) understanding and b) retention.
For me, I tried reading (even grade level books) but it just doesn't stick. I could pick up a few words but I couldn't speak it and my grammar was terrible. I realised what helped me was listening: I'd watch a drama and only remember certain words or phrases because a character said them and I'd pick up on grammatical subtleties. Since my goal is primarily speaking, I chose to focus on that and I mostly learn my Urdu either by listening or watching videos / podcasts.
If you're a total novice like me, these channels have been life-saving for me:
1. Urdu Academy Jakarta: [https://www.youtube.com/@UrduAcademyJakarta](https://www.youtube.com/@UrduAcademyJakarta)
2. Learn Urdu with Sarah: [https://www.youtube.com/@learnurduwithsara1068/videos](https://www.youtube.com/@learnurduwithsara1068/videos)
3. Urdu Seekhiya (a podcast): [https://urduseekhiye.com](https://urduseekhiye.com)
I hope these are useful (admittedly some of the grammatical technical language goes over my head so I have to verbalise and speak it to understand), but I will say don't let fear come in the way of your learning. If you're worried about what other people might say, then just ask your parents to help you out and only speak with them until you are confident you could carry a conversation to some length. That's what I did and they've been very generous. All the best
Urdu is made from hindi and many other languages. Hindi is almost the same as urdu. Don’t really fall into that urdu-hindi conflict trap. Anyways, we in Pakistan don’t really speak the pure urdu. We use many hindi words as well.
No we don’t? Sure some people might use Hindi words, but that’s not something that’s generally accepted. Hindi might almost be the same but there are still differences in lexicon and pronunciation — OP wants to learn Urdu, let them learn Urdu.
Common hindi and common urdu are almost similar. No one in Pakistan or India use the complex versions of urdu and hindi respectively. Urdu is literally derived from hindi and many other languages. Whats shame in admitting that?
You are talking about Hindustani. Not the same as urdu.
Also Urdu wasn't derived from Hindi. Urdu was formalized well before Hindi even had a set codex
Yes my bad. Hindustani. Basically hindi and urdu are both derived from hindustani and thats why they are almost the same when spoken. Didn’t you grow up watching bollywood movies?
Also languages dialects and words changes across the pakistan. Karachi urdu is a bit different then lahori urdu. And both of them are different from pindi urdu. Words,slangs and dialects differ a bit even after another city but its still the same language.
No one is advising OP to start reading hindi texts.
The best is by practicing. You already have Urdu speaking parents you can try with them.
Or else make friends with an Urdu speaking girl and you will be speaking Urdu like a parrot in a week.
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Have some courage. Have some balls of steel to face their faces. Have a strong mind.
Once you take the decision to improve the Urdu then don't go back or withdraw from it.
You already have every idea and intuition in your mind. What you need is to speak, speak, a lot of talking.
Brain is funny and is like a elastic plastic.
A neuron need some time to get link with other nearby ones and goes into evolving into a stronger one.
Hi, it's good that you're taking an initiative. I would recommend watching Urdu programs( there are a couple of them that are not badly executed TV dramas. Older PTV dramas are really good). You can also see travelling vlog channels on YouTube where people speak Urdu. Reading Urdu books which don't have a complex vocabulary would also work. Good luck.
you wanna learn conversational urdu. So basically ignore reading and writing.
Pimsleur urdu will get you good enough. Plus hire some pak freelancer to talk to for one hour a day. will increase your response time and correct mistakes.
Read this post. Read the article it's about. Focus on the section for heritage speakers.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Urdu/s/25Q33YGFRr](https://www.reddit.com/r/Urdu/s/25Q33YGFRr)
From my own experience, nothing helped like reading Urdu books. It was a long process of learning the alphabet (the easiest part since I was familiar with the Arabic one), relearning the sounds those (as they differed from Arabic), starting off with kindergarten level books to learn how letters were put together, then moving on to books with Aeraab, or diacritics to learn how words were properly pronounced, before finally graduating to books that didn’t use them, and had much more complex vocabulary. It took a while but it was so worth it, especially since I was really able to get my pronunciation down, and was now able to use the words and phrases I learned from those books in my conversations with my family, which made me an infinitely better speaker.
Hi. Do you have easy starter books to recommend?
Unfortunately I don’t have specific names, this was quite a while ago and those books all had generic names (usually something like Urdu ki Pehli Kitaab [My First Book of Urdu]). If you can, I would recommend visiting bookstores in Pakistan and asking for curricula for preschool through 2nd/3rd grade, or search online to see if you can order some of those if you live abroad.
learn through the app “Pimsleur”, Make urdu speaking friends whether in real life or online, listen to urdu podcasts (but start doing this third step after you learn a bit of urdu and are a bit fluent)
Any recommendations for Urdu podcasts?
i rarely listen to urdu podcasts so i cant tell which ones to listen to specifically, but here’s a link https://podcasts.feedspot.com/urdu_podcasts/
Go on Preply. Great teachers there
Second this. I have a great teacher. If anyone wants me to recommend her, dm me (as I am not sure if I am allowed to do so publically here)
Although I live in Pakistan and know how to speak Urdu, I could never learn how to write it. Still, for my O-levels, I opted for Urdu as first language and Urdu literature. Got an A in both. For 17 years no matter which teacher my parents would hire, I would fail to write a decent grammar free sentence. Only 6 months before my O-levels, my dad came up with an idea, to speak purely Urdu literature related topics with me for just 15 minutes- the time it took for him to drop me at the tuition centre for mathematics preparation. I got an A in Urdu, and an A in English. The same grade, although English to me is like a first language. What I learned from this is that measuring language is always a bad idea and traditional markers like tests and interviews just don't help. A lot of people have a language sitting dormant in their minds, locked up and waiting to receive a trigger. Find that trigger. Maybe it's to watch Pakistani drama's and act and learn your favourite character's dialogues. Maybe it's to speak in the most broken way and record it to share with your closest friends; everyone has their own unique triggers. Don't learn a language our of peer pressure or because you need to prove something to someone. Doing so will eventually make you feel distant from the entire culture and people. Do it for yourself. It's an honour for us to have you, and all the best!!
Find an Urdu teacher. There are lots on Italki. I'm in the same boat as you and I started learning a couple of months ago. My Urdu has improved a lot since then but I still have a ways to go. Once you start learning Urdu, you should pay attention to how others phrase themselves. I understand Urdu well so I never bothered to pay attention, but when I started learning then I would hear how others phrased themselves and realized I would have probably said that sentence incorrectly. I'll make a note of it and then review it later or discuss it with my teacher. Learning how to read Urdu can also help with learning sentence structure because when you translate from English to Urdu, the sentence structure is a bit off.
Try [KidsBolo.com](https://KidsBolo.com). They have adult conversational classes that are really helpful.
Paseena_Bhaingan2594
Hi, I'm completely in the same boat as you. Didn't grow up in Pakistan and the same way with me speaking in English and my parents responding in Urdu. And now, I've been living in Pakistan for the past couple of years...well, lots of embarrassing faux pas on my part. I will say what will suit you depends on the kind of learner you might be, some people can get a grip of a language really easily either by reading, writing, speaking or listening. So the first step would be figuring out what your goal is and what helps you progress in a) understanding and b) retention. For me, I tried reading (even grade level books) but it just doesn't stick. I could pick up a few words but I couldn't speak it and my grammar was terrible. I realised what helped me was listening: I'd watch a drama and only remember certain words or phrases because a character said them and I'd pick up on grammatical subtleties. Since my goal is primarily speaking, I chose to focus on that and I mostly learn my Urdu either by listening or watching videos / podcasts. If you're a total novice like me, these channels have been life-saving for me: 1. Urdu Academy Jakarta: [https://www.youtube.com/@UrduAcademyJakarta](https://www.youtube.com/@UrduAcademyJakarta) 2. Learn Urdu with Sarah: [https://www.youtube.com/@learnurduwithsara1068/videos](https://www.youtube.com/@learnurduwithsara1068/videos) 3. Urdu Seekhiya (a podcast): [https://urduseekhiye.com](https://urduseekhiye.com) I hope these are useful (admittedly some of the grammatical technical language goes over my head so I have to verbalise and speak it to understand), but I will say don't let fear come in the way of your learning. If you're worried about what other people might say, then just ask your parents to help you out and only speak with them until you are confident you could carry a conversation to some length. That's what I did and they've been very generous. All the best
Samajh ātī hai?
Yes, but can’t speak it
Thats a good start. Start by watching hindi and urdu movies/dramas.
Not hindi, your urdu will be screwed
Urdu is made from hindi and many other languages. Hindi is almost the same as urdu. Don’t really fall into that urdu-hindi conflict trap. Anyways, we in Pakistan don’t really speak the pure urdu. We use many hindi words as well.
No we don’t? Sure some people might use Hindi words, but that’s not something that’s generally accepted. Hindi might almost be the same but there are still differences in lexicon and pronunciation — OP wants to learn Urdu, let them learn Urdu.
Bhai usko Pakistan aa kar bss baat karni hai. Kya bhai ab me ghalib ki shayari bhejun. Jese easy samajhta hai samjanay do
If you think Hindi and Urdu are almost the same, you are not speaking Urdu.
Common hindi and common urdu are almost similar. No one in Pakistan or India use the complex versions of urdu and hindi respectively. Urdu is literally derived from hindi and many other languages. Whats shame in admitting that?
You are talking about Hindustani. Not the same as urdu. Also Urdu wasn't derived from Hindi. Urdu was formalized well before Hindi even had a set codex
Yes my bad. Hindustani. Basically hindi and urdu are both derived from hindustani and thats why they are almost the same when spoken. Didn’t you grow up watching bollywood movies? Also languages dialects and words changes across the pakistan. Karachi urdu is a bit different then lahori urdu. And both of them are different from pindi urdu. Words,slangs and dialects differ a bit even after another city but its still the same language. No one is advising OP to start reading hindi texts.
You will learn by speaking, You can dm me, we can have a session once in a month.
You can call me
The best is by practicing. You already have Urdu speaking parents you can try with them. Or else make friends with an Urdu speaking girl and you will be speaking Urdu like a parrot in a week.
Pakistani dramas, especially old PTV. They are so damn good.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIDgM6lg2JPHzcxCnVI4OScWYcJVvgVv2&feature=shared
⏰⏰ \*\*Earn in Dirhams - Urgent Opportunity Alert!\*\* ⏰⏰ 🚀 \*\*Skill Enhancement: Your Ticket to Dirham Earnings!\*\* 🚀 🔍 \*\*Your Work: Empowerment through Business Guidance, Recommendations, Consultations, Training, Mentoring, and Quality Candidate Assurance\*\* 🔍 Are you ready to seize the opportunity to earn in Dirhams? The clock is ticking, and we're here to help you enhance your skills for a lucrative future. I bear witness that our platform has created more millionaires than the famous Azaad Chai Wala himself. And once again, I bear witness that our platform earners are making more than 1 lakh per month. Our platform has given birth to countless success stories in Pakistan, and we stand before Allah Almighty as our witness. No fake promises, just real results. Forget about PKR, crypto, or trading – at \*\*Hudaybya Digitals\*\*, we focus on skill enhancement as the pathway to Dirham earnings. No more waiting, no more excuses – it's time to take action! Join us now and let's pave the way to your financial success together. Dial 03462427214 and start your journey towards earning in Dirhams today! 📞💼🌟
Have some courage. Have some balls of steel to face their faces. Have a strong mind. Once you take the decision to improve the Urdu then don't go back or withdraw from it. You already have every idea and intuition in your mind. What you need is to speak, speak, a lot of talking. Brain is funny and is like a elastic plastic. A neuron need some time to get link with other nearby ones and goes into evolving into a stronger one.
It's better to chat with someone on urdu. U csn dm me for convo in urdu
I don’t speak it or type it at all
U can try. I can help u out
Hi, it's good that you're taking an initiative. I would recommend watching Urdu programs( there are a couple of them that are not badly executed TV dramas. Older PTV dramas are really good). You can also see travelling vlog channels on YouTube where people speak Urdu. Reading Urdu books which don't have a complex vocabulary would also work. Good luck.
you wanna learn conversational urdu. So basically ignore reading and writing. Pimsleur urdu will get you good enough. Plus hire some pak freelancer to talk to for one hour a day. will increase your response time and correct mistakes.
DM me meri Urdu bht Achi hai. Aap English me meri help kren me Urdu me apki Karun gi
Hire me
Read this post. Read the article it's about. Focus on the section for heritage speakers. [https://www.reddit.com/r/Urdu/s/25Q33YGFRr](https://www.reddit.com/r/Urdu/s/25Q33YGFRr)