Comprehensible input is Urdu you can follow even though a few words are new, because the rest of the sentence shows you what they mean.
Aim for about one new word per sentence. If you're stopping on almost every line, pick something shorter, or a topic you already know well. For courses and tutors, see our full Urdu app comparison.
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Urdu (Pakistan). You learn from Urdu (Pakistan) you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Ask Poppy, your AI tutor, for an Urdu lesson about something from your own life, like a cousin's wedding in Lahore or a cricket match on TV. She writes it at your level, and you can listen to it while you read. Words you save come back in the lessons she writes later.
- Pick a topic you know and a level that fits.
- Read and listen to Urdu lessons, stories, and news.
- Ask Poppy about any line while you read.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- You can't turn a ghazal you love into a lesson. However, you can paste it in the chat, and Poppy will explain it one line at a time.
- Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read.
- Regenerative Review™
- Teaches the Urdu Alphabet
Mobile
Karak
Karak is a reading app made just for Urdu learners. It has short stories, everyday scenes, and real conversations, each with a person reading the text aloud. Play a piece once while you follow the words, then replay only the lines you missed.
- Every line is read aloud by a person.
- Tap a sentence for its English, or press and hold a word to look it up.
- Pick the script you find easiest to read.
- Flashcards
- Teaches the Urdu Alphabet (partly)
MobileWeb
LingQ
LingQ's Mini Stories tell short, simple stories that use the same sentence patterns again and again, so they start to feel familiar. When you finish them, you can bring in Urdu you found online.
- 62 Mini Stories repeat the same patterns in simple Urdu.
- Tap a word to see what it means and save it.
- Import Urdu you found yourself.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
UrduPod101
UrduPod101's "Extensive Reading in Urdu for Absolute Beginners" is a series of one-minute audio lessons built on tiny books. It's a good first step once you can sound out the letters.
- A series of 40 one-minute audio lessons built on tiny books.
- The first books are about simple things, like pets and shapes.
- Flashcards
- Teaches the Urdu Alphabet (partly)
MobileWeb
Rekhta
Rekhta is a free library of Urdu poetry and stories, including Ghalib, Faiz, and Manto. Start with a single couplet, a شعر, and look up every word in it. Two lines are enough for one sitting.
- Read each poem in Urdu letters, or switch it to Hindi or Roman letters.
- Tap a word to see what it means.
- Its poems and stories are by famous Urdu writers and have no reading levels, so save them for later.
- Doesn't teach the Urdu Alphabet
MobileWeb
Other Apps We Looked At (3)
- PimsleurHalf-hour Urdu audio lessons where you answer out loud. Good for hearing spoken Urdu before you read much.
- MangoUrdu lessons built around short recorded conversations, with notes on culture. Some libraries offer it.
- Rekhta Urdu DictionaryLook up words you meet while reading, with meanings in Urdu, Hindi, and English and audio for each word.
Global Storybooks has 40 free illustrated stories in Urdu. A voice reads each page aloud, and the English sits beside every line. StoryWeaver adds hundreds more free picture books, sorted by reading level.
For listening, Urdu Madrasa tells simple stories for children, about things like Eid and feelings. Urdu Seekhiye is a free podcast of short everyday dialogues, with free PDFs you can read along with.
| What You Can Follow | Try This | You're Ready to Move On When |
|---|---|---|
| A word at a time | A Global Storybooks story with the page read aloud | You can read a page before you hear it |
| Short, simple sentences | LingQ Mini Stories or an UrduPod101 Extensive Reading lesson | You can say what a story was about |
| Short stories and dialogues | An Urdu Seekhiye episode and its PDF | You follow a whole episode with the PDF closed |
| Longer stories | A Karak story, read along with the narrator | You only stop for a few words per page |
| Writing for Urdu readers | BBC Urdu news and Rekhta poems | You can tell a friend what you read, in Urdu |
Karak's translations and UrduPod101's teachers use English. For the other apps, try one lesson in your language before you pay.
| App | Languages You Can Use It In | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Supported language pairs |
| Karak | 1 | App Store |
| LingQ | 17 | App Store |
| UrduPod101 | 1 | App Store |
| Rekhta | 1 | App Store |
| Pimsleur | 3 | Full list |
| Mango | 2 | Full list |
| Rekhta Urdu Dictionary | 1 | Full list |
Which Urdu app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Urdu (Pakistan), start with Bubblegum. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes lessons at your level about things you like. If you'd like a person reading every line to you, try Karak. Its Letters section can start you on the script. For free picture stories with audio, try Global Storybooks.
Do I need the Urdu script before I start reading?
Yes. Almost everything on this page is written in Urdu letters, which run from right to left. Bubblegum's Urdu Alphabet course covers them in 12 short chapters, and chapter 1 starts with the first letter, ا.
Can I learn Urdu from Pakistani TV dramas?
They help once you can follow short stories, because people in dramas talk fast. Pick a family drama, watch one scene at a time, and watch it again after you've looked up the words you missed.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read. Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Bubblegum: Urdu (Pakistan) and the Urdu Alphabet course
- Karak: Urdu stories read aloud by people, with translations and a dictionary
- Karak: pricing (first chapter of every story free)
- LingQ: Urdu course library (LingQ Mini Stories)
- LingQ: languages, with Urdu in beta
- UrduPod101: Extensive Reading in Urdu for Absolute Beginners
- UrduPod101: the app
- Rekhta on the App Store (Urdu, Hindi, and Roman scripts; tap a word for its meaning)
- Global Storybooks: Urdu stories with narration and English beside each line
- StoryWeaver: Urdu picture books
- Urdu Madrasa: Urdu Stories for Kids (podcast)
- Urdu Seekhiye: free podcast with PDFs
- BBC Urdu
- Pimsleur: Learn Urdu
- Mango Languages: Urdu
- Rekhta Urdu Dictionary on the App Store
- Karak: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- LingQ: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- UrduPod101: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Pimsleur: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Mango: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- LingQ
- UrduPod101
