Indian Urdu is the Urdu of Delhi, Lucknow, Hyderabad and the other cities where about 51 million people in India said Urdu was the language they grew up with. It has the same grammar as the Urdu of Pakistan and shares its basic words with Hindi. Apps rarely say which country their Urdu comes from, so this page checks what each one says, and what it gives you if you want the Urdu of India. For the full list of courses, news and tutors, see our guide to Indian Urdu resources.
Our Urdu app comparison covers apps for any Urdu, and our Indian Urdu comprehensible input guide covers what to read and hear at each stage.
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Urdu (India). You learn from Urdu (India) you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Tell Poppy, your AI tutor, your level and what you like, and she writes your Indian Urdu lessons. If a sentence is hard to follow, ask Poppy to explain it.
With Regenerative Review™, words you save show up again in new lessons, so that you can review words in new contexts without having to use flashcards.
If you read Hindi, you can start in Roman Urdu and learn the Urdu letters beside it.
Bubblegum focuses on reading and listening more than speaking, so for speaking practice, try a tutor below.
- Lessons are read aloud by voices from Delhi.
- The Urdu Alphabet course teaches the letters in 12 short chapters, with pictures that help you remember them.
- Read lessons in Urdu letters, or in Roman Urdu, the Latin letters many people text Urdu in.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, and you can export them to Anki.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- Learn every letter in the free Urdu Alphabet course, with a picture to help you remember each one.
- The written lessons are standard Urdu, the same as for Pakistani Urdu, so the Delhi voice is what makes them Indian.
- You can't turn an Urdu novel you bought in Lucknow into a lesson. However, you can send Poppy a photo of a page, and she'll explain it.
- 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
Rekhta
Rekhta is made by the Rekhta Foundation, which also puts on the Jashn-e-Rekhta festival in New Delhi. If Hindi is your first language, the Hindi letters and meanings give you a way into a couplet before you read it in Urdu.
- Read poems and stories in Urdu letters, or switch them to Hindi or Roman letters.
- Tap a word to see its meaning in Hindi and English.
- There are no lessons or reading levels, so it suits learners who can already read some Urdu.
- Doesn't teach the Urdu Alphabet
MobileWeb
Karak
Karak has stories, everyday scenes and recorded conversations for Urdu learners. Its page doesn't say which country the Urdu comes from, so listen to a story before you decide it fits your family's Urdu.
- Every line is read aloud by a person.
- Its letters section shows each Urdu letter beside Devanagari, the Hindi letters.
- Flashcards
- Teaches the Urdu Alphabet (partly)
MobileWeb
Rekhta Urdu Dictionary
Open the Rekhta Urdu Dictionary when a song or a ghazal has a word you don't know. It gives the Hindi meaning as well, which helps if you know some Hindi.
- Each word has meanings in Urdu, Hindi and English.
- Hear how each word sounds.
- It looks up words but has no lessons, so use it beside a reader or a course.
MobileWeb
UrduPod101
UrduPod101 suits learners who like a teacher talking them through each lesson. Play a dialogue and check whether the words match the Urdu you hear at home.
- Short audio and video lessons, each built around a dialogue.
- A free lifetime account has the first three lessons of every series.
- Flashcards
- Teaches the Urdu Alphabet (partly)
MobileWeb
Pimsleur
Pimsleur's Urdu course is built for listening and answering out loud, and its page also lists reading lessons and cultural notes.
- 30 audio lessons for speaking and listening, with reading lessons.
MobileWeb
Other Apps We Looked At (2)
- LingShort, game-like Urdu lessons that teach the script step by step.
- Mango LanguagesUrdu lessons built around real conversations. Many public libraries offer it.
Preply
A tutor is the surest way to get the Urdu of India. On Preply you can pick by price and free hours, then say where your family is from and ask for the words they use at home.
- Hundreds of tutors teach Urdu online.
- Ask for a tutor from India when you book.
MobileWeb
italki
Tell your italki teacher which city's Urdu you want to talk in, so the examples fit the people you'll meet.
- Book one-to-one Urdu lessons over video.
- Pick a time that suits you and your teacher.
MobileWeb
| App | Indian Urdu | What the App Says About Its Urdu |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | Yes | Voices from Delhi, standard Urdu text |
| Rekhta | PartlyReading only, no lessons | Content in Urdu, Hindi and Roman letters |
| Karak | PartlyPage names no country | Read aloud by a person |
| UrduPod101 | PartlyPage names no country | Not stated |
| Pimsleur | PartlyNames both countries, no accent | Not stated |
| Preply | PartlyWith a tutor from India | The tutor's own |
| italki | PartlyWith a teacher from India | The teacher's own |
| App | Free? | What's Free |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | Free version | 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. |
| Rekhta | Free | The Rekhta app is free to download and read. |
| Karak | Free version | Every Karak story opens with its first chapter free. A subscription opens the full library and starts with a 7-day free trial. |
| Rekhta Urdu Dictionary | Free | The Rekhta Urdu Dictionary app is free to download and use. |
| UrduPod101 | Free version | A free UrduPod101 account gives you a survival phrases course and the first 3 lessons of every pathway, with new lessons each week. Paid plans open every lesson, and Premium starts with a 7-day free trial. |
| Pimsleur | Free trial | You can try Pimsleur free for 7 days. After that, you pay for one language or for all of them. |
| Preply | Paid | You pay for each lesson, and each tutor sets their own price. If your first tutor isn't a good fit, you can try two more for free. |
| italki | Paid | You pay for each lesson, and each teacher sets their own price. Practicing with the community and taking the level test are free. |
| Ling | Some lessons free | The first two beginner units are free in every language. Ling Pro opens all the lessons, and the yearly plan starts with a 7-day free trial. |
| Mango Languages | Some lessons free | The first lesson of every language is free, and many public libraries give their members full access at no cost. The paid plans start with a free trial. |
Rekhta and its dictionary explain words in Hindi and English, and Karak's translations are in English. For the other apps, open one lesson in your language before you pay.
| App | Languages You Can Use It In | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 76 | Supported language pairs |
| Rekhta | 1 | App Store |
| Karak | 1 | App Store |
| Rekhta Urdu Dictionary | 1 | App Store |
| UrduPod101 | 1 | App Store |
| Pimsleur | 3 | App Store |
| Preply | 19 | App Store |
| italki | 19 | App Store |
| Ling | 68 | Full list |
| Mango Languages | 2 | Full list |
Which Indian Urdu app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Urdu (India), start with Bubblegum. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or start with Karak if you already read Hindi, because its letters section matches each Urdu letter to a Devanagari one. To plan a week around an app, see the best way to learn Indian Urdu.
Is Indian Urdu different from Pakistani Urdu?
They share the same grammar and much of their everyday vocabulary with Hindi. Urdu in India also has regional forms: Wikipedia names the standard Urdu of Lucknow and Delhi, and Dakhni in the South. Pick the apps and tutors that match the people you'll talk with, and ask them about words that are new to you.
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
- Wikipedia: Urdu (India: 50.8 million speakers in the 2011 census, Eighth Schedule, Delhi and Lucknow standard, Dakhni; Pakistan's Urdu described as hyper-Persianised)
- Census of India 2011, Language (Paper 1 of 2018), Statement 4: Urdu, 50,772,631 speakers (4.19%)
- University of Minnesota: Hindi and Urdu share their grammar and basic vocabulary
- Bubblegum: Urdu and the Urdu Alphabet course
- Bubblegum: Urdu Alphabet course, chapter 1
- Roman Urdu (English Wikipedia): Urdu written in Latin letters, mostly used for informal communication on the internet, social media and text messaging
- Rekhta on the App Store (Urdu, Hindi, and Roman scripts; tap a word for its meaning in Hindi and English)
- Rekhta: World of Urdu poetry
- Rekhta Urdu Dictionary on the App Store
- Karak: Urdu stories read aloud by people (the page does not name an Urdu variety)
- Karak: pricing (first chapter of every story free)
- Karak: iPhone App Store listing (letters beside Devanagari; choose your script; languages you can use it in)
- UrduPod101: the app (the page does not name an Urdu variety)
- UrduPod101: what's free
- UrduPod101: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Pimsleur: Learn Urdu (30 lessons; names Pakistan and India as places where Urdu is spoken, not an accent)
- Pimsleur: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Ling: Learn Urdu
- Ling: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Mango Languages: Urdu
- Mango: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Preply: Urdu tutors
- Preply: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- italki: Urdu teachers
- italki: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Bubblegum
- UrduPod101
- Pimsleur
