Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, and in Pakistan's 2023 census about 9 in 100 people named it as the language they grew up with. It is written from right to left in letters that come from the Arabic and Persian alphabets, usually in a flowing style called Nastaliq. Urdu and Hindi share their grammar and everyday words, so if you understand some Hindi, you already know a lot of spoken Urdu. Bubblegum teaches the Urdu of Pakistan.
If you mainly want Urdu to read and listen to at your level, our comprehensible input guide shows what to pick at each level.
Custom Lessons Made for You
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.
Bubblegum writes Urdu lessons about your own plans. Tell Poppy, your AI tutor, that your in-laws are visiting from Lahore, and she writes the conversation you might have with them, at your level. Play it aloud, and ask her about any line you don't follow.
Poppy builds a flexible journey around your interests and level. Bubblegum isn't a person to talk with, so for speaking practice, try a tutor in Practice With a Teacher.
- An Urdu Alphabet course of 12 short chapters teaches each letter with its sound.
- Lessons fit your level, interests, and goals.
- Read and listen to Urdu lessons, stories, and news about things you care about.
- Ask Poppy about a sentence while you read.
- 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.
- A story or article you find on your own can't be made into an Urdu lesson. Take a photo of one page, and Poppy explains it line by line. Bubblegum doesn't play videos.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
- Teaches the Urdu Alphabet
Mobile
Follow a Structured Course
These apps take you through Urdu in a set order, one lesson after another.
Ling
Ling's Urdu course is made of short, game-like lessons for beginners, and it has an AI chat to practice with too. It suits learners who want small lessons in a set order.
- Short lessons mix recorded audio, dialogues, and flashcards.
- It teaches the Urdu script step by step, with audio and visual guides.
- Flashcards
- Teaches the Urdu Alphabet
Mobile
Mango Languages
Mango teaches Urdu through everyday conversations, with notes on how people talk and why. Ask your library or school whether it offers Mango before you pay. It suits learners who want to speak first and read later.
- Lessons are built around real conversations.
- Culture notes sit beside the dialogues.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
UrduPod101
UrduPod101 teaches Urdu through short audio and video lessons, each built around a dialogue. Its alphabet page has a table of the letters and a free workbook to practice writing them. It suits learners who like a teacher talking them through each lesson.
- Lessons are built around short Urdu dialogues.
- A teacher explains the words in each lesson.
- Flashcards
- Teaches the Urdu Alphabet (partly)
MobileWeb
Learn by Listening and Speaking
Pimsleur
Pimsleur teaches Urdu as spoken conversations, and its app has a hands-free mode for driving. It suits learners who want to speak from the first lesson.
- 30 audio lessons of about 30 minutes each.
- You answer out loud as the lesson goes on.
MobileWeb
Build Vocabulary
uTalk
uTalk teaches Urdu words through short games, one topic at a time, such as food or directions. It suits learners who want a few minutes of word practice and want to hear each word said clearly.
- Urdu words and phrases sorted by topic, recorded by Urdu speakers.
- Record yourself and compare your voice with theirs.
MobileWeb
Read Urdu Poetry and Prose
Rekhta
Rekhta is a large library of Urdu poetry and prose, from Ghalib to poets writing today. It suits learners who already read some Urdu and want to enjoy the poems that made them curious. Pick a short couplet and look up every word you need.
- Switch each poem between Urdu, Hindi, and Roman letters.
- Tap a word to see what it means.
- Doesn't teach the Urdu Alphabet
MobileWeb
Look Up Words
Rekhta Urdu Dictionary
The Rekhta Urdu Dictionary shows what a word means and lets you hear how it sounds. It suits learners who meet a new word in a song or a message and want to check it.
- Meanings in Urdu, Hindi, and English, with audio.
- Works offline.
- Doesn't teach the Urdu Alphabet
MobileWeb
Practice With a Teacher
Preply
Preply lists tutors for one-to-one online Urdu lessons, with filters for price and schedule. Bring something real to practice, like a phone call with a relative in Karachi, so you leave with replies you can use.
- Find tutors who teach Urdu online.
- Bring a real conversation to practice and get feedback on it.
MobileWeb
italki
italki lists Urdu teachers for lessons over video. Tell your teacher why you're learning Urdu, such as talking with family in Pakistan, so they can plan lessons around it.
- Book one-to-one Urdu lessons with teachers from Pakistan and elsewhere.
- Each teacher sets their own price and schedule.
MobileWeb
More Ways to Learn the Urdu Script
UNC Chapel Hill's The Urdu Alphabet is a free tutorial with short lessons and a letter chart. Northwestern University's Zer o Zabar is a free online textbook with animations of how each letter is written, made for people who already speak some Hindi or Urdu. Rekhta Learning's Rasm-ul-Khat is a paid script course taught in English.
Once you can read a little, Global Storybooks has free picture stories in Urdu, and each page comes with audio. BBC Urdu is a good goal for later.
Which Urdu Apps Are Free?
| App | Free? | What's Free |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | Free version | The lesson library is free for everyone. Your first custom lesson is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| uTalk | Some lessons free | Every language has free starter words, and getting full marks in the games opens one more topic for free. For the rest, you subscribe or buy a language or topic. |
| Rekhta | Free | The Rekhta app is free to download and read. |
| Rekhta Urdu Dictionary | Free | The Rekhta Urdu Dictionary app is free to download and use. |
| 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. |
Learn Urdu in Your Language
The number of languages you can use an app in isn't the same as the languages its Urdu lessons explain things in, so check one lesson in your language before you pay.
| App | Languages You Can Use It In | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Supported language pairs |
| Ling | 67 | App Store |
| Mango | 2 | App Store |
| UrduPod101 | 1 | App Store |
| Pimsleur | 3 | App Store |
| uTalk | 1 | App Store |
| Rekhta | 1 | App Store |
| Rekhta Urdu Dictionary | 1 | App Store |
| Preply | 19 | App Store |
| italki | 19 | App Store |
Other Apps We Looked At (10)
- KarakA new and growing app of Urdu stories and conversations read aloud by people, with a translation for each sentence and a section on the letters.
- LingQRead Urdu lessons with audio and tap words to save them. LingQ lists Urdu as a beta language.
- MondlyGame-like lessons on everyday topics, with Urdu among its 41 languages.
- BolNamaA new and growing course in the browser for English speakers, with the letters, words, and short graded readers.
- Learn Urdu (Beginners)A small app from BNR Languages with the alphabet and first words, which works offline.
- Urdu UstaadLessons on reading and writing the Urdu letters, plus poetry.
- 50LANGUAGESUrdu phrase lessons with audio for beginners, on Android.
- HelloTalkFind Urdu speakers to message, with tools to correct and translate each other's messages.
- TandemFind language exchange partners who speak Urdu and want to learn your language.
- AnkiA flashcard app where you can make your own Urdu cards or use decks other learners share.
Common Questions
Which Urdu app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Urdu (Pakistan), start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or start with Ling if you'd like short lessons in a set order, or with Pimsleur if you'd rather listen and speak first. To combine an app with a tutor and free stories, see the best way to learn Urdu.
Does Duolingo teach Urdu?
No. Duolingo has a course that teaches English to Urdu speakers, but no Urdu course for English speakers. It does have Hindi, which shares grammar and many words with Urdu but is written in a different script.
Should I learn the Urdu script first?
Yes, if you'd like to read messages and menus. Bubblegum's Urdu Alphabet course teaches the letters in 12 short chapters, starting with your first letters.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Constitution of Pakistan, Article 251: National language
- Pakistan Bureau of Statistics: 7th Population and Housing Census 2023, National Census Report (Table 4.14, mother tongue)
- UNC Chapel Hill: The Urdu Alphabet, introduction (right to left, Nastaliq)
- University of Minnesota: Hindi and Urdu
- Bubblegum: Urdu (Pakistan) and the Urdu Alphabet course
- Ling: Learn Urdu (FAQ: teaches the Urdu script step by step)
- Ling: FAQs (free units)
- Ling: pricing
- Reddit r/Urdu: Trying to learn Urdu as an English speaker (Ling only teaches phrases)
- Mango Languages: Urdu
- Mango Languages: pricing
- Mango Languages: home page and library access
- UrduPod101: the app
- UrduPod101: pricing
- UrduPod101: the Urdu alphabet
- Reddit r/Urdu: Early beginner Urdu resources (UrduPod101 phrasing felt very formal)
- Pimsleur: Learn Urdu (30 lessons, 7-day free trial)
- uTalk: Learn Urdu
- uTalk: Urdu plans
- uTalk on the App Store (free starter words)
- Rekhta: World of Urdu poetry on the App Store
- Rekhta Urdu Dictionary on the App Store
- Preply: online Urdu tutors
- italki: Urdu teachers
- italki: home page (what is free)
- Duolingo course list (Urdu appears only as a language you learn English from)
- Karak: Read and Learn Urdu
- Karak on the App Store
- LingQ: Learn Urdu online
- LingQ: languages (Urdu is in beta)
- Mondly: languages
- HelloTalk: Urdu language partners
- Tandem: language exchange in Karachi
- BolNama
- Learn Urdu (Beginners) by BNR Languages on the App Store
- Urdu Ustaad on the App Store
- 50LANGUAGES: Learn Urdu on Google Play
- Anki
- Zer o Zabar: an open textbook of the Urdu script (Northwestern University)
- Zer o Zabar: introduction (not meant for absolute beginners)
- UNC Chapel Hill: The Urdu Alphabet
- Rekhta Learning: Rasm-ul-Khat, learning the Urdu script
- Global Storybooks: Urdu stories with audio
- BBC Urdu
- Ling on the App Store
- Mango Languages on the App Store
- Innovative Language (UrduPod101) on the App Store
- Pimsleur: the Pimsleur Method (Principle of Anticipation)
- Pimsleur on the App Store
- Preply on the App Store
- italki on the App Store
Checked on October 21, 2026 against each app's own pages.
