Urdu

Why Learn Urdu?

Speakers
About 246 million, 78 million as a first language (2011–2023)
Status
The national language of Pakistan, and an official language of India
Written in
The Urdu alphabet, a form of the Persian alphabet, from right to left

Urdu Alphabet

Start Learning

0 of 12 Chapters Complete

1

Your First Letters

2

More on the Bowl

3

The Bowl Fills Up

4

The Deep Hook

5

Letters That Make Gaps

6

The Long Curve

7

Teeth and Loops

8

Standing Strokes

9

Rings and Kites

10

Letters of Their Own

11

Two Kinds of Ye

12

Numbers and Real Words

Urdu Course Levels

  1. Level 1I'm just starting out or need help reading Urdu words
  2. Level 2I can read simple sentences
  3. Level 3I can read short stories and messages
  4. Level 4I can read longer texts about everyday life
  5. Level 5I can follow complex topics, but miss some details
  6. Level 6I can read almost anything

How Long Does It Take to Learn Urdu?

The U.S. Foreign Service Institute plans 1,012 class hours for its English-speaking students to use Urdu at work. That is about 44 weeks of classes, plus about 17 hours a week of study on their own.

Here is how long 1,012 hours takes at your own pace:

3½ hours a week
About 5 years 6 months
7 hours a week
About 2 years 9 months
14 hours a week
About 1 year 5 months
28 hours a week
About 8 months

Common Questions About Learning Urdu

Does Bubblegum teach Urdu?

Yes. Bubblegum teaches standard Urdu, as it is used in Pakistan.

Is Bubblegum good for beginners?

If you are serious about learning Urdu, start with Bubblegum. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes lessons at your level about things you like.

Which levels does Bubblegum teach?

Bubblegum has six levels, from Level 1 ("I'm just starting out or need help reading Urdu words") to Level 6 ("I can read almost anything"). You can change your level at any time.

Does Bubblegum teach the Urdu alphabet?

Yes. Start with the free Urdu Alphabet course on this site.

Do the Urdu lessons have audio?

Yes. Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.

Can I practice speaking Urdu?

Yes. In live voice chat, you talk out loud in Urdu with Poppy, your AI tutor.

Which languages can Poppy explain Urdu in?

Poppy explains Urdu in any of the 74 languages the app comes in. The language pairs page shows how much of the Urdu grammar and dictionary is ready in each one.

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.

Learn Urdu With Bubblegum

Sources

  1. Wikipedia, Urdu (78 million first-language and 246 million speakers in all, Ethnologue 2011–2023; the national language of Pakistan and an official language of India; written right to left in an extension of the Persian alphabet)
  2. U.S. Department of State, Foreign Language Training (Category III: about 44 weeks, 1,012 class hours; Albanian, Azerbaijani, Bulgarian, Czech, Estonian, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Polish, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Slovak, Slovenian, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu, Uzbek, Vietnamese)