Some people say that Urdu is easy to learn, while others claim that Urdu is difficult.
Who are these people, and why should you believe them? Is it hard to learn Urdu, or easy?
Ask yourself these fundamental questions, and you may discover that the answers aren’t so straightforward.
At this stage, say goodbye to assumptions and taking others at their word. Instead, figure out the answers to these questions yourself as you begin your Urdu language-learning journey. It’s very likely that you’ll find some aspects of the language quite difficult and others much easier—this is normal when you start learning a language.
Due to its completely different writing script, Urdu tends to be a struggle for native English-speakers and Europeans, especially when they first start learning. Conversely, Arabic and Persian natives will find Urdu much easier to master. This is because the Urdu language contains a handful of words from these two languages, as well as Punjabi, Pashto, Turkish, Sindhi, Sanskrit, etc. This particularity of the Urdu language provides speakers of these other languages with a fairly easy Urdu-learning experience.
That said, is Urdu worth learning? And if so, why?
Urdu is a rapidly growing language. The total number of Urdu-speakers across the globe exceeds 170 million, and Urdu is also the official language of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The constitution of India also recognizes it as one of the country’s twenty-two official languages. So if you plan on visiting these countries, doing business there, or even relocating, you should absolutely learn Urdu!
In this article, we’ll guide you through the easy and hard tracks of the Urdu language. We anticipate that after reading this article, you’ll be better placed to accept the truth that Urdu is the language of civilized and courteous people, and anyone can master it with enough practice and dedication.
Table of Contents
- What is the Hardest—and Easiest—Part of Learning Urdu?
- I Want to Learn Urdu. Where Should I Start?
- Advice for New Learners
- Why is UrduPod101.com Great for Learning Urdu?
- Conclusion
1. What is the Hardest—and Easiest—Part of Learning Urdu?
You can’t learn any language until you overcome its challenges. In this section, we’ll unfold some of the hardest and easiest parts of Urdu language-learning for you.
A- Why Urdu is Easy
When you set out to learn Urdu, you’re going to hear a lot of false myths and misconceptions concerning the language’s difficulty. Well, we’re here to let you know that Urdu isn’t that hard. At least, not all of it. Following is a list of things about Urdu that make it surprisingly easy for foreigners to learn.
1. لشکری زبان
Although historians of the Urdu language are divided on its origin and its label as a لشکری زبان (lashkri zuban) camp language, it’s clear that Urdu uses an abundance of words from other languages. Some critics say that Urdu possesses this rich abundance of words because the language came into being as a shared language for soldiers of different ethnicities in a common war camp. Irrespective of this belief’s authenticity, it emphasizes the fact that non-natives were able to pick up the language easily due to shared vocabulary.
2. Similarities with other languages
If you’re familiar with Oriental languages—such as Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto, Balochi, or Turkish—you’ll start to see similarities with Urdu right away. The majority of Oriental languages have common writing scripts or sounds, usually with a little bit of variation. Most of the alphabets present in one Oriental language can be identified in the others too, with a few exceptions.
That said, it’s true that there are a couple of unique alphabets and sounds in Urdu which are missing in the other Oriental languages altogether. Also note that Urdu has the capacity to assimilate new words from other languages. For example, Urdu has borrowed a number of English words and molded them for use in Urdu-speaking countries:
- فریج (fridge) — fridge
- ٹیلیویژن (television) — television
- ڈاکٹر (doctor) — doctor
- انجینیئر (engineer) — engineer
B- Why Urdu is Hard
Below are some of the most common difficulties faced by Urdu learners. As you go through these, remember that being aware of an Urdu difficulty is the best way to prepare for it and succeed!
1. The uniqueness of the Urdu script خطِ نستعلیق
The Urdu language is complete with its own script, which is an amalgam of the Arabic and Persian scripts. Urdu uses thirty-eight letters in total, and has its own اعراب (airaab) vowel marks that are not included in those thirty-eight letters.
The Urdu writing system is called خطِ نستعلیق (khat-e-Nastaliq). Since the two writing scripts نسخ (naskh) and تعلیق (talique) were combined to make another script, it was initially named Naskh-Talique. With the passage of time, it received fame as Nastalique. The script is written from right to left and follows the top right to bottom left order. This particular characteristic makes it difficult for many non-natives to understand and master it.
2. Different grammatical syntax – فاعل،مفعول،فعل
Aside from the script itself, why is Urdu so hard to read for non-natives? Well, this is likely because the sentence structure of Urdu is different from that of most other languages. It does not follow the usual SVO (Subject + Verb + Object) pattern, and instead uses the SOV (Subject + Object + Verb) arrangement.
Here’s an example:
میں یونیورسٹی جاتا ہوں۔
mei university jata hu.
S O V
“I go to University.”
If you want to learn more about Urdu sentence structure and word order, UrduPod101.com has you covered.
3. Complicated conjugations
Like its syntax, the فعل کی گردان کرنا (fail ki gardaan kerna), or “conjugation of verbs,” in Urdu can be a bit tricky. However, once you’ve learned the basic rules, you’ll be able to conjugate with ease.
Urdu verbs conjugate depending on their person, mood, voice, gender, and tense. Remember that these concepts are a little hard to comprehend, but they’re certainly not impossible to learn.
To make this task a bit easier for you, UrduPod101.com has this handy article on Urdu verb conjugation. Read through it a couple of times and start conjugating Urdu verbs right away.
4. Never undermine the role of gender
Now, here comes another point you have to remember as an Urdu-learner: everything, movable or immovable, has a gender. This may create some trouble for learners just starting out.
To overcome this challenge of the Urdu language, you must memorize each new noun you learn along with its gender. This will reduce the chances of making a mistake, and you’ll also be in a position to identify and rectify the mistakes you do make. Have a look at the following sentences:
میری قمیض تنگ ہے۔
meri qameez tang hai.
“My shirt is tight.”
میرا جوتا کھلا ہے۔
mera joota khula hai.
“My shoe is loose.”
You can see in these sentences that قمیض (qameez), or “shirt,” is feminine while جوتا (joota), or “shoe,” is masculine.
5. Beware of false friends
With ten vowels and thirty-eight consonants, the Urdu language is self-sufficient in terms of sound representation. As it has a rich assortment of sounds, however, there’s a greater chance of mispronouncing something. The situation becomes even more stressful when you throw in false friends:
دوا (dawa) — “medicine” and دعا (dua) — “prayer”
سستی (sasti) — “cheap” and سُستی (susti) — “laziness”
عرض (arz) — “request” and ارض (arz) — “land”
6. Pronunciation difficulties
Now, let’s look at some sounds that non-natives (especially English-speakers) find rather exotic.
The most difficult of these sounds is ڑ (rr), the fifteenth letter in the Urdu language. It’s unique in that it never comes at the beginning of a word.
غ (ghain) is the twenty-fifth letter, and its sound is not found in English. The letter is preceded by another sound not found in English: ع (ain).
Since many Urdu sounds are new to English-speakers, it’s imperative that they become familiar with them early on in the learning process. Luckily for you, UrduPod101.com has a blog post dedicated to Urdu Pronunciation. Check it out!
2. I Want to Learn Urdu. Where Should I Start?
Deciding to learn Urdu is a huge leap, so we recommend starting small. For example, studying Urdu vocabulary lists, learning the most common sentence patterns, and getting started with basic everyday phrases will help you ease into the learning process. Becoming familiar with the basic parts of speech in Urdu will also prove beneficial moving forward.
Here are some highly useful articles to start your Urdu-learning journey.
3. Advice for New Learners
The best advice we can give is to keep it simple. Try to learn phrases in small chunks and practice using them often. Small bricks of knowledge can be used to craft a building with the right tools and enough time.
Here’s an example of what we mean:
میں جاتا ہوں
mei jata hu.
“I go.”
Now add an object to the phrase to make a complete sentence.
میں گھر جاتا ہوں۔
mei ghar jata hu.
“I go home.”
And you can always add an adverb.
میں آہستہ آہستہ گھر جاتا ہوں۔
mei ahista ahista ghar jata hu.
“I go home slowly.”
By learning phrases this way, you’ll be able to easily alter and add to them to meet your communication needs. Indeed, it’s a small step but a giant leap.
Practice Makes a Man Perfect
You can never expect to become masterful at anything if you don’t put in the time and practice. Practicing on a daily basis will not only improve your skills, but it will also increase your self-confidence. In particular, we recommend practicing your Urdu with native Urdu-speakers if possible, as this will expedite your language skills.
4. Why is UrduPod101.com Great for Learning Urdu?
Even the most ambitious man needs the proper means to reach his goals. In this case, a determined Urdu-learner requires top-notch learning materials and teachers. By signing up for UrduPod101.com, you’ll gain access to tons of fun lessons and learning tools that will make learning Urdu so much easier than traditional learning methods. Let’s take a look at our best features:
A- A Hub for Learning Integrated Language Skills
UrduPod101.com focuses on all aspects of the language so you’ll never be left out in the cold! Each of our lessons contains material to help you improve your Urdu listening, writing, reading, and speaking skills at the same time. This feature makes us a unique hub of Urdu language-learning and distinguishes us from other online resources.
B- An Affordable but High-Quality Learning Resource
In this era of consumerism, it’s a rarity to find a free lunch anywhere. But UrduPod101.com understands the need for valuable resources at reasonable prices, and we won’t disappoint—in fact, we have tons of free learning tools just waiting for you! You can even download some of these to use offline. Creating an account will also allow you to communicate with our team about any issues or questions!
C- Tailored Learning Approach to Meet Your Individual Needs
Once you’ve gotten the Urdu basics down, you’ll probably want to move forward to more advanced lessons. This is easy! All you need to do is subscribe to our MyTeacher service to start getting live interactive coaching from experienced Urdu teachers. Your Urdu teacher can help you find and complete suitable exercises, help you correct your pronunciation, and offer customized assignments through audio or text messages. This will help you set and achieve personalized goals without a hitch.
5. Conclusion
So, is Urdu hard to learn? We’ll let you answer that question yourself once you’ve begun your studies!
Do you have any further questions about how to learn Urdu in an easy way? Are you ready to apply the tips and techniques discussed here to learn Urdu free and easily? If you have any questions about what we covered today, let us know in the comments section; we’ll be glad to help you out!
Keep exploring UrduPod101.com, a rich repository of Urdu language-learning. Take full advantage of our free Urdu-learning resources and start your journey toward Urdu mastery.
Very Happy Urdu Learning!
