Learn Urdu
اردو · 230+ million speakers (with Hindi, far more)
About Urdu
Urdu (اردو) is the national language of Pakistan and a co-official language of several Indian states. It's structurally Hindi's twin — Hindustani in everyday speech — but written in a beautiful Perso-Arabic script and laced with Persian and Arabic vocabulary.
Where it's spoken
Pakistan, India, and the South Asian diaspora
Interesting facts
- 1Urdu is mutually intelligible with Hindi in everyday conversation
- 2It's traditionally the language of South Asian poetry (ghazal, nazm)
- 3Urdu is written right-to-left in a nasta'liq calligraphic style
Why learn Urdu?
Three reasons to make Urdu your next language.
Two languages for one
Learn Urdu and you can converse with Hindi speakers as well — that's roughly a billion people.
The poetry tradition of South Asia
Urdu ghazals by Ghalib, Iqbal and Faiz are some of the world's most beloved poetry.
Pakistan, near and far
Urdu is the lingua franca of Pakistan and its global diaspora — from London to Dubai.
Your learning path
The Languages Center Urdu course follows the CEFR scale, from A1 (beginner) to C1 (advanced).
Beginner
8 sections · 32 lessons
Elementary
8 sections · 32 lessons
Intermediate
7 sections · 28 lessons
Upper-Intermediate
7 sections · 28 lessons
Advanced
5 sections · 20 lessons
Read short articles
Short reads in Urdu at every level — with full English translations side by side. Great for building reading confidence at your pace.
Podcasts
PremiumNative-speaker audio at every level. Listen anywhere.
Podcasts coming soon.
Videos
PremiumAnimated lessons, real-life scenes and documentary clips.
Videos coming soon.
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