Learn Urdu Online in Just 10 Minutes a Day

Exciting news, Urdu language enthusiasts from around the world!‌ Your voice has been heard. You can now learn Urdu from Hindi, Arabic, English, Korean and 29 other languages with Mondly.

Consisting of super fun, effective and accessible Urdu lessons, the newly added course is now available on iOS, Android and web.

Learn Urdu online with Mondly

Urdu is a member of the Indo-European family of languages, the official state language and lingua franca of Pakistan and one of the 22 scheduled languages of India. According to Ethnologue, Urdu is the 11th most widely spoken language in the world with 170 million total speakers. Hence, learning Urdu with Mondly could come in extremely handy if you ever visit South Asia.

Also known as one of the premier languages of poetry in South Asia for two centuries, Urdu is written right-to-left using the Urdu alphabet, an extension of the Persian alphabet, which is itself an extension of the Arabic alphabet. Nevertheless, Urdu speakers in India have recently adopted Devanagari for publishing Urdu periodicals.

One of the most fascinating things about Urdu is that its colloquial variant is largely mutually intelligible with colloquial Hindi (also available to learn with Mondly). In fact, these two are so similar in phonology and grammar that they appear to be one language. However, both languages have borrowed extensively from different sources and use different writing systems (Hindi uses Devanagari).

Moreover, in the 19th century, the Hindi–Urdu controversy arose in colonial India. The debate was whether Hindi or Urdu should be chosen as a national language. In 1900, the government issued a decree granting symbolic equal status to both Hindi and Urdu. But then, Gandhi proposed using either Devanagari or Urdu script, under the traditional generic term Hindustani. Therefore, in 1950, Hindi, in the Devanagari script, along with English, replaced Urdu as one of the official languages of India.

Learn Urdu from Hindi, Arabic, English, Korean and more

You spoke. We listened! Because the vast majority of people want to learn Urdu from popular languages like Hindi (although similar, you still need some help to learn both), Arabic, English or Korean, we worked hard and finally made it possible.

Starting right now, you can learn Urdu from Hindi, Arabic, English, Korean and 29 other languages only with Mondly.

10 basic Urdu words and phrases you can learn right now

Are you excited to learn Urdu yet? Let’s not waste any more time and start with your first “Urdu for beginners” course right now. Here are the top 10 basic Urdu words and phrases everybody should know. Transliteration included so you’ll easily know how to pronounce them.

• Hello! – سلام! – Salam!
• yes – ہاں – haan
• no – نہیں – nae
• Thanks. – شکریہ۔ – Shukarya.
• I’m sorry. – مجھے افسوس ہے۔ – Mujhe afsos hai.
• What’s your name? – تمہارا نام کیا ہے؟ – Tumhara naam kya hai?
• I am… – میں ہوں – Mein hoon
• How are you? – تم کیسے ہو؟ – Tum kaisay ho?
• Great! – !زبردست – Zabardast!
• Goodbye! – الوداع! – Alvida!

Speak Urdu today

It can be really tricky to master Urdu pronunciation if you don’t actively live in Pakistan. But with Mondly, the award-winning language learning app, you can learn Urdu naturally with practical topics, authentic conversations and bite-sized Daily Lessons.

Get Mondly now and learn your first Urdu words today!