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So, you've decided to learn Urdu.
Whether it's for travel, to discover new cultures, communicate with family, impress the in-laws, or read beautiful poetry, you gotta start somewhere!
Seems obvious, right? Learning the alphabet. It is really your foundation for learning any new language and Urdu is no different*.
Through the alphabet, you learn the sounds of the language, and open up a whole world of new learning resources. Once you’ve mastered the reading of a new language, every poem, newspaper, book, menu, street sign, you name it, becomes a new opportunity to practice.
* Note: Actually, Urdu is a little different since technically Urdu doesn't have an alphabet it has an abjad: a writing system that only writes the consonant sounds, not the vowels of the language.
Even though the alphabet is the most valuable starting point for learning a new language, it can often be the highest barrier to entry. Many classes and methods spend weeks and weeks drilling the letters into you, you’ll write pages full of them until you’d rather never read again than see another alphabet in your life!
This isn’t a good use of your time and, more importantly, it’s not very fun…
The most important step in your early language learning journey is to get the alphabet down as effectively as you can. If you dedicate a little time and effort now to doing it properly, you’ll never have to struggle with it again!
Learning is best achieved by forming deep relationships with ideas, which in our case is with the different letters of the alphabet. The more you internalise these deep associations, the easier it will be to recall the ideas when you need them.
Why not start with a method that’s designed to help you build these deep associations quickly and do it right the first time so you can move onto what you’d much rather be doing: experiencing a new and exciting language for yourself!
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Urdu has 39 letters in its alphabet. It uses a modified version of the Persian script which is itself a modification of Arabic. So, if you don’t know both of those languages, come back once you’ve learned them… just kidding! You don’t need any previous experience with learning any language to start, we’ll be making it very simple for you.
First, we’ll walk you through a series of mnemonics (memory tools) designed specifically to help you build strong associations between the letters of Urdu, what they look like, how they’re pronounced, how to distinguish them from one another, and most importantly, how to remember them!
Then, at the end of each section, there will be exercises to practice recalling these letters. If you take these exercises seriously and follow the instructions, you will automatically absorb the mnemonics and build strong associations.
It will be hard not to!
Don’t give up!
Learning a new language is hard. You might feel discouraged, especially if you really cannot remember a letter! Remember that each time you recall a letter, its like a push-up, strengthening your memory. The harder it is to recall the letter, the more each recall is worth to your memory!
You got this!
P.S. Let us know how you go with AlphaUrdu. We'd love to hear any and all comments, feedback, and suggestions at valencyacademy@gmail.com!
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To start with, we’re going to learn the first 6 letters of the Urdu alphabet to give you a taste of what to expect and to experience the method yourself. After that, feel free to make up your mind about giving the rest of the letters a shot!
Let’s begin!
A as in Alphabet
Alef is the first letter of the Urdu alphabet and A is the first in English. Alef looks like a number 1!
اسپ
▶ Horse
Alef can also make a sound like ‘i’ or ‘u’ like in Urdu اُردُو (more on this later)
A as in Art
Such great art this paintbrush alef can produce. Look at that smooth maddah!
آدمی
▶ Man
آپ
▶ You (formal)
B as in Banana
A boat with a paddle below it. Jump in! It’s a beautiful day by the beach.
بچہ
▶ Child
بازار
▶ Market
P as in Purple
A pack of piranhas are attacking our boat, now might be a good time to panic!
پانی
▶ Water
پاکستان
▶ Pakistan
S as in Sail
Se (ث) looks like a sailboat. Check out at that superb symbol on the sail!
ثمر
▶ Fruit
Urdu has two other 'S' letters (Sin س and Swad ص). They’re all pronounced the same (great!) but you’ll have to watch out for them when writing things yourself later on in your Urdu journey (less great...)
Also, Se (ث) is actually the 6th letter of the Urdu alphabet after Te (ت) and Ṭe (ٹ), it just works better with our collection of boat-themed mnemonics here.
T as in Telephone
I have two sugars in my tea. Not really, that’s too much!
تاج
▶ Crown
تم
▶ You (informal)
Like the three 'S'-sound letters, Urdu has two letters which make a 'T' sound (Te ت and To'e ط).
See More...
Putting the teabag in the tea should be step one!
ٹوپی
▶ Hat
We actually don’t have this sound in English. It’s like a 'T' sound but we position our tongue on the roof of our mouth instead of behind our teeth. Try it out now!
Just remember, Te (ت) and Ṭe (ٹ), are not the same letter, but don’t worry if you can’t get it perfect just yet. It will come with time.
Also, from here on, whenever we have this fancy ط above an Urdu letter, we are pronouncing the sound with our tongue more backwards in the mouth (called a retroflex consonant). You can remember this because the ط tells us to move our tongue back!
Ok! Well done. You’re 6 letters in. If you’ve finished building associations with the pronunciation and shapes of the letters, let’s practice recalling them! Click here to open practice 1.
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Next up we have 7 more letters. Like the last set, these can be divided into two groups of similar looking letters.
J as in Jam
Geez, a jar with something inside! What could it be?
جاب
▶ Job
جمعہ
▶ Friday
Ch as in Chat
Check it out! The jar is full of cherries
چائے
▶ Tea
چپاتی
▶ Chapati
H as in Hello
Hey! How is the jar open? Who took my cherries!
حجّام
▶ Barber
Urdu has 3 letters that all correspond to an ‘H’ sound: Bari he (ح, aka big he), Choti he (ہ, aka small he), and Do-cashmi he (ھ, aka two-eyed he)
See More...
Keep a lid on top of the jar. Stops cherry thieves in their tracks!
خان
▶ Khan (Surname)
خرگوش
▶ Rabbit
Khe is pronounced like you have something in your throat with a ‘he’ at the end.
D as in Dinner
With dal you can draw a capital ‘D’
دال
▶ Lentil
دن
▶ Day
See special note
A capital ‘D’ with the back (retroflex) tongue placement marker
ڈاکٹر
▶ Doctor
ڈالر
▶ Dollar
Like Ṭe (ٹ), this letter is pronounced with the tongue in a retroflex position. This gives it a special sound. Try placing the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth and saying the letter dal (د).
Again, just keep an ear out for it, you likely won’t get it straight away and that's ok, we've got time!
Z as in Zipper
A long, exposed wire ready to zap you!
ذمہ
▶ Duty
ذریعہ
▶ Source
The 'Z' sound has the most letters in Urdu. Four!
Zal ذ
Ze ز
Zo'e ظ
Zwad ض
Again, don't worry, they're all pronounced the same.
Spelling on the other hand...
Great! Well done!
If you knew Urdu was this simple, you would have jumped on it ages ago!
When you’re finished cementing these associations, let’s give your recall a practice now. Click here to open practice 2.
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We’re flying through the alphabet now! And since you think you’re so clever, we’re going to up the temperature. Here come 8 letters in 3 similar looking groups!
R as in Rain
A rotated lowercase letter ‘r’. Well that was easy.
رات
▶ Night
روٹی
▶ Roti
R with the tongue in retroflex (back)
A rotated lowercase letter ‘r’ with the back (retroflex) tongue placement marker
ڑنگا
▶ Ring
چڑھائی
▶ Climb
Z as in Zipper
A long, exposed wire ready to zap you!
زندہ
▶ Live
زبان
▶ Language
Zhe as in pleasure
You can see both the ‘z’ and the ‘j’ in zhe, and it makes a sound in between the two. How strange! (You can actually hear that sound in "strange" too).
ژالہ باری
▶ Hail Storm
S as in Strong
See the waves in the sea. Stay safe!
ساحل
▶ Beach
سلام
▶ Hello
Sh as in Sheep
A ship is dangerously close to shore! Hopefully it doesn’t wash up!
شام
▶ Evening
شکریہ
▶ Thankyou
Here the three dots are not the s as in ث and the sailboat.
The focus here is on the terrible shore that the poor ship is going to wash up on! That’s what the lighthouse is warning them about!
S as in Strong
A simple spoon for soup!
صابن
▶ Soap
صاف
▶ Clean
Z as in Zipper
For some bugs, you need an electric bug zapper!
ضدی
▶ Stubborn
Another set down!
Get those associations locked in and then it’s off to practice. Click here to open practice 3.
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As a reward for all your effort, we’re slowing down. Only 6 letters this time!
T as in Time
A tea bag for my tea!
طوفان
▶ Storm
طویل
▶ Long
Although this looks like the little ط above the letter in Ḍal ڈ or Ṛe ڑ, this is just a regular 't' sound, no retroflex required!
Z as in Zipper
A zipper
ظاہر
▶ Clear
Ain as in plain
A plane!
علم
▶ Knowledge
See More...
Strange rain. Why is it falling upwards from the cloud?
غریب
▶ Poor
غصہ
▶ Anger
غ is a notoriously hard letter for native English speakers to pronounce.
It sounds like the French “R” (try saying “rain” in a French accent).
If impressions aren’t your strong suit, just keep listening and trying!
F as in Face
A fishing hook with a weight.
فلم
▶ Film
فرق
▶ Difference
Q as in cough
The golden Claw of Qaf, look at those two jewels in its wrist!
قلب
▶ Heart
قلم
▶ Pen
To distinguish it from fe ف, remember that qaf ق is more rotated than the hook of fe, that’s why it’s a claw!
Another successful set complete! If you’re not too tired, we can go practice. If you are tired, always take a break! The Urdu alphabet isn’t going anywhere. Don’t try to force these exercises. You need to be relaxed to form these associations well. Also make sure you’re having fun! Learning doesn’t have to feel like a chore.
Alright, that’s enough, I’m not your mum. Click here to open practice 4.
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Home stretch now. Another 6 letters up this time
K as in Kite
All fear the King Cobra!
کرکٹ
▶ Cricket
کرنا
▶ Doing
G as in Game
But it is the Great Cobra who wears the golden crown.
گاڑی
▶ Car
گرم
▶ Hot
L as in Lamp
Look! A loopy lasso!
لال
▶ Red
لڑکا
▶ Boy
In the cursive script, lam ل can look similar to alef ا.
To distinguish, remember that lam ل loves to loop, while alef ا is alone.
M as in map
A matchstick!
مسالہ
▶ Spice
مسجد
▶ Mosque
N as in Name
Noon, the sun is in the middle of the sky. Also, nun looks like an upside-down ‘n’.
نام
▶ Name
نہیں
▶ No
N as in sing
Upside-down ‘n’. No sun so less intense than nun, not a full ‘n’ sound.
نہیں
▶ No
Vowel nasalization sounds like a crazy, complicated idea, but we have it in English too.
The sound that nun-ghunna ں makes is the same as the 'n' in 'sing'.
Try saying 'sin' vs. 'sing'. The 'n' sound doesn't disappear in 'sing', it is just a little vibration in the nose. That's nun-ghunna ں!
Practice 5 time! Click here to open practice 5.
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Well done, the last 5 letters remain and they are amongst the quirkiest.
W as in win, oo as in Urdu
A cute little worm! Woo!
وڈیو
▶ Video
وہ
▶ She/He
Vow has several pronunciations. It is used for the “w” and "v" sounds, plus the vowels "oo", "o", "u", and "au".
To top it off, it can also be silent...
H as in Hello
A hat on your head.
ہاہا
▶ Haha
ہاتھ
▶ Hand
H as in Hello
A healthy apple!
Do Cashmi He is used primarily to form compound letters denoting aspiration. This means an extra puff of air at the end of a word.
For example, the aspirated version of ب (be) is بھ (bhe).
In the Devanagari script, these are represented by different letters, while Urdu uses digraphs (a fusion of the letter symbols).
We'll cover this in greater detail in an upcoming release!
Y as in year, ee as in greet
Some stylish ear jewellery!
یہ
▶ It
یار
▶ Buddy
E as in Egg
The sole of some Air Jordans.
ہے
▶ Is
With that, you have done it. The whole Urdu alphabet in record time! Drive those associations home and then let’s wrap up with Practice 6 here.
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Congratulations and thank you so much for working through the AlphaUrdu guide! We hope you enjoyed it and learnt a lot!
If you'd like to see more resources for learning Urdu, have any questions, feedback, or would just like to say hi, please contact us at valencyacademy@gmail.com!
We love to hear back from our students!
Until next time,
The Valency Education Team© Valency Education 2024