Languages · Urdu

I learnt to read Urdu in 28 days with a 2,200-year-old method.

I made little print-outs that lived in my shirt pocket: my own Rosetta Stone, from a script I could read to one I couldn't. Four weeks later I could read almost any Urdu passage. Here's exactly how.

Josh's pocket print-outs for learning Urdu
The ancient method

A broken stone taught us to read hieroglyphs.

In a town called Rosetta, in Egypt, we found a 2,200-year-old stone carrying one royal decree written three times, in three scripts. Because one of them was Ancient Greek, scholars could work out the other two, and that's how we learnt to read Ancient Egyptian.

I found the same trick by accident. Memorising the Urdu alphabet like we learnt English at school was slow and, honestly, SO boring. Then I watched my pastor read his Bible effortlessly in beautiful Nastaliq, and found out a version exists in Devanagari, which I can read. I had to try.

👁️Hieroglyphscouldn't read
📜Demoticcouldn't read
ΑAncient Greekthe key
Same idea, for UrduA passage in Urdu script, next to the exact same words in a script you already read. Your eyes do the rest.
Your two ingredients

You only need two things.

The alphabet chart didn't help me; I never even printed it. What works:

  1. A passage of Urdu you actually want to readNews, poetry, scripture. Something you'll want to come back to.
  2. The exact same sounds in a script you can readLatin letters or Hindi (Devanagari), word for word the same.
Don't skip thisCheck that both versions match word for word. I sat with someone who reads Urdu and followed along on my paper while they read. If they don't match, you'll learn it wrong.
Urdu passage in Latin letters Urdu passage in Latin letters, continued
Using them

It's a treasure hunt, and fun is guaranteed.

Take the first word: Mubarak. I guessed the first loopy letter was an M sound, then hunted my Devanagari page for another word with an M sound, around the 8th word of the first paragraph. Was there another loop there?

Bingo. The loop makes an M.

Then a second letter turned up also claiming to be an M. Not fair! But working that out on my own is exactly why this method sticks.

What I'd do differentlyStart from Latin letters, not Devanagari. You learn Urdu and Latin phonetic spelling at the same time. Start with Naskh, then move to the harder Nastaliq.
The word Mubarak in Urdu script Two Urdu letters that both make an M sound

A note on versions: when I did this in 2016, some words differed from the 2022 edition. It doesn't matter, as long as your two versions match.

Final thoughts

You have to want it.

Reading Urdu isn't the hardest skill in the world. It's like writing with your other hand: you just need to do it enough times before it feels natural.

Did you stumble on this method without knowing it had a name? Tell me in the comments.

Watch Josh's video on learning to read Urdu

Watch the method in action.

Josh's Urdu reading print-outs

Skip the setup: get my print-outs.

The exact screenshots I used in 2016, ready to print, plus the right to ask me anything about your Urdu journey. Or use the free YouVersion Bible app and build your own.

Download the pack

#KeepLearning · YouVersion app