Read Urdu in 20 Lessons

In this lecture, we’ll explore the 'Rey' family of letters in the Urdu alphabet — a group of letters that share similar shapes but have distinct sounds and uses. You'll learn to recognize, pronounce, and differentiate between them.

We'll break down each letter's formation, pronunciation, and common usage in everyday Urdu. You'll also see examples in words and practice reading them in context. By the end of this lesson, you’ll have a solid grasp of this essential group of letters and be more confident in both reading and writing Urdu.

Whether you're a complete beginner or brushing up your skills, this lecture is designed to help you move forward in your Urdu reading journey with clarity and confidence.

In this lesson, you will learn everything you need to know about the 20th and 21st letters of the Urdu alphabet - 'Suād & Zuād'. You will see how they connect with the other letters you've learnt until now and how they combine with them to form beautiful Urdu words. Finally, you will learn to recognise these letters in a printed excerpt from a  real Urdu book.

In this lesson, we cover the two letters 'Sīn' and 'Shīn'. I’ll show you how they are written, how they connect to other letters you've learnt until now, and how they behave within words.

We’ll then practice identifying them in a short excerpt from an Urdu text, helping you move from recognition to real reading.

In this lesson, you will learn everything you need to know about the letters 'Toey' and 'Zoey'. These letters which resemble the shape of the small 'b' in the English alphabet are easy to recognise and use.

You will see how 'Toey' and 'Zoey' connect with the other letters you've learnt until now and how they combine with them to form words.

Finally, you will learn to recognise these letters in a printed excerpt from a real Urdu book.

This lesson gives you an in-depth insight into the letters 'Fey' & 'Qaf' - the sounds specific to each, how they connect with all the other letters you've learnt until now and how they appear in printed Urdu text that you'll see on books and other resources.

In this lesson, you'll explore the letters 'Kāf' and 'Gāf', two important characters in the Urdu alphabet that are simple to identify and frequently used.

We'll look at how 'Kāf' and 'Gāf' connect smoothly with the letters you've already mastered, and how they appear in different parts of a word—at the beginning, middle, and end.

To wrap up, you'll practise spotting these letters in a short printed passage taken from an authentic Urdu text, helping you build both confidence and reading fluency.

In this lesson, you’ll learn everything you need to know about the versatile Urdu letter Vāo.

Mastering Vāo will significantly improve your Urdu reading skills, as it’s essential for reading and understanding words with the vowel sounds o, au, and uu. By the end of this lesson, many more words will become accessible and easily intelligible to you.

In this lesson, you’ll learn about the Urdu letters ChhoTī Ye (ی) and BaRī Ye (ے).
These letters represent the vowel sounds ee, ey, and ai — the final three vowel sounds you need to complete your understanding of Urdu vowels.

By mastering these letters, you’ll be able to read and recognize many more Urdu words than before, greatly expanding your reading ability and confidence in the language.

In this chapter, you'll get introduced to two letters with Arabic origins that are used only in Arabic loan words in Urdu. The letters are - the very versatile 'ain' which can take on the sound of any Urdu vowel, and the deep guttural 'ghain' which gives so much character to Urdu words in which it is used.

In this lesson, learn everything about the letter Lām and Mīm, which have nothing in common, but somehow still get bundled together all the time. Usually Nūn also gives them company but I'm treating that as material for the following lesson.

In this lesson, you're going to learn everything you need to know about the letter 'Nūn' and its nasalised variant 'Nūn Ghunna'. Know the shapes they take on at various positions within the word, the sounds they represent and also learn to recognise them within real Urdu text, for some practical reading experience.

In this lesson, get to know the letter 'ChhoTī Hey', which appears in Urdu both as a consonant and as a vowel. Familiarise yourself, in the simplest way possible, with the various shapes in which it appears and learn to identify it within real Urdu texts.

In this lesson, learn everything about the symbol "Do Chashmi Hey" that is used to aspirate certain Urdu consonants so that words that have travelled into Urdu from Sanskrit and other Indian languages, can be pronounced properly. For example, how do you say the word "phool" without aspirating the "pey" into a "ph" sound? That's exactly where "Do Chashmi Hey" steps in to play its part.

In this lesson, you’re introduced to the concept of Iẓāfat—what it means, why it’s used, and how it is represented in the Urdu script—an essential building block for reading Urdu fluently. You’ll also learn related concepts such as tanvīn, alif maqṣūra, gol te, and others.

In this final lesson, we briefly recap key points and exceptions across the Urdu alphabet, and then return to the printed text you’ve seen throughout the course. This time, we read full sentences from it, showing you that you can now read the entire passage independently—just as promised at the start!