What do you think?
Rate this book
Urdu
Bestselling language courses now with audio CDs! From Danish to Spanish, Swahili to Brazilian Portuguese, the languages of the world are brought within the reach of any beginning student. Learners can use the Teach Yourself Language Courses at their own pace or as a supplement to formal courses. These complete courses are based on the very latest learning methods and designed to be enjoyable and user-friendly. Prepared by experts in the language, each course begins with the basics and gradually promotes the student to a level of smooth and confident communication,
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
16 people are currently reading
180 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 12, 2014
If you are a beginner learning Urdu, this is the book to get. Though I am lucky that I have an Urdu-speaking husband and spend time in Pakistan and with Pakistani relatives, this book will give you 'the ground-work', the vocabulary, the grammar.
The book comes with a CD which I did not get as my husband is able to assist with pronunciation, so I have to exclude this in my review, but would obviously say - get the CD if you don't have CONSTANT access pronunciation / speaking help.
The book starts by giving a brief history on Urdu, and than the first unit deals with the alphabet. You have work through it - it is no use trying to learn or understand Urdu in 'English(Roman) writings'. It does look daunting, but is actually not that hard. After that, 15 chapters deal with learning Urdu in the usual language book learning manner i.e. starting off easy and getting more challenging. Grammar is included from the 1st chapter, and that is good so. My experience - pay good attention to the grammar right from the start. Within a few weeks I was comfortably able to recognise words I learned in Urdu TV channels and able to apply it to my Urdu speaking (much to husband's delight). As with other language learning, you do have to stay on the ball though, and if you have a longer break away from it, you may find you have forgotten the letters, which dots to go where.... But it is easy enough to pick up.
Negative:
The book is rather small, and while this is ideal for taking with you, it can also be a challenge to properly see the Urdu writing - and this is unfortunately somewhat essential with a non-Roman script. Also, my copy fell apart after a few weeks, and I stuck the pages together with sellotape. Again and again.
All and all, I found the book invaluable with my Urdu learning and for me, it is the best one on the market (and believe me, I have lots!)
The book comes with a CD which I did not get as my husband is able to assist with pronunciation, so I have to exclude this in my review, but would obviously say - get the CD if you don't have CONSTANT access pronunciation / speaking help.
The book starts by giving a brief history on Urdu, and than the first unit deals with the alphabet. You have work through it - it is no use trying to learn or understand Urdu in 'English(Roman) writings'. It does look daunting, but is actually not that hard. After that, 15 chapters deal with learning Urdu in the usual language book learning manner i.e. starting off easy and getting more challenging. Grammar is included from the 1st chapter, and that is good so. My experience - pay good attention to the grammar right from the start. Within a few weeks I was comfortably able to recognise words I learned in Urdu TV channels and able to apply it to my Urdu speaking (much to husband's delight). As with other language learning, you do have to stay on the ball though, and if you have a longer break away from it, you may find you have forgotten the letters, which dots to go where.... But it is easy enough to pick up.
Negative:
The book is rather small, and while this is ideal for taking with you, it can also be a challenge to properly see the Urdu writing - and this is unfortunately somewhat essential with a non-Roman script. Also, my copy fell apart after a few weeks, and I stuck the pages together with sellotape. Again and again.
All and all, I found the book invaluable with my Urdu learning and for me, it is the best one on the market (and believe me, I have lots!)
March 28, 2008
Highly recommended to anyone with no hobbies, no family, and a curious desire to learn a South Asian language.
July 23, 2020
I've had this book for about a year now and it was what I used to start up my study of the Urdu language. To be up-front right off the bat, the book was incredible. I was dumbfounded by how quickly and thoroughly I was able to learn thanks to this book. In fact, by the time I reached the halfway point of the book, I began taking actual lessons with an Urdu tutor during which I was able to converse with them in Urdu with little struggle. Though, I should note that the ease I had with picking up the Urdu language and speaking in it was in large part due to my prior knowledge of the Gujarati language, another North Indian language that is related to Urdu. Still, I wouldn't sell this book short as it may be just about the best resource for learning Urdu out there.
As for breaking down the contents of the book, Teach Yourself definitely follows the old-school method of language learning, in that it is an audio-textbook with an emphasis on explanation of grammar. Maybe a tad dry or typical, but effective nonetheless. Yet, Teach Yourself Urdu manages to keep the learner's attention without boring or flat out confusing them with grammatical jargon. The format of the textbook is such that it is divided into 18 lessons that each focus on different topics and grammatical points. Each lesson has 2-3 dialogues in them which can be listened to on the Teach Yourself website. New vocabulary and expressions that are used in the dialogues are listed alongside them. Along with new vocabulary, each dialogue emphasizes a few specific grammar points which then get fully explained in the pages succeeding the dialogue. This allows learners to get a feel for what the grammar point exactly is before being faced with huge blocks of explanation or lists of conjugations. Though, I should say that even when explaining grammar, this book manages to be concise and clear while providing plenty of examples.
As for the content of the dialogues, they all follow the story of two English tourists as they travel through Pakistan and India all the while meeting and getting to know some hospitable friends. The dialogues can be quite entertaining in their own right and as mentioned before, can help reinforce certain vocabulary and grammar.
One of the brilliant aspects of this book is how it deals with teaching the Urdu script: Nastaliq. Nastaliq can be a pretty confounding script due not just to it being written from right to left but also because letters can change appearance based on whether they appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a word. Regardless, the script is taught in section preceding the book's first lesson and so as to not discourage learners early on, all sample sentences and dialogues during the first few lessons of the book are written in both Nastaliq and a Romanized transliteration. However, this doesn't mean that one should skip on learning the script altogether because there is a certain point in the book in which all romanized transliteration is taken away and only the nastaliq is present. The book will hold your hand with learning the script for the first few lessons but at some point, it will expect that you have become experienced enough to not have to rely on romanization.
There is one downfall of this book that I believe is worth mentioning and it has to do with the vocabulary it teaches. Sadly, it is a consequence of the setup the authors chose when writing the dialogues and that is that the vocabulary is heavily geared toward "travel" or "tourism." A person using this book to prepare for a trip to Pakistan or India would have no issue and would have all the vocabulary they need to get by and have some small talk with locals. However, for a person interested in gaining proficiency the language will find that the book has a deficit of vocabulary that would pop up in general everyday conversation or just about any topic other than "travel." The book claims to take you up to a B2(Intermediate-High) level but that claim should be taken with a grain of salt. No single resource, at least no resource I've ever heard of, can take one all the way up to proficiency, especially if that resource is just a textbook. A more realistic estimation would be that you can reach an A2 or Intermediate-Low level using just this book, and note that this would be assuming that the learner is focused and thoroughly reviewing each and every point in the book.
Overall, the book is great. I would highly recommend it to anyone that's hoping to begin their study or Urdu or that's looking to refine their grip of the grammar.
As for breaking down the contents of the book, Teach Yourself definitely follows the old-school method of language learning, in that it is an audio-textbook with an emphasis on explanation of grammar. Maybe a tad dry or typical, but effective nonetheless. Yet, Teach Yourself Urdu manages to keep the learner's attention without boring or flat out confusing them with grammatical jargon. The format of the textbook is such that it is divided into 18 lessons that each focus on different topics and grammatical points. Each lesson has 2-3 dialogues in them which can be listened to on the Teach Yourself website. New vocabulary and expressions that are used in the dialogues are listed alongside them. Along with new vocabulary, each dialogue emphasizes a few specific grammar points which then get fully explained in the pages succeeding the dialogue. This allows learners to get a feel for what the grammar point exactly is before being faced with huge blocks of explanation or lists of conjugations. Though, I should say that even when explaining grammar, this book manages to be concise and clear while providing plenty of examples.
As for the content of the dialogues, they all follow the story of two English tourists as they travel through Pakistan and India all the while meeting and getting to know some hospitable friends. The dialogues can be quite entertaining in their own right and as mentioned before, can help reinforce certain vocabulary and grammar.
One of the brilliant aspects of this book is how it deals with teaching the Urdu script: Nastaliq. Nastaliq can be a pretty confounding script due not just to it being written from right to left but also because letters can change appearance based on whether they appear at the beginning, middle, or end of a word. Regardless, the script is taught in section preceding the book's first lesson and so as to not discourage learners early on, all sample sentences and dialogues during the first few lessons of the book are written in both Nastaliq and a Romanized transliteration. However, this doesn't mean that one should skip on learning the script altogether because there is a certain point in the book in which all romanized transliteration is taken away and only the nastaliq is present. The book will hold your hand with learning the script for the first few lessons but at some point, it will expect that you have become experienced enough to not have to rely on romanization.
There is one downfall of this book that I believe is worth mentioning and it has to do with the vocabulary it teaches. Sadly, it is a consequence of the setup the authors chose when writing the dialogues and that is that the vocabulary is heavily geared toward "travel" or "tourism." A person using this book to prepare for a trip to Pakistan or India would have no issue and would have all the vocabulary they need to get by and have some small talk with locals. However, for a person interested in gaining proficiency the language will find that the book has a deficit of vocabulary that would pop up in general everyday conversation or just about any topic other than "travel." The book claims to take you up to a B2(Intermediate-High) level but that claim should be taken with a grain of salt. No single resource, at least no resource I've ever heard of, can take one all the way up to proficiency, especially if that resource is just a textbook. A more realistic estimation would be that you can reach an A2 or Intermediate-Low level using just this book, and note that this would be assuming that the learner is focused and thoroughly reviewing each and every point in the book.
Overall, the book is great. I would highly recommend it to anyone that's hoping to begin their study or Urdu or that's looking to refine their grip of the grammar.
Read
September 6, 2023""
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 2, 2010
good book to grab urdu. i learned from this book for only 2 weeks before practicing in nepal, india, and pakistan. i was overwhelmed how i could survive with just basic knowledge from this book, then eventually i learned deeper from the conversation with the locals. i just wished there would be more complicated grammar explanation, as after finishing the last chapter i still couldnt make myself understood when making complicated sentences.
April 27, 2013
Good intro but lacking in a methodical introduction to grammar. I think it will continue to be a good reference to look back to as I learn.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews