Learn Urdu in London

Urdu Language Courses at LSI Language School in Central London

Urdu is the national language of Pakistan and is spoken and understood throughout the country.  It shares official language status with English.  It is used in education, literature, in court, business, the media, and in religious institutions.  Although English is used in most elite circles, and Punjabi has a plurality of native speakers, Urdu is the lingua franca and is expected to prevail.  Urdu is also one of the officially recognised state languages in India and has official language status in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttar Pradesh, as well as the national capital, Delhi.  While the government school system in most other states emphasises Standard Hindi, at universities in cities such as Lucknow, Aligarh and Hyderabad, Urdu is spoken, learned, and regarded as a language of prestige.

Urdu is spoken in Pakistan (160 million), India (148 million) , Bangladesh (650,000), UAE (600,000), United Kingdom (400,000), Saudi-Arabia (382,000), Nepal (375,000), USA (350,000) and many other countries.

Because of Urdu's similarity to Hindi, speakers of the two languages can usually understand one another, if both sides refrain from using specialised vocabulary.  Indeed, linguists sometimes count them as being part of the same language diasystem.  However, Urdu and Hindi are socio-politically different, and people who describe themselves as being speakers of Hindi would question their being counted as native speakers of Urdu, and vice-versa.

If Hindi and Urdu are considered to be the same language (Hindustani or Hindi-Urdu), then Urdu can be considered to be a part of a dialect continuum which extends across eastern Iran, Afghanistan and modern Pakistan, right into eastern India.  These idioms all have similar grammatical structures and share a large portion of their vocabulary.  Punjabi, for instance, is very similar to Urdu; Punjabi written in the Shahmukhi script can be understood by speakers of Urdu with little difficulty, but spoken Punjabi has a very different phonology and can be harder to understand for Urdu speakers.

Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a sovereign country located in South Asia and the Greater Middle East.  It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far north-east.  Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world and is the second most populous country with a Muslim majority.

In keeping with its rapid economic development in recent years, Pakistan registered an economic growth rate of 7 percent in the financial year 2006-07, the fourth consecutive year of seven percent growth.  In November of 2006 China and Pakistan signed a Free Trade Agreement hoping to triple bilateral trade from $4.2 billion (USD) to $15 billion (USD) within the next five years.

Whether you are learning Urdu for business, leisure or academic purpose, at LSI we will ensure that your Urdu language course at our school in Central London is a successful and enjoyable experience.

• Your current level of Urdu and training requirements will be carefully assessed.
• Our Urdu tutors, who are all highly qualified, have many years of experience teaching Urdu at all levels.
• Your course will be tailor-made to meet your specific training needs, ensuring that it is relevant, practical, effective and fun.
• Our tutors use a wide range of up-to-date teaching materials including a variety of books, authentic documents, audio and video recordings.