David MatthewsComplete Urdu Beginner to Intermediate Course: (Book and audio support): 4 (Teach Yourself Language)

I bought Complete Urdu by Teach Yourself back around April 2017, and used it to initiate myself before I began lessons with a teacher. It is now September and I can make conversation with most people about any topic. If it were not for this book, I certainly wouldn't be at this stage. This book, coupled with the Urdu Script by Teach Yourself, are fantastic hand-in-hand.This book is very progressive, with transliteration up until a certain chapter, where you'll henceforth be challenged to continue in nasta'liq script. It's a fantastic book with very useful vocabulary and chapters which help in everyday life. I also recommend the Essential Urdu Dictionary by Teach Yourself, which I have finally updated to.My only objections to this book is that the nasta'liq script is written quite small, making it at times difficult to identify, however if you use the other books that I mentioned, it becomes easier as you get used to the script. But this is me.I hope by 2018 I will be fully equiped with great, conversational Urdu, and if so, it would most certainly be thanks to this book!

Armed with a fairly basic understanding of how Arabic script works, and how the various ligatures might possibly function, I have always found it incredibly frustrating that when it comes to Urdu, in ALL the books I have previously explored the printing was either so tiny or so blurred/smudged as to make the whole thing pretty much useless.I seem to feel that this is a common gripe?I only received this about 10 minutes ago, so can't comment on any of the actual teaching content of the course, but it only took the briefest of glances to take on board that the Urdu print is indeed crisp, clear, and legible.Which is in itself something of a triumph!

I really like the book - at about halfway through I find the instructions clear and the explanations of grammar understandable. Using the app to play back the conversations is also really good and easy. My only complaint (as others have said) is that the Urdu script is too small and hard to read. Also, it often inexplicably changes between styles - from nastaliq to a more standard Arabic font, sometimes in the middle of a sentence, which can be quite annoying, and should have been picked up by the editers. Hence 4 stars.

Exactly what I was looking for. A book that is comprehensive and engaging. After the intital introduction about Urdu script and letters, you get straight in with lots of useful vocab and clearly explained grammar. The conversations make great practice, and the audio means that you can also practice your listening comprehension skills, which is hard to practice sometimes if you're at home learning a language by yourself. 100% recommend for beginners in Urdu

It's a bit early for me to say just how good this book, with its accompanying disc, is. I've had it about a month now and I haven't reached chapter one yet. I'm still working through the introductory chapter on how to read and write the Urdu script. I'm taking it pretty slowly because there are about thirty five letters in the "alphabet" and most of them have four different shapes depending on where they appear in the word. The one piece of advice I have to offer is that if you're thinking of buying this book, you'd better order yourself a pretty powerful magnifying glass whilst your at it. A lot of the letters are the size of punctuation marks, but have subtly different shapes. Have you ever seen a comma with a hole in it? Have you ever seen a comma with two holes in it? Have you ever needed to be able to tell the difference? Admittedly I'm getting to the "needs reading glasses" stage of life, but even with a 2X magnifying glass, with a 4x insert I can't make out some of the shapes; I've had resort to a 15x jewellers lens quite often. I notice that when I go to the doctor, the translations of the information leaflets there, that are printed in the same script, use characters that are about two inches high, which would make it easier to decipher them, but the ones in the book are about 12 point, or maybe 10. Of course, if the printing was bigger, then the book would be bigger and hence more expensive. I expect that if I look on the internet for "Urdu Alphabet" I'll be able to find a page with characters of a readable size (or at least that can be zoomed) that might help to clarify things, but this is supposed to be the "Complete Urdu"; if I have to start casting about for additional resources, then it isn't complete. (Hint for the publisher: perhaps a fold up reference chart of the alphabet in future volumes?) I'm hoping that once I finish the introduction and get onto reading words and sentences, that things will become a little clearer. If they do, I'll let you know.

Very good book for those who want to learn Urdu but should be more adjusted for people who want to write and read in Roman Urdu. Knowing perfectly Urdu alphabet and pressure put on learning isn't really necessary. It's more academic book than what I was really looking for. Anyway, whoever wants to learn basic Urdu this book is perfect. I'm writing in Roman Urdu so learning process is more enjoyable. I'm giving it 4 stars as it's not addressed to the people who are under pressure of time and responsibilities already. And I think majority of those who are willing to learn this language have no time to spend on learning Urdu alphabet letters and its sounds. It's simply not so necessary