Read and Write Urdu Script: A Teach Yourself Guide 2nd Edition

I like that the author does not assume that you already know Urdu as some books do. The author knows that the language is complex along with the writing of it, so he takes it step by step. I like that he breaks down the letters and the book teaches you to identify letters within words. It was just what I needed, since I'm just starting to learn Urdu.

I'm a hindi and urdu speaking person and found this to be an ideal start to learn the script.The examples are relevant and practices at the end of the chapter are fun. Found it hard to keep it down, as the results were almost immediate.Highly recommend for any beginner of the urdu script. Good value for money too.

Interesting.

I can't thank the author and the publishers enough for this book. It's well laid out, the sequence is intuitive, best of all the roman Urdu is easy to grasp unlike other instructional books.Can't recommend this book enough!

The content is OK but the graphics is pretty terrible for such a bookFonts are too small and kind of blotted which is a disaster for the writing which is all about tiny lines and dotsA few typos won't help either and reading english words in urdu is rather torturingI am still giving it two stars because tge idea is right and nothing better is out there

I took an Urdu course in college, but unfortunately aside from spelling my name, i did not retain much. This book helped me start over and learn much much more!!! its Great!! many historical facts as well! very helpful!

Great book.

The book's title should have been: "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Urdu Script (and many things you didn't know you would want to know). These are the very original insights that the author shares with you throughout the book and not just what he himself has named "insights".The book takes hold of you by its very opening sections titled "Only got a minute?", "Only got five minutes?", "Only got ten minutes?". They are refreshingly informative about the script and makes one confident about learning it. Then follow an Introduction and eleven units, each of which deals with a group of letters different from their alphabetical order. There lies the originality of the book, for this grouping makes a difficult task simpler. I am only a reader of the Urdu script and manage to struggle through it, but to be able to write whole words in this script requires learning all the engineering involved in this complex manoeuvre. Delacy's light and reader-friendly style makes this utterly possible. Some of the things which he explains in a way you can easily understand and retain in your memory are the distinction between "connectors" and "non-connectors", naskh and nastaliq, why, where and how the 'hamza' is written, the various avatars of the pronunciation of the letter 'ain', and so on. One of the most difficult things to figure out in a Urdu word, which is actually a pictogram, is what part should be written without lifting pen from paper, and how it is done, and how and in what order you complete the rest. Delacy's arrows take you through this job all the way from the beginning to the end.I still confuse the daal with the vaav because of their very close resemblance, and the author notes this as a difficulty for many readers of Urdu, especially learners. Only a typographical modification by a font maker can remove the difficulty, so naturally the author does not offer a solution for differentiating between them which can work in every situation for the novice. The last unit, unit 11, reminds one of the saying 'keep the best till the last'. Here he explains, in addition to the writing of hamzah noted earlier, the modified forms of letters, the doubling of chhotii he and notes on pronunciation. These really put the finishing touches to his work, which I list under "many things you didn't know you would want to know". If you faithfully work out all the short and sweet, simple exercises in the eleven units of this book, you can confidently read and write Urdu script, and enjoy it. This is a most elegantly written and reliable reference work, an excellent resource.