Who Am I? - Family and Personal Characteristics
Start reading Urdu and talking about your family. Learn the key words in script and sound, and see how the right-to-left Nastaliq script works.
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Reading Urdu 📖
Urdu is written in a beautiful flowing script called **Nastaliq**, read from **right to left** (the opposite of English), and it has **no capital letters**. The letters **join up** into cursive words. In this module every word is shown three ways: the **script**, the **sound** (transliteration in brackets), and the **English**, so you learn to recognise it and say it.
Saying who you are 🙋
Two words to introduce yourself: - **میں (main)** = I - **نام (naam)** = name So میرا نام (mera naam) means "my name".
The family 👨👩👧
The core family and friends words: - **باپ (baap)** = father, **ماں (maan)** = mother - **بھائی (bhai)** = brother, **بہن (behen)** = sister - **خاندان (khandan)** = family, **دوست (dost)** = friend
Match each Urdu word to its meaning
- میں (main)
- نام (naam)
- خاندان (khandan)
- باپ (baap)
- دوست (dost)
- I
- name
- family
- father
- friend
Spot the word
Which word means "father"?
- باپ (baap)
- ماں (maan)
- بھائی (bhai)
- دوست (dost)
Match each family word to its meaning
- ماں (maan)
- بھائی (bhai)
- بہن (behen)
- mother
- brother
- sister
Spot the word
Which word means "sister"?
- بہن (behen)
- بھائی (bhai)
- ماں (maan)
- خاندان (khandan)
How the writing works 🔤
Urdu uses the **Perso-Arabic script** in the sloping **Nastaliq** style, read from **right to left**, with the letters **joined up**. There are **no capital letters**. Urdu is the same spoken language as Hindi, but Hindi is written in a different script (Devanagari) that reads left to right. The words sound alike; the writing looks completely different.
True of Urdu?
Which statement about Urdu writing is correct?
- It is written right to left and the letters join up
- It is written left to right
- It uses capital letters like English
- Each symbol stands for a whole word
Family members
Select ALL THREE words that are family members.
- باپ (baap)
- ماں (maan)
- بھائی (bhai)
- دوست (dost)
- میں (main)
- نام (naam)
Introduce yourself
An interactive activity.
One more word
Which word means "friend"?
- دوست (dost)
- خاندان (khandan)
- باپ (baap)
- میں (main)
The right word
Using the transliteration, complete: "father" is _____, "mother" is _____, "brother" is _____, and "friend" is _____.
Urdu summary
Urdu is written from _____ to left in the Nastaliq style, and it has _____ capital letters. The word for family is _____, and the word for "I" is _____.