Urdu is a language of South Asia. It is the national language of Pakistan and one of the official languages of India, where large numbers of people speak it — especially Muslim communities across the north. Perhaps 230 million people speak it in some form.

Urdu烏爾都語 is a language of South Asia是南亞的一種語言。It它 is the national language of Pakistan是巴基斯坦的國語 and one of the official languages of India也是印度官方語言之一，where在那裡 large numbers of people speak it很多人說這語言，especially尤其是 Muslim communities across the north北部的穆斯林社群。Perhaps大概 230 million people兩億三千萬人 speak it in some form會以某種形式說這語言。

The important fact for a learner: in everyday speech, Urdu and Hindi are close to the same language. A speaker of one understands a speaker of the other with almost no trouble, and linguists often treat them as two versions of one thing called Hindustani. Where they split is in writing and in formal or literary words.

The important fact for a learner對學習者來說重要的是：in everyday speech在日常口語中，Urdu and Hindi烏爾都語和印地語 are close to the same language幾乎是同一種語言。A speaker of one一方的使用者 understands a speaker of the other聽得懂另一方的使用者 with almost no trouble幾乎沒有困難，and linguists而語言學家 often treat them as two versions of one thing called Hindustani常把兩者當成「印度斯坦語」這種語言的兩個版本。Where they split分歧的地方 is在於 in writing and in formal or literary words書寫和正式或文學用詞上。

Urdu is written in a flowing Arabic-based script, right to left, and reaches to Persian and Arabic for its high vocabulary; Hindi is written in Devanagari, left to right, and reaches to Sanskrit. So a news broadcast in each sounds fairly different, while two friends chatting sound nearly identical.

Urdu烏爾都語 is written in a flowing Arabic-based script用流暢的阿拉伯體字母書寫，right to left由右至左，and而 reaches to Persian and Arabic for its high vocabulary高階詞彙取自波斯語和阿拉伯語；Hindi印地語 is written in Devanagari用天城體書寫，left to right由左至右，and而 reaches to Sanskrit高階詞彙取自梵語。So因此 a news broadcast in each兩種語言的新聞播報 sounds fairly different聽起來相當不同，while而 two friends chatting兩個朋友聊天 sound nearly identical聽起來幾乎一樣。

Urdu also has a long and much-loved poetry tradition — the ghazal — and it is the main language of a great deal of Pakistani film, song and drama.

Urdu烏爾都語 also has a long and much-loved poetry tradition也有悠久且深受喜愛的詩歌傳統 — the ghazal也就是加薩爾情詩 — and而 it is the main language of a great deal of Pakistani film, song and drama它也是大量巴基斯坦電影、歌曲和戲劇的主要語言。

The word works as a noun ('she speaks Urdu') and as an adjective before another noun ('Urdu poetry', 'an Urdu newspaper'). Being a language name, it always takes a capital U.

The word這個詞 works as a noun可以當名詞用 ('she speaks Urdu'她說烏爾都語) and也可以 as an adjective before another noun當形容詞放在另一個名詞前 ('Urdu poetry'烏爾都語詩歌, 'an Urdu newspaper'一份烏爾都語報紙)。Being a language name因為是語言名稱，it它 always takes a capital U永遠要大寫U。