So you want to learn either Persian or Urdu but don’t know which one to pick. Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered.
In this article, I’ll shed some light on the pros and cons for each language to help you decide.
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Should I Learn Persian or Urdu – A Comparison
Here’s the short answer:
- More people speak Urdu than Persian.
- Urdu and Persian are equally as difficult to learn.
- Urdu would be better for tourism.
- Persian would be better for job prospects.
- If you learn one, you can easily learn the other.
You should learn Persian if you want to improve your job prospects as it is an in demand language in the US and Europe.
However, more people speak Urdu worldwide and additionally Urdu would be better for tourism purposes.
Of course, part of your decision comes from your own personal reasons for wanting to study the language.
Perhaps you have friends that speak the language, maybe it’s your ancestral language or maybe you have a keen interest in the country it’s spoken in.
This should also be considered when choosing which language to learn as this will be your main motivating factor for learning the language.
Persian vs Urdu
Persian (Farsi)
Persian, also commonly referred to as Farsi, is an Iranian language which falls under the Indo-European language family.
It is spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The closest related languages are Kurdish and Pashto.
There are approximately 110 million native speakers of Persian around the world making it one of the world’s most spoken languages.
There are 3 main dialects of Persian – Farsi (spoken in Iran), Dari (spoken in Afghanistan) and Tajiki (spoken in Tajikistan).
All of the varieties of Persian are mutually intelligible so if you learn Persian you can communicate with people from Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan with ease.
Urdu
Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language which also falls under the Indo-European language family.
The majority of Urdu speakers live in either Pakistan, where it is the official language, or India.
Urdu has approximately 62 million native speakers, most of which live in India. It is closely related to the Hindi language.
Including second language speakers, 230 million people in total speak Urdu making it the 10th most widely spoken language in the world.
Which is Easier Urdu or Persian?
For an English speaker, both Urdu and Persian will be the same difficulty.
Both Urdu and Persian will be moderately difficult to learn if you’re an English speaker, especially if you have no knowledge of any other similar languages.
Whilst both Urdu and Persian will be harder to learn than French or Spanish for an English speaker, they will both be much easier than harder languages like Japanese, Arabic and Korean.
One thing that makes Persian a bit easier is that it has very simple grammar.
In Persian there is no gender, no irregular verb conjugations and nouns only have one form.
The main difficulty for an English speaker wanting to learn Persian is that it is written in an adapted form of the Arabic script.
Learning the Persian script isn’t as daunting as it might seem at first and can easily be done with plenty of practice, however there is also the added difficulty that short vowel sounds are not written in the script.
One thing that makes Urdu a bit tricky for English speakers is that it has grammatical gender.
This means that for each new noun that you learn in Urdu, you also need to memorize its gender (you don’t need to do this with Persian).
In Urdu, the gender of the noun also affects verb conjugation, complicating things further.
Additionally, Urdu is also written in a script derived from Arabic. If you’ve never learnt it before, it can be a daunting task but nothing you can’t handle.
Urdu pronunciation is another difficulty. Words are not always pronounced as they are written. This means that, when learning a new word, you need to learn both the spelling and the pronunciation.
One thing that makes Urdu easier is that the grammar is not overly complicated and there are very few irregularities when it comes to verb conjugations.
How Long Does it Take to Learn Urdu or Persian
It is estimated that it would take 44 weeks or 1100 hours to learn Urdu or Persian.
This is based on the language classification system developed by the Foreign Service Institute who have spent decades teaching foreign languages.
Both Urdu and Persian have been placed in category III which they estimate takes 44 weeks or 1100 hours to reach ‘professional working proficiency’ in the language.
Please bear in mind that these estimates assume you do 25 hours of studying per week so it will take much longer if you can’t dedicate this much time.
The bottom line is that Urdu and Persian are about equally as difficult for an English speaker to learn.
Which is the Most Useful Language?
Both countries have rich cultural heritage and history so both languages are definitely worth learning.
Why Learn Persian
I’ve actually written an entire post on why you should learn Persian but here’s a quick overview.
Persian is actually the second most spoken language in the Middle East and West Asia after Arabic. It’s among the top 20 most spoken languages in the world.
Additionally, it has huge historical importance and is actually one of the world’s oldest languages. It’s even older than Latin!
If you are interested in literature and poetry then Persian may be a better fit for you.
Persian poetry and literature is world-renowned. Iconic poets such as Rumi, Hafez, Saadi and Ferdowsi all wrote their works in Persian.
As the Persian language hasn’t changed much in the last 1,000 years, you’ll be able to enjoy their works in the original language they were written in.
These Persian poets have influenced writers across the globe for centuries and modern Persian literature is also super popular with international audiences.
Want to learn Farsi? We have a free PDF that I know you’ll love…
Why Learn Urdu
Urdu is also a super old language that developed around the 12th century.
If you choose to learn Urdu you can enjoy rich literature and poetry that dates back to the 17th century.
Poets like Ghalib and Meer have written phenomenal works in Urdu that are famous across the globe.
You can also enjoy world-class short stories and novels by Saadat Hasan Manto and Prem Chand in the original language they were written in.
If that wasn’t enough, you will be able to enjoy the world’s biggest film industry – Bollywood.
Many Bollywood films are actually produced in Urdu (rather than Hindi) and most of the songs in Bollywood films are actually Urdu too.
Additionally, learning Urdu would give you a wider pool of potential people to interact with as more people speak Urdu than Persian.
230 million people speak Urdu whereas just 110 million speak Persian. That’s more than double!
In fact, Urdu is the 10th most spoken language in the whole world and numbers of speakers are rising.
Which Would Be More Useful For Jobs?
If you’re trying to decide which language to learn based on which language will give you better job prospects, then arguably, Persian would be better.
Learning Persian will give you better access to jobs in Europe and the US, especially within government agencies, as it is currently in demand.
Learning Urdu can be useful for similar reasons but it is less in demand than Persian.
Learning Urdu will give you a huge advantage if you want to work in India or Pakistan.
Persian Job Prospects
Persian is currently an in demand language in both Europe and the US.
Due to current relations between Iran and the West, people with knowledge of Persian are needed urgently by government agencies, particularly those involved in intelligence, military and diplomatic activities.
As Persian is not a popular language to learn, at least in places like Europe and the US, Persian speakers are hard to find so it will definitely make your resume stand out from the crowd if you can speak Persian.
For example, did you know that in 2013 it was found that less than 3,000 college students were signed up to Persian classes in the US?
The US government has actually designated Persian as a ‘critical need language’ and now offers many scholarships for students learning Persian.
Urdu Job Prospects
Urdu will improve your job prospects in certain fields.
The US government also class Urdu as a ‘critical need language’ and offer scholarships to students looking to learn it.
Although it’s not as in demand as Persian, many government agencies need Urdu speakers to help with diplomatic relations between the US and Pakistan/India.
Pakistan is currently seeing a surge in their marketplace. There are tons of business opportunities becoming available and knowing Urdu would give you a huge advantage here.
India actually has the 6th biggest economy in the world so the opportunities there are endless.
Knowledge of Urdu would be hugely advantageous if you want to work in a company that has interests in Pakistan or India (and tons of companies in the US/Europe do).
Or if you’re up for it, you could live and work in India or Pakistan.
Don’t forget that with both languages you could also work as a translator or interpreter.
Which is Better for Tourism?
If you want to learn Persian or Urdu for traveling then both would be very useful.
It entirely depends on which regions of the world you are wanting to travel to.
At the time of writing, Pakistan and India are safer to travel to compared with Iran and Afghanistan so based on this Urdu is better for tourism currently.
Persian can be used in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. The dialects are very similar so you could easily use Persian in these 3 countries without difficulty.
You can use Urdu in Pakistan and India however it’s important to note that not everyone in India will speak Urdu.
Urdu is spoken by around 5% of India’s population (that’s still over 60 million people) mainly in northern India.
All of these countries offer a range of fantastic experiences for tourists including a wealth of history, nature, food and much more.
Iran has incredible nature and so much history including one of the oldest human settlements. It has lavish mosques, beautiful palaces and interesting bazaars to explore.
Unfortunately, at the time of writing, Afghanistan isn’t currently safe to travel to although it is certain that Afghanistan is also a beautiful country with a lot of history.
Afghanistan has many historical sites including the 2,000 year old Buddha statues, the tomb of Hazrate Ali (the son-in-law of Prophet Mohammed), the deep blue lakes of Band-e Amir and surrounding mountains.
Pakistan actually has a growing tourism industry and is one of the world’s most beautiful places to visit.
Pakistan is famous around the world for its colossal mountains, lush valleys, huge rivers, beautiful lakes and amazing wildlife.
In India, Urdu is mainly spoken in northern states including Kashmir which is famous for breathtaking landscapes, astounding mountains and lush meadows.
Is Urdu Easy For Persian Speakers?
Now you might be thinking ‘if I learnt one, how hard would it be to learn the other?’
Urdu and Persian are actually closely related languages as they both form part of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family.
This means that they share a lot of similarities as they both descended from the same ancestral language.
Urdu has actually been heavily influenced by Persian over the years and even uses tons of Persian loanwords.
This means that if you learnt Persian first, you’d have a huge head start when learning Urdu as you’d recognize a lot of words.
Additionally, both Urdu and Persian use a modified version of the Arabic alphabet so you don’t have to start from scratch with the alphabet.
There are also many differences between the two languages including:
- Different pronunciation.
- Urdu has grammatical gender, Persian does not.
- Largely different vocabulary
Learning Urdu after studying Persian (or vice versa) can be likened to studying French when you speak English.
Whilst you will recognize a lot of words, they are often pronounced differently and even sometimes have slightly different meanings.
You’d also still need to study the language properly i.e. you couldn’t just watch an Urdu movie and understand it without properly studying the language.
Conclusion – Should I Learn Persian or Urdu?
Hopefully this article gave you an insight into the pros and cons of learning Persian or Urdu.
By now you may have a clearer idea of which one is better for you to learn.
In conclusion, Persian provides better access to job opportunities in the US and Europe.
However Urdu is more widely spoken and is better for travel and tourism currently.
Don’t forget to think about your own personal motivation for learning Persian or Urdu as this is arguably the most important thing to consider.
For example, if you have a particular love for Persian poetry, you may already have your answer on which language to learn.
If a friend or partner speaks one of these languages natively then that might also influence your decision.
You need to be extremely motivated to learn a language (if you’re not then you’ll give up) so choose wisely.
The difficulty or range of a language is far less important than the key reason as to why you want to learn it.
For example, if your mind is telling you to learn Persian for the job opportunities but your heart is telling you to learn Urdu because you love Pakistani culture, then choose Urdu.
Struggling to choose between Persian and other languages?
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