Q. What is the difference between Urdu and Hindi? 
Urdu and Hindi are the languages that originated in the Indian sub-continent. Although the sentence construction and grammatically both the languages are very similar, most of their differences are in the following aspects –
- the vocabulary (however it is also true that both languages have enriched each other’s vocabulary by freely exchanging words with one another).
- the script in which each of the languages is written is different. The scripts diifer in appearance as well as in the way they are written.

Q. What is different about writing Urdu compared to other languages like English and Hindi ? 
Urdu (unlike Hindi and English) is written from right (of the page) to left (of the page). 

Q. In which countries of the world is Urdu spoken and understood? 

Urdu speakers are found in many countries some of these are –
Afghanistan
 Bahrain 
 Canada 
 Germany 
 India
 Iran 
 Malaysia 
 Oman 
 Pakistan
 Qatar 
 Saudi Arabia 
 South Africa
 Turkey
 UK
 USA

Q. How many people in the world constitute Urdu speakers? 
According to The Summer Institute for Linguistics (SIL) Ethnologue Survey (1999) Hindi/Urdu is 5th most widely spoken language in the world after Chinese, Spanish, English, Bangla.

Q. What is history of Urdu language i.e. how did it come about? 
Following the invasion of Muslims into India, Muslims and Indians and began socialising with each other gradually a new language begin to take shape. In the army (known as lashkar) of Muslim rulers, kings and emperors, the soldiers hailed from various backgrounds, regions and tribes. They all had very different lifestyles, cultures and mother tongues. Gradually a new language began to emerge so the army soldiers spoke an amalgamation of all the various languages. This language became known as ‘lashkari’ which when translated meant ‘spoken in the army camp’. This language later became known as Urdu.

Urdu became very popular very soon due to its unique character and style. Urdu has a vocabulary of words that have origin in various different languages but is predominated by Arabic and Persian words. As the official language of Muslim emperors and rulers was Persian, Urdu flourished during their reign. Later due to its vocabulary made up of words from a diverse range of languages, more and more people began to use it as a medium of their expression. In its current form, almost every part of the world has a population that speaks and understands Urdu.

Q. What is the origin of  the name ‘Urdu’? 
Urdu is a turkish word meaning army. As the language evolved amongst the armymen in the army camps of the Muslim rulers it was so named.

Q. How old is Urdu language?
The first manuscript in Urdu written in 911 Hijri ( 1515 CE) by Hazrat Sharafuddin Yahya Muneri and is in his dargah in Muner Shareef. 
The Credit for publishing first Urdu book in Northern INdian also goes to the state of Bihar; the book is Seedha Raasta published in 1670. 

Q. How did the Urdu writing script originate? 
Urdu script is called nastaleeq, it is different from farsi and arabic script in its style. It is much more beautiful and complicated.

Q. How did the unique style of writing Urdu originate? 
to be researched.

Q. How many alphabets are there in Urdu.
Thirty Seven (37)  http://www.pakdata.com/alif/

Q. Where can I  learn urdu ? ( online and books) 
There are many universities that offer courses in Urdu,  additionally some course-materials and softwares are also available; for a full list follow this link:
http://urdustan.com/u-hoo/maktab.htm

Q. Where can I read urdu books/magazines? 
http://www.urdustan.com/u-hoo/risaale.htm

Q. Where can I listen/watch urdu news/songs/dramas? 
http://www.urdustan.com/u-hoo/aawaz.htm

Q. How can I write in urdu on my computer ? 
There are many softwares available : http://www.urdustan.com/u-hoo/aamil.htm
The most widely used software is Inpage. 

Q. How can I send urdu e-mails? 
[a] There are some online email sites, that give you urdu writing facility, e.g.
urduseek, raakim, langoo etc. The receiver of the mail has to download a plug-in to view the Urdu font, and in some sites the font is not nastaleeq.
[b] other way is using plug-ins that work with mail client like MS Outlook to send mail in Urdu, one such plug-in is Ruqqa. Inpage Home also has a feature to send urdu email using Outlook. 
[c] If you dont want to use either of the above option, you can use Inpage, to compose your letter and then use the Inpage's export option to save the letter in gif format, then send this gif as an attachment using any e-mail program or online email site.

Q. How can I make Urdu web-sites?
http://www.urdustan.com/web/

More questions to come soon, email your question to webustaad@urdustan.com