Acknowledgment

First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my students—the source of inspiration for this book. Their motivation to learn Urdu, and their need for comprehensive online learning materials, encouraged me to start this journey.

Words fall short to express my deepest appreciation for Regina Gong and her team members, who work for Open Educational Resources (OER) at Michigan State University Libraries. Without Regina and her team, this project would not be possible; they have helped me at every stage in this book. I would also like to express my gratitude to the Dr. Delia Koo Endowment that the Asian Studies Center at MSU awarded me to complete this book.

I acknowledge the support that I received from the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Culture at MSU. I am forever grateful to all my language teachers at MSU and elsewhere, who directly and indirectly have shaped and enriched my teaching skill.

I want to express thanks to: my family, who never stopped believing in me and have always been very supportive; Urdu Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant Shadab Akhter, who helped me with Urdu transliteration; and Hindi Fulbright Teaching Assistant Delilah Pacheco, who helped me with audio recordings of the conversations. Last, but not least, I would like to thank my wife Jennifer Ranjan, and my family for their steadfast support during this whole process.