Qadam is for Urdu learners who have no or little background in Urdu. The content and learning goals were designed to match the level goals as defined by the “Common European Framework of Reference for Languages” (CEFR) for the Level A1 (Basic User).
At the end of A1, learners can “understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type. They can introduce themselves and others and can ask and answer questions about personal details such as where they live, people they know and things they have. They can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly and clearly and is prepared to help.”
Following the recommendations of the CEFR it takes approx. 80-100 lesson hours for group classes to complete the Level A1 (less for individual classes). The following table gives a summary of the topics and grammar points covered:
| Topic | Grammar | |
| Chapter 1 | Introductions & greetings | Personal pronouns singular; word order in affirmative and interrogative sentences |
| Chapter 2 | My family | Personal pronouns (plural); simple present of “hona” (to be), present tense of “rehna” (to live), possessive particles, numbers |
| Chapter 3 | Going grocery shopping | Yes/no questions, possessive pronouns, indefinite articles “koi”/ “kuch”, plural forms of common noun classes, use of “chahiye”, oblique form of personal pronouns |
| Chapter 4 | My home | Adjective endings, use of “ke pas” vs. “main hona”, word building with “ka”, “ke”, “ki” |
| Chapter 5 | Daily routines & activities | Present habitual tense, time expression, expressions of frequency, word formation with “karna”, conjunctive particle “kar” |
| Chapter 6 | Hobbies & the weather | Use of parna, ana and hona present progressive tense, present habitual vs. present progressive, pasand hona, lagna and shoq se |
| Chapter 7 | Finding my way around town | Use of “wala” with people, postpositions, oblique form of nouns with postpositions, imperative forms, use of “chhana” with infinitive |
| Chapter 8 | My childhood & life-long learning | Past habitual tense, use of “sakna” and “ana” |
| Chapter 9 | Health & illnesses | Use of “karna chahiye” and “karna hona” to give advice/ make suggestions |
| Chapter 10 | Taking a trip | Future tense |
| Chapter 11 | My job & education | Simple past tense (transitive and intransitive), |
| Chapter 12 | My new clothes | Comparisons & Superlative |
| Chapter 13 | Good customer service | Causative verbs & imminent future |
| Chapter 14 | Celebrations & Holidays | Use of kyun ke & use of subjunctive for wishes |
Chapter 1-7 are part of Qadam A1.1. and Chapter 8-14 of Qadam A1.2.
By the end of the book, learners will have covered 750-1000 new words.