We tracked down 4 of the best YouTube channels for learning Pashto, including 3 you can use for free. Our top picks right now are Learn Pashto, PASHTO ACADEMY and Arabic Pashto Academy. Every entry below is hand-checked, and the ones that teach you come first — with free options ahead of paid ones wherever they are as good.
4 resources · 3 free
A numbered Pashto course, plus a lot of military vocabulary.
About this tool →Two hundred and seventy videos including a sequenced "Pashto 101" series. Be aware of the audience: a large part of the catalogue is army ranks and military terminology, because much Western Pashto teaching was funded for exactly that. The core lessons are general-purpose and good.
Pashto script and vocabulary from the beginning.
About this tool →A hundred videos covering the alphabet and everyday words. Pashto uses a modified Arabic script with several letters Arabic and Persian do not have, so a Persian reader gets most of the way and then meets the retroflexes.
Three hundred and sixty lessons pairing Pashto with Arabic.
About this tool →Aimed at Pashto speakers learning Arabic and at Arabic speakers learning Pashto, so the direction varies video to video — check before you settle in. Included because the sheer volume of paired Pashto material is otherwise hard to find.
Street interviews with dual subtitles, produced in dozens of languages.
About this tool →A franchise of local producers filming unscripted street interviews, each episode subtitled in the target language and English, which is the closest free thing to hearing how people genuinely speak. All YouTube episodes are free; membership adds transcripts, vocabulary lists and exercises. Real-speed unscripted speech is hard early on — start with the slower 'Super Easy' episodes if you are below B1.
Hi! Tell me what you want to learn and your situation — I'll suggest where to start.
AI advice — check details on the linked pages. Chats are stored anonymously to improve recommendations.