Learning Persian
Persian, or Farsi, is an Iranian language that is fantastic for people to learn. One of the reasons is that there are Persian speakers in Iran, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Armenia and Azerbaijan. People who speak Persian will have a much easier time communicating with people.
Persian is an Indo-Iranian language that has between 60-70 million speakers. Its grammar is similar to several modern European languages. People write Farsi in a Perso-Arabic script or in Cyrillic, depending on the country.
Thousands of people want to learn Persian, so there are many different ways to do this that can accommodate the different learning styles and needs. Anyone with the right motivation and the correct equipment can set themselves up with learning Persian effectively.
How to learn to speak Persian
Back in the day, the only option people would have to learn Persian would be to sign up for a class. Not everyone out there is meant for the rigid school system, nor has the money to take lessons. Today, school is not the only option for learning Persian, as there are hundreds of different publications, electronic resources and websites that people may use.
Learning Persian software or DVDs
Language learning software is one way that people can learn Persian. With a home computer set up, such programs can be very helpful.
Rosetta Stone’s Persian Program – Rosetta Stone is the leading company for language software, and they have compiled a comprehensive, interactive Persian-learning program. People can begin to learn Persian gradually with the first level, and begin with greetings, questions and answers. The second and third level are stepping stones to eventually becoming a fluent Persian speaker. The Rosetta Stone software programs come with games, online lessons, a headset, microphone and other features.
Transparent Language’s Persian Program – Transparent Language is a competitor of Rosetta Stone, and they offer different interactive language programs. Their Farsi Byki Deluxe 4 program is set up in a three-step process, where people can perfect their accents, test themselves and even listen to tracks on the go with MP3 players. They also have downloadable material on their website.
Books for learning Persian
Modern Persian: A Course Book – This book is meant for absolute beginners to start working on the Persian language. It starts off by teaching the alphabet, and then moves through grammar, vocabulary, reading, speaking and writing.
Websites that help you learn Persian language
http://www.easypersian.com – This website has a library of different lessons that are written out in English and gradually explain the complexities of Persian. It begins with topics like the script, vowels and consonants, and then works up through verb tenses and forming sentences. There are also dozens of lessons that explore advanced grammatical topics, and have discussions and translations of Persian books.
http://www.studypersian.com – This website also explains the dynamics of the Persian script to beginners. There are long lessons about the phonetics related to the language, as well as useful topics like personal pronouns, days of the week and basic greetings.
http://www.linguanaut.com/learn_farsi.htm – This website has a list of great lessons, ranging from numbers to adjectives to phrases to survival terms.