I want learn Farsi Is the Farsi language difficult to learn? Farsi has always been on my list of language to learn because Farsi is a common language in my neighborhood. I have tried to start but th

Ian Dickey

Community Tutor

I want learn Farsi

Is the Farsi language difficult to learn? Farsi has always been on my list of language to learn because Farsi is a common language in my neighborhood. I have tried to start but the writing system is very intimidating When I start learning I like to learn the writing system or else I find I don't retain much of what I learn. Does anyone have experience learning the Farsi language.

Jan 11, 2020 6:02 AM

Comments · 11

I'm in my 3rd year of learning Persian but my viewpoint is quite different to Bernhard's (below)

I find reading/writing a lot easier than listening/speaking. The alphabet doesn't phase me because 90% of the letters have an English equivalent. Once you recognise the shapes it's not hard.

I just got used to the right to left thing - when I read Persian I start from the right - it's not a biggie.

The absence of short vowels is a pain. There's no way to know how to say a word just by looking at it. But even in English there are thousands of words that are not pronounced as they are spelt, that's just par for the course.

The thing I wish someone had told me earlier is that when you learn Persian you're actually learning <em>TWO </em>languages not one! Spoken Iranian Persian is about 30% different to written Persian - they differ in grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and word order. Now, while every language has it's colloquial forms, it's usually acceptable (or even preferred) to speak "properly". Not so with Persian, they have codified their spoken language to the point where it is considered incorrect to speak in the written form in everyday conversation.

I find the verb conjugations to be extremely complex compared to English. The rules are straightforward enough, but trying to remember which of the 34 possible conjugations of "to put" to use (compared to 3 in English) - in real time - is quite the challenge!

The thing I find easy about Persian is that aside from the thousands of Arabic loan words that they use, the roots of the words are internal to the Persian language, so you can deduce the meanings of words once you know the roots. To do this in English you have to have a knowledge of both Latin and Greek roots.

This is my first second-language, and they say that's always your hardest, but from my experience, I would say that Persian is not for the feint-hearted.

Finding a good teacher helps and fortunately I've been able to find a terrific teacher here on iTalki.

April 7, 2020

I am learning Farsi as well. I think it is not too difficult.

Easy points:

<ul><li>the grammar is straightforward and based on rules applied quite regularly</li><li>the pronunciation is not difficult, at least for a German. :))</li><li>I think Farsi has a gentle, beautiful sound.</li></ul>

Difficult points

<ul><li>the alphabet is different and the direction of reading is from right to left</li><li>Some vowels are not written, they need to be acquired by exercise/experience growing</li></ul>

That's what I would say after six months not too intensive learning.

February 11, 2020

I've found it a bit harder than French, but easier than the year of German I tried. There are alot of 'Englishy' things about it, especially if you're familiar with Shakespearean English. Formal is different than informal and spoken.

April 7, 2020