Learn Persian Online: Free Farsi Lessons, Dictionary and Books

Persian is one of the easier languages of the Middle East for English speakers. It is an Indo-European language, so it shares a distant family with English, its grammar has no grammatical gender and its verb endings are regular once you know each verb’s two stems. The main hurdle is the alphabet, which most learners can read within a few weeks. The US Foreign Service Institute places Persian in its Category III, at about 44 weeks of full-time study to professional fluency.

Yes. Farsi is the name of the language in Persian itself, and Persian is its English name. The Persian spoken in Afghanistan is called Dari and the variety spoken in Tajikistan is called Tajik; all three are mutually intelligible, with differences in pronunciation and some vocabulary.

With 20 to 30 minutes a day, most learners read the alphabet in two to four weeks and can hold simple conversations in a few months. Reaching an upper-intermediate level usually takes one to two years of regular study and practice with speakers.

Start with the alphabet, then follow a structured course such as Learn Farsi in 100 Days, which gives one short lesson a day. Add the 101 most common words and the most common verbs, and practise speaking from the first weeks.

Yes. All lessons, vocabulary pages, the dictionary and the practice tools on Learn Persian Online are free. The ebooks are optional for learners who want a printable course or a workbook.

The lessons and books are written by Reza Nazari, a Persian teacher and the author of more than 30 Persian learning books, and the Learn Persian Online team.