100 Learning Farsi Ideas

Introduction

If you are thinking about learning Persian, then in our opinion there are three key reasons to drive your motivation.

1. The Persian language is spoken in so many countries in the Middle East and Central Asia and so it is one of the more practical languages to have a go at.
2. Iran has a rich history and literary tradition with poetry and epic stories and great people. You would be able to take deep dive into a less well-studied piece of world culture and literature.
3. The language itself isn’t so difficult and many people think it is a beautiful language to learn.

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Here are 100 things (in no particular order) you can do to improve your Persian

1. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Be confident and comfortable. others can correct your mistakes when they hear you make them.
2. Surround yourself in Persian. Put yourself in an all Persian-speaking environment where you can learn passively. The best way to learn Persian is through speaking.
3. Practice every day. Make yourself a study plan. Decide how much time a week you are going to spend studying Persian and stick to it. Establish a routine.
4. Tell your family and friends about your curriculum. Get them to push you to study Persian and also don’t let them interrupt you.
5. Practice the 4 core skills: reading, writing, speaking, and listening to Persian. They all need to be worked on for you to improve your Persian.
6. Keep a notebook of new words that you learned. Use them in sentences and try to say them at least three times when you speak.
7. Visit Learn Persian Online’s free learn Persian website at least once a day and complete a lesson.
8. Memorization of lists is one of the most common ways of learning Persian vocabulary for a test. It’s only a good exercise for short-term Learning because you often don’t retain the information that you have learned for a test.
9. Study when you are more comfortable. If you can not study in the morning, study in the afternoon.
10. You will find Persian words easier to remember if you try to remember an example sentence using that word rather than the word on its own.
11. Plan to take an exam. You’ll find that you work harder when you need to study for the exam.
12. Saying that it’s better not to study Persian just to take an exam. Think of the bigger picture. What can you do when you have a good command of Persian? How will the quality of your life increase?
13. Give yourself a long-term goal for your studying. Focus on working towards it.
14. Give yourself short-term goals for your studying too and reward yourself when you achieve each one.
15. Create an atmosphere in which you want to learn Persian, not because you have to. You’ll learn more and more when you’re learning because you want to.
16. Know which methods work best for you. Think about what methods and techniques have been successful for you in the past and stick with them.
17. Figure out how you learn better. It can be by memorizing, reading, speaking, summarizing, or other methods and technique. Find out how can you study best. It can be in a quiet place by yourself or with a great group.
18. Get help! If you don’t understand something it is better to ask someone. Ask your teachers, classmates, or friends for help.
19. Review! Review! Review! Make sure that you take the time to review things you have studied in the past for example in last week.
20. It’s not a good idea to study Persian on your own for more than 30 minutes at a time. Take regular breaks, get some fresh air and stretch your legs, and have great rest.
21. Don’t be in such a hurry to move up a level in Persian. Concentrate on the level you are at now.
22. Watch videos rather than TV. It’s better to use something that you can watch over again to catch information and points you might have missed the first time.
23. Watching TV only gives you the chance to hear and watch something correctly the first time. This is better for high-level Persian learners. It can be a nice practice for speaking to native Persian speakers so you don’t have to ask them to repeat themselves!
24. Read graded readers. These books are great and specially written for your level. Read a whole novel, You can do it! You’ll feel good afterward.
25. Children’s books have easier words and are a nice alternative to graded readers.
26. Newspapers are a great place to find passive constructs. Read an article and see if you can find the passive sentences.
27. First, read for the general meaning. Don’t worry about understanding every word, then go back and look up new Persian words.
28. For a word you don’t understand in a sentence, please look at the other words around it. They will give you a hint. Try to guess the meaning of Persian words from the context.
29. Learn root words. They’ll help you guess the meaning of Persian words.
30. When you learn a new word, Please think of all its other forms: زیبا (adjective), زیبایی (noun), زیبا بودن (Infinitive).
31. Learn prefixes (نا، هم، در) and suffixes (ار، ان، گر), these will help you to figure out the meaning of words and build your vocabulary.
32. Persian, unlike English, doesn’t use the word stress.
33. Use Persian whenever you can. It’s as simple as that!
34. Don’t translate into Persian from your own language. Think in Persian to improve your fluency. Talk to yourself…but not on the bus and train otherwise people will think you have gone crazy!
35. You can’t learn Persian from a book. Like driving a car or motorcycle, you can only learn through doing it.
36. The most natural and best way to learn grammar is through talking.
37. Keep a Persian diary or journal. Start by writing a few sentences a day or a week and then get into the habit of writing more.
38. You can also start an online blog and share your writings (in Persian) with the world?
39. To become a better and more professional writer brainstorm as many ideas and thoughts onto paper without worrying about grammar or spelling. Then please think about the structure. After that, write your text using good grammar and spelling. Finally, read it through or give it to others to check for mistakes.
40. Keep an eye on your Persian punctuation as it can totally change what you’re trying to say.
41. Sing your heart out! Show the world your nice voice! Learn Persian songs and sing along with them to improve fluency and intonation.
42. Get a penfriend or use chat-rooms, forums, and language exchange sites. If you can speak to someone in Persian, this is the next best thing.
43. Shadow Persian videos or podcasts. Listen to some sentences then repeat what you heard. Please focus on the rhythm and intonation.
44. Have Persian radio on in your house. Even if you are not actively and carefully listening to it, you will still be training your ears.
45. Mirror videos and podcasts, Read out loud along with a video or podcast. Again, this is nice for intonation, pronunciation, and rhythm.
46. Dictation. Listen to a video or friend or teacher and write down what you hear.
47. No one likes to hear their own voice, but be brave and try it! Record your voice and listen to your pronunciation and intonation in Persian. It will help you to identify your problem.
48. Ask your teacher if you can record his lesson. This is a nice way to review your lessons. You can also listen to your teacher’s speaking speed and pronunciation.
49. Use a Persian/Persian dictionary as it will help you to keep thinking in Persian and not translating.
50. If a Persian/Persian dictionary seems scary, there are learner dictionaries for Persian students of your level.
51. Don’t become so reliant on your dictionary. Your dictionary should be an aid, not your main Persian teacher. Try to guess the meaning of words rather than checking your dictionary.
52. Never give up! Stay positive! Sometimes you will feel that you aren’t learning so quickly. Everyone feels like you, don’t worry about it. You’ll get there in the end.
53. Enjoy it! We learn Persian more when we are having fun!
54. If you get nervous when speaking Persian, take two deep breaths and then say something. You’ll be able to speak better when you feel relaxed.
55. Keep yourself motivated by looking back at the books and videos you used in the past. You’ll be surprised at how easy they seem to you these days! Congratulations, your level is improving day by day!
56. You are never too young or too old to start learning Persian. Don’t make excuses not to learn Persian. What are you waiting for?
57. Procrastination can stop you from being successful in learning Persian. To stop procrastinating, it’s important you understand if your procrastinating is to avoid learning, or if it is your bad habit.
58. If you haven’t gotten the results you wanted yet, it’s not because you’re bad at the Persian language, it’s because you haven’t found your own way of learning yet.
59. Use resources that match your level suitable for you. Don’t use texts/listening exercises that are so difficult or so easy. Use materials that challenge you but don’t frustrate you in learning Persian.
60. Don’t worry about making your accent great. It’s an important part of your cultural identity to keep your accent and pronunciation. Native Persian speakers enjoy hearing Persian spoken with an accent.
61. There are many types of Persian: Farsi, Dari, or Tajik. None of these are wrong or not so important. Persian is Persian.
62. Instead, be aware of the differences in Farsi and Dari or Tajik Persian and use your words accordingly.
63. Carry Persian cue cards with you. These are small cards on which you can write new Persian words on. You can pull them out and look at them whenever you have free time.
64. Use post-it notes and stick them around your room or home. You can use them to label different things. Stick one on your door!
65. You can’t ignore phrasal verbs (two words verbs), there are hundreds of them in Persian and they’re widely used. The more you focus on their meaning, the more you’ll be able to guess and understand the meaning of new ones. You’ll able to recognize their patterns.
66. Use your intuition. you’ll be surprised how much your first guess is the right guess. As we said before, never give up and be confident.
67. Gather your thoughts. Please take a minute to think about anything that you want to say. You know the grammar, but maybe you don’t use it correctly when you speak Persian.
68. Meet new people. Make the effort to mix with Persian speakers in your town. You can go to a gym or a cooking class where foreigners hang out. Talk with them, they like that!
69. Be the person to start conversations in Persian. Try to keep the conversations moving and use listening words like (‘واقعا؟’ / ‘ادامه بده…’/ ‘بعد چه اتفاقی افتاد؟’) Don’t wait for others to speak to you. Get in there!
70. Debate. Discuss topics in some groups. Each person should choose a viewpoint and debate it within his/her group. Make sure you get your point across. Learn to listen actively. Active listening and listening carefully will help in the classroom and it will help you get more out of, and contribute more to, group study sessions. Focus on the person who is talking Persian. Don’t fidget or become distracted by others or events. Concentrate on the speaker or your teacher with your ears and eyes. Follow the movements the speaker makes in an effort to hear more and more. It may help to repeat what you hear others say in an effort to understand their thoughts and minds.
71. It’s not enough to only learn Persian words. You can teach a parrot Persian words but that doesn’t mean it can speak Persian! You still need to have an understanding of Persian grammar.
72. Verb tenses are used by Persian speakers to talk about the timing of actions. maybe you not have the same expressions in your own language. The important thing is that you know these tenses and when to use them.
73. Persian has some irregular verbs. You should study and practice them.
74. Keep it up! If you take a break from speaking Persian, you will find that your level decreases and all your hard work have been wasted.
75. Don’t give up on a bad test score. Sometimes students have the ability to pass a Persian test, but can’t communicate well with Persian speakers. If you can speak freely in Persian, you should be proud of yourself.
76. Remember that as long as you have tried your hardest to learn Persian, you have succeeded!
77. Learn Persian with a friend. You’ll have someone you can practice with and you can motivate each other to study Persian.
78. Remember, the way we write Persian is not the same as how it’s pronounced. Familiarize yourself with the Phonetic Alphabet. It will help you correctly pronounce Persian words in the dictionary.
79. Keep in mind that it takes longer to improve in Persian when our level is high. Usually, the fastest progress is made when we are beginner learners. Don’t think that you’re suddenly not learning Persian anymore, it’s just less noticeable progress.
80. Make sure that your Persian matches the occasion. It’s OK to use Persian slang with friends but not in a business meeting. Decide in which situation it’s appropriate to use the words and phrases you have learned before.
81. Textbook Persian is often different from the way we casually speak. To learn casual ‘slang’ watch different movies.
82. Idioms can be difficult to memorize, but they are great fun to use and they’ll make your Persian more colorful.
83. When talking Persian we usually link words together so that two words can sound like one. Actually, we link words ending with a consonant sound to words beginning with a vowel sound (consonant > vowel). Also, we link words ending with a vowel sound to words beginning with a vowel sound (vowel > vowel). Practice these to improve your listening and Persian pronunciation.
84. Make use of the internet. It’s full of resources to help you learn: Learnpersianonline.com
85. Please think about your strong and weak points. Write down which parts you want to improve on and work on improving them. Of course, don’t ignore your strong points too. Congratulate yourself on how well you’ve done!
86. Unlearn your mistakes. You probably make the same grammar mistakes over and over again in sentences or speaking. Use Persian test results as a study tool. Go over your mistakes and choose one or two of the mistakes that you want to focus on. Use your favorite grammar book to check Persian language rules.
87. You can also use online classes to learn Persian.
88. For fluency, try image training. Before you go to that restaurant think through what the waiters are likely to say to you. Think of what phrases and expressions you are going to use.
89. Much communication comes through body language and gestures. These can be different between cultures, traditions, and countries.
90. The easiest one – Sleep! You’ll learn anything more after a good night’s sleep. You’ll be able to concentrate more.
91. Take a Persian course in a Persian-speaking country like Iran.
92. If you studying abroad, Make friends with people from other countries not only people from your own country. It’s not a good idea for you to live in a shared house with people from your country. Enjoy a more cultural experience by spending time with other nationalities and cultures.
93. Have you ever considered working or doing an internship abroad?
94. Get yourself a qualified Persian teacher. Who wants to learn wrong things?
95. Nobody can learn all of the Persian language. No need to worry about trying. A useful shortcut to learning is that in Persian we have lots of words that have the same pronunciation, but a different spelling and meaning. For example, ‘خان’ has the same pronunciation as, ‘خوان’. Maybe you find it easier to build vocabulary by knowing the different meanings.
96. Once you have a basic level of Persian explore the different ways you can say the same thing. This makes your Persian more interesting to the listener and it shouldn’t be too difficult for you because you already know the basics. For example, how many ways can we say, ‘خداحافظ’ in Persian?
97. When you are on your Persian course, be prepared for your class. Do your homework and your tasks as soon as possible and hand it in on time. Review your notes and your last lesson a few minutes before your class. Doing this will refresh your memory and you’ll be warmed up for a new lesson.
98. Don’t get distracted in class, please. Focus on the lesson. Don’t be late, arrive a few minutes before the start of your lesson. Switch off your mobile. Be organized, remember to take your textbook, notebook, and pencil.
99. Find a comfortable, peaceful place for a great study. You need somewhere where you can perfectly focus.
100. Last but not least, learn Persian with Learn Persian Online!

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