Read 12 short, original Persian (Farsi) stories graded from beginner (A1) to intermediate (B1). Turn on the vowel marks and the Finglish line while you need them, tap any word for its meaning, and listen sentence by sentence.
No Persian voice was found on this device, so audio is off and the Finglish line shows the pronunciation. (You can usually add a Persian voice in your phone or computer speech settings.)
Culture note
Keyboard: V vowels, Z ezafe, F Finglish, E English, S spoken, J/K next/previous sentence, P play it, Esc close the word card.
Words you save while reading are kept in this browser. Export them as a CSV file for Anki, Quizlet or a spreadsheet.
Why graded reading works
You learn a language fastest from text you can almost read on your own. Research on extensive reading suggests that you pick up new words from context best when you already know about 95–98% of the words on the page. A native Persian novel is far beyond that for a learner; a graded story is not. That is why the stories here are graded:
| Level | What the stories use | Length |
|---|---|---|
| A1 Beginner | Present tense, است / هستم, everyday nouns, short dialogues | 80–90 words |
| A2 Elementary | Simple past, plurals, ezafe chains, customs and holidays | 95–115 words |
| B1 Intermediate | Present perfect, subjunctive, reported speech, idioms and taarof | 135–165 words |
Each story is set in everyday Iranian life: buying sangak at the bakery, a taxi ride, a Nowruz visit, Yalda night, bargaining in the bazaar, a phone call full of taarof, a day in Isfahan and a Mulla Nasreddin tale. Short culture notes explain the customs, so you learn how Persian is used as well as the words. Read the same story more than once: first with every help on, then with the Finglish and vowels off.
How to use the toggles
- Vowels shows the short vowels that Persian normally leaves out, so you can read every word aloud. Switch it off as soon as you can: real Persian text has no vowel marks.
- Ezafe -e marks the little linking vowel between words, as in نانِ داغ (nân-e dâgh, “hot bread”). Words that carry it get a dotted green underline, and the -e is shown in green in the Finglish line.
- Finglish shows the transliteration: â is the long a in nân, kh and gh are throaty sounds, and ‘ marks the Arabic letters ayn and hamza.
- English shows the translation of every sentence. Leave it off and press “Show English” only on the sentences you can’t work out.
- Spoken appears on the dialogue stories. It turns the dialogue into everyday Tehran Persian (نون for نان, میخواید for میخواهید), while the narration stays written Persian, just as in Persian novels.
- Tap any word to see its meaning, its dictionary form (for example میرود → رفتن), a link to our Persian dictionary, and a Save button. Saved words are highlighted in every story and collected under My words.
The Persian vowel marks explained
Persian writes its long vowels (ا â, و u, ی i) as letters, but its three short vowels are small optional marks above or below a letter. Adults read without them, which is why a new word like کرد can be kard (did) or Kord (Kurd). Children’s books and this reader add them back:
| Mark | Name | Sound | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| بَ | fatha (zebar) | a as in “cat” | مَن man, I |
| بِ | kasra (zir) | e as in “bed” | اِسم esm, name |
| بُ | zamma (pish) | o as in “more” (short) | پُل pol, bridge |
| بْ | sukun | no vowel after the letter | rarely needed; left out here |
| بّ | tashdid | doubled consonant | مُعَلِّم mo’allem, teacher |
| اً | tanvin | -an at the end of a word | لطفاً lotfan, please |
The ezafe is written with a kasra after a consonant (شبِ یلدا shab-e Yaldâ), with ی after â or u (برایِ ما barâ-ye mâ), and after a silent final ه with ی or a small hamza (خانهی ما or خانهٔ ما, khâne-ye mâ). In normal writing the kasra is left out, so learners often miss it. Keep the Ezafe toggle on until you hear it automatically. The final ه of words like خانه already stands for the -e sound, so the reader does not add a mark before it.
Ready for longer texts? The Farsi Reading Bundle gives you six Persian readers on the art, culture and history of Iran, so you can keep reading after these stories.
See the Reading BundleRelated tools and lessons
- All free Persian tools
- Persian flashcards
- Persian dictation practice
- Finglish to Persian converter
- Persian–English dictionary
- Ezafe in Persian: rules and examples
- Spoken vs written Persian
- Taarof: Persian politeness explained
- Nowruz: the Persian New Year
- Grammar lesson 1: Persian vowels
FAQ
Are these stories good for complete beginners?
Yes, if you already know the Persian alphabet. Start with the A1 stories and keep Vowels, Ezafe and Finglish switched on. If you can’t read the letters yet, learn them first, then come back: the vowel marks make every word readable.
Why is there a written and a spoken version?
Persian is written in a formal style but spoken differently, especially in Tehran: میشود (mishavad) becomes میشه (mishe) and خانه (khâne) becomes خونه (khune). The Spoken toggle shows how the characters would really talk, so you can understand people as well as books.
Where are my saved words and progress stored?
In your own browser (local storage). Nothing is sent to a server, and nothing is lost if you close the page. If you clear your browser data or switch devices, the list starts again, so download the CSV from time to time.
Why can’t I hear the audio?
The reader uses your device’s built-in Persian text-to-speech voice. If your browser has no Persian voice, the listen buttons are hidden and the Finglish line shows the pronunciation instead. Computer voices are useful for practice but not perfect, so check the Finglish line too.
Who wrote the stories?
They were written for this reader in standard modern Persian, with simple grammar for each level. The Mulla Nasreddin story retells a traditional tale; all the others are new. If you spot a mistake, please let us know through the contact page.
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