Learn Persian

Start at the alphabet

The Persian on-ramp is written by hand, not generated, and it is 470 cards long. Every card is spoken in a recorded Persian voice, and what you get right is scheduled for review rather than shown again at random.

• 32letters
• 10digits
• 8pronunciation rules
• 300core words
• 60everyday phrases
• 60sentences

Three of the pronunciation cards, exactly as the on-ramp teaches them:

• short vowels — the short vowels a, e, o are usually not written — you fill them inدر — door
• joined letters — most letters join their neighbours and change shape by positionبابا — dad
• ث س ص — three different letters, all pronounced “s”سلام — hello

Your first Persian phrases

The first phrase and sentence cards of the on-ramp, each spoken in a recorded voice:

• سلام علیکم sa-LÂM a-ley-KOM — peace be upon you, a formal greeting
• عصر بخیر ASR be-KHEYR — good afternoon
• چه خبر؟ che kha-BAR — what's new?
• سلام، چطوری؟ sa-LÂM, che-TO-ri — Hello, how are you?
• اسم من آنا است. es-me man Â-nâ ast — My name is Ana.

What Persian actually costs a beginner

The short vowels a, e and o are usually not written, so a reader supplies them from vocabulary — which means reading Persian is partly a memory task until the words are known, and the on-ramp builds that stock deliberately, with three hundred words before it asks for a sentence. Letters also change shape depending on whether they open, sit inside or close a word, and several distinct letters share a single sound: ث, س and ص are all s. Each of those is a card, spoken in a recorded Persian voice.