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Persian/Farsi materials

 Language Learning Forum : Questions About Your Target Languages Post Reply
20 messages over 3 pages: 1 2 3  Next >>
sipes23
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
pluteopleno.com/wprs
Joined 4652 days ago
134 posts - 235 votes 
Speaks: English*, Latin
Studies: Spanish, Ancient Greek, Persian

 
 Message 1 of 20
29 November 2011 at 4:38am | IP Logged 
I've got a Persian problem.

Here's where I stand:
1. I've got a decent handle on the alphabet. Not perfect, but enough that I can jump around on fa.wikipedia.org
and not get surprised--as long as I stick to proper names.
2. I'm really disliking the DIY print learning materials that are readily available for multiple reasons (often not just
one per product). They tend to rely strictly on Romanization, skip vowel points (driving reliance on Romanization)
or have tiny type (which isn't friendly to newb eyes).
3. Minimal extensive reading that I can use to reinforce grammar, syntax and vocabulary.
4. Various websites for native speakers are way over my head.

Things I've figured out:
1. I can't rely on vowel pointing forever. I've just got to learn the written language without it—but it has its uses
for didactic purposes. Particularly for indicating ezafe and new words.
2. Dialogs, while very useful, don't give enough exposure. Or am I just not repeating them often enough?
3. I may have to make my own materials to suit my learning style.
4. YouTube and other internet sites are better than most print materials I've seen, but they've got their pitfalls.

Things I think I need:
1. A general word frequency list that an English-speaker can interpret to help me focus on Persian's function
words.
2. Sympathy. Ha. Or maybe a smack to the head.

My aims:
1. I'm not sure, but I guess being able to read standard written Persian for now would be good.
2. Maybe I'll deal with the spoken later.
2 persons have voted this message useful



Kanishka
Triglot
Newbie
Italy
Joined 4710 days ago
15 posts - 32 votes
Speaks: Italian*, English, French
Studies: Persian, Pashto, Dari

 
 Message 2 of 20
29 November 2011 at 9:44am | IP Logged 
There are some sources in this thread: http://how-to-learn-any-
language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=30073&PN=1&TPN=2

I learned Persian alphabet mainly with John Mace's Teach Yourself Modern Persian (i.e.
the old edition); I can read with errors and quite slowly, but I feel comfortable with
it. At this point, it's a matter of practice; you just have to memorize words without
vowels, or guess them. It's kinda funny, anyway.
On the other hand, I sometimes desire that Persian had an alphabet better suited to the
language >:(
2 persons have voted this message useful



prz_
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Poland
last.fm/user/prz_rul
Joined 4641 days ago
890 posts - 1190 votes 
Speaks: Polish*, English, Bulgarian, Croatian
Studies: Slovenian, Macedonian, Persian, Russian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Dutch, Swedish, German, Italian, Armenian, Kurdish

 
 Message 3 of 20
29 November 2011 at 3:44pm | IP Logged 
Right, poor language destroyed by Arabic (of course I have nothing against Arabic, but Arabic influence has been enormous)
1 person has voted this message useful



sipes23
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
pluteopleno.com/wprs
Joined 4652 days ago
134 posts - 235 votes 
Speaks: English*, Latin
Studies: Spanish, Ancient Greek, Persian

 
 Message 4 of 20
29 November 2011 at 6:37pm | IP Logged 
Kanishka wrote:
There are some sources in this thread: http://how-to-learn-any-
language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=30073&PN=1&TPN=2

I learned Persian alphabet mainly with John Mace's Teach Yourself Modern Persian (i.e.
the old edition); I can read with errors and quite slowly, but I feel comfortable with
it. At this point, it's a matter of practice; you just have to memorize words without
vowels, or guess them. It's kinda funny, anyway.
On the other hand, I sometimes desire that Persian had an alphabet better suited to the
language >:(


Oh, to have had the foresight to search.

Yes, the alphabet is quite nasty in some ways, but a total delight in others. Just part of the package, which I as an
outsider can only cope with.

As for the old TY by Mace, I've got it and find it to be the best of a sorry lot. The type is beyond tiny.
1 person has voted this message useful



Kanishka
Triglot
Newbie
Italy
Joined 4710 days ago
15 posts - 32 votes
Speaks: Italian*, English, French
Studies: Persian, Pashto, Dari

 
 Message 5 of 20
29 November 2011 at 6:53pm | IP Logged 
sipes23 wrote:
As for the old TY by Mace, I've got it and find it to be the best of a
sorry lot. The type is beyond tiny.

You're absolutely right. That's the main problem with it.
On the other hand, Assimil is very good and has awesome print; the alphabet is spread in
the first 28 (!) lessons, so it's a bit slow at first

Edited by Kanishka on 29 November 2011 at 6:54pm
1 person has voted this message useful



rhowey
Diglot
Newbie
New Zealand
Joined 4526 days ago
5 posts - 5 votes
Studies: Persian, English*, German
Studies: French, Esperanto

 
 Message 6 of 20
30 November 2011 at 7:48pm | IP Logged 
easypersian.com ?
At least for the basics. I found it useful, although I don't really know what's useful
because I can actually understand Farsi but just can't speak it....
1 person has voted this message useful



Hendrek
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 4664 days ago
152 posts - 210 votes 
Speaks: English*, Italian
Studies: Persian

 
 Message 7 of 20
01 December 2011 at 9:27pm | IP Logged 
I learned the alphabet and did a lot of exercises through easypersian.com (I finished all 135 lessons at the time) and found it to be very helpful for that purpose (2+ years later with practically no study and I still know the alphabet and can read *very* basic Farsi), but it certainly isn't enough beyond teaching phrases, basic grammar, and the alphabet.

Real reading, speaking, writing, and listening practice will have to come from somewhere else.
3 persons have voted this message useful



sipes23
Diglot
Senior Member
United States
pluteopleno.com/wprs
Joined 4652 days ago
134 posts - 235 votes 
Speaks: English*, Latin
Studies: Spanish, Ancient Greek, Persian

 
 Message 8 of 20
03 December 2011 at 3:55am | IP Logged 
Kanishka wrote:
On the other hand, Assimil is very good and has awesome print; the alphabet is spread in
the first 28 (!) lessons, so it's a bit slow at first


And in French, which I don't exactly know.

Hendrek wrote:
I learned the alphabet and did a lot of exercises through easypersian.com (I finished all 135
lessons at the time) and found it to be very helpful for that purpose (2+ years later with practically no study and I
still know the alphabet and can read *very* basic Farsi), but it certainly isn't enough beyond teaching phrases,
basic grammar, and the alphabet.

Real reading, speaking, writing, and listening practice will have to come from somewhere else.


easypersian.com isn't bad, but I prefer hard copy in front of me. The backlit screen is, well, not my preference for
intense looking and reading. But from what I've seen, it's not bad. There is a guy at youtube (goodcyrus) who
does the best intro to the alphabet I've seen so far. I made a playlist out of all of his videos.

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL43A0B0FFB32754EE&feat ure=mh_lolz


2 persons have voted this message useful



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