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The Absolute Best Books To Learn Farsi For Beginners & More

If you’re wondering which book is best for learning Persian then you’re in the right place.

Below I’ve listed the best books to learn Persian to save you time.

This list focuses on books that teach Farsi, the variety of Persian that is mainly spoken in Iran.

Best Books To Learn Farsi

Check out my complete list below of the best books to learn Farsi.

I’ve mainly included books for beginner and intermediate learners.

The list includes books that will teach you how to read + write the Persian script, grammar concepts, vocabulary and more.

1. Persian in Use: An Elementary Textbook of Language and Culture

Skill level: Beginner

Key features:

  • Teaches alphabet, vocabulary & grammar.
  • Features interactive dialogues.
  • Straightforward grammar explanations.
  • Engaging exercises to help you practice.

This book is ideal for anyone new to Farsi as it was designed for first-year language students at university.

It can also support you all the way from absolute beginner up to intermediate learner.

What’s great about this book is that they focus on language that is actually used. It focuses on contemporary, modern language that you’ll hear in everyday conversations.

It also features exercises to help you practice the language, conversation dialogues and even samples of popular Farsi writings. 

Check price and availability on Amazon here

2. Learn to Speak Farsi in 30 Days

Skill level: Beginner

Key features:

  • Focuses on speaking rather than reading & writing.
  • Uses romanization instead of Farsi script.
  • Teaches modern language that you’ll use everyday.

This book is perfect for anyone who just wants to be able to speak Farsi and isn’t bothered about reading and writing.

This book doesn’t teach the alphabet and uses romanization to teach you words and phrases in Farsi. 

This is great as it speeds up the process of learning Farsi if your main goal is to speak the language.

Each chapter of the book teaches new vocabulary, grammar concepts and includes reading lessons. 

They do also focus on contemporary words and phrases that you’ll hear in everyday conversations so you know you’re not wasting time learning vocabulary that you’ll never use.

Check price on Amazon here

3. Complete Modern Persian (Farsi) Beginner to Intermediate Course

Skill level: Beginner + intermediate

Key features:

  • Will take you from complete beginner to B2 level.
  • Comes with 2 CDs with audio material.
  • Includes tests to keep track of your progress.

This course is one of the most extensive Farsi books out there. It will take you all the way from complete beginner to a B2 level.

B2 level learners can understand and be understood in most situations. By the end of this book, you will be a confident Farsi speaker. 

One advantage of this book over others is that it also comes with 2 audio CDs so you can practice your Farsi listening skills and hear the pronunciation of words.

This is actually one of the best books to learn Farsi available.

Check price on Amazon here

4. Farsi (Persian) for Beginners: Learning Conversational Farsi

Skill level: Beginner

Key features:

  • Includes downloadable native-speaker audio recordings.
  • Has exercises throughout the book to test yourself.
  • Teaches the Farsi alphabet.

This book is ideal for someone just starting out with Farsi who wants to get to a basic level. It focuses on conversational Farsi.

It claims that by the end of the book you will be able to understand short sentences, express your basic needs and read + write in the Farsi alphabet. 

The book does include plenty of dialogues and stories to teach you conversational Farsi. It also teaches some common idioms and sayings as well as cultural tips.

Check price on Amazon here

5. Beginner’s Persian (Iranian Farsi) with Online Audio

Skill level: Beginner

Key features:

  • Includes access to online audio.
  • Teaches the Farsi alphabet.
  • Includes useful words & phrases used in everyday conversation.

This book features practical lessons with natural dialogues, useful vocabulary and everyday expressions.

It covers all the basics and is a great introduction to Farsi if you’ve never learnt it before.

You can also access online audio which helps you practice your pronunciation and improve your listening skills which is also great.

It has been noted that whilst this book does teach the Farsi alphabet, it isn’t super detailed so if you’re completely new to the alphabet, you may need additional resources (like the next book on this list!).

Check price on Amazon here

Want to Learn Farsi Fast?

6. How to Write in Persian (A Workbook for Learning the Persian Alphabet)

Skill level: Beginner

Key features:

  • Focuses on teaching you how to read and write in Persian.
  • Includes lots of writing practice.
  • Detailed information on each letter.

This book is ideal for beginners who want to learn to read and write in Persian. 

It gives clear descriptions of each individual letter, giving its name, sound, different forms and examples.

The book also gives you directions on how to write the letter which is followed by exercises so you can practice writing Persian for yourself!

It is very detailed and also includes common Persian fonts, different handwriting styles and Persian numbers so you have absolutely everything you need to read & write effectively in Persian.

Check price on Amazon here

7. Learn Persian – Farsi Step by Step – Absolute Beginner

Skill level: Beginner

Key features:

  • Focuses on colloquial Farsi phrases that you’ll hear everyday.
  • Includes more than 100 audio tracks.
  • Teaches you the basics of the language.

This book is suited to beginners who want to get to a basic level of Farsi. It’s not designed to get you fluent, but it is a fantastic introduction to the language and is super easy to follow.

Expect to learn things like greetings, numbers, colors, describing things, introducing yourself, ordering in a restaurant etc.

Additionally, it teaches fundamental grammar rules and essential verbs. They also explain the differences between written and spoken Farsi.

Check price on Amazon here

8. My Mother’s Persian Stories: Folk tales for all ages in English and Farsi

Skill level: Intermediate

Key features:

  • A collection of short stories in Farsi.
  • Aimed at children so it is easy to understand.
  • Great for practicing comprehension.

This book is perfect for learners who have some understanding of Farsi already. It is a collection of 30 short bedtime stories in Farsi & English.

It is a great way to improve your comprehension of the language whilst learning about Persian culture at the same time.

As the book is written for children, it’s easy to understand for learners and a great way to start practicing reading in Farsi.

Check price on Amazon here

9. Colloquial Persian: The Complete Course for Beginners

Skill level: Beginner

Key features:

  • Clear, structured grammar explanations.
  • Lots of exercises to help you practice.
  • Realistic dialogues.

This book is perfect for those new to Farsi who want to learn the basics. It has clear grammar explanations, vocabulary lists, exercises, dialogues and more.

Additionally, you can also download audio material to go along with the book to practice your pronunciation and listening skills.

This book doesn’t go into depth on the Farsi alphabet so you will need some prior knowledge of this to get the most out of this book. 

They do include English transliteration though if you can’t read the script.

Check price on Amazon here

10. Basic Persian: A Grammar and Workbook

Skill level: Beginner + intermediate

Key features:

  • A book which focuses on fundamental grammar concepts.
  • Lots of useful examples.
  • Clear, easy-to-understand explanations.

This book is great for both beginner and intermediate Farsi learners who want to improve their level of Farsi. 

It focuses almost entirely on grammar concepts so makes an ideal grammar reference book, perfectly complementing other Farsi resources.

The explanations are jargon-free and easy to understand. They are always accompanied with lots of useful examples so you can learn with ease.

There are also lots of exercises throughout this book so you can practice what you’ve learnt.

Check price on Amazon here

11. Learn Farsi in 100 Days: The Ultimate Crash Course to Learning Farsi Fast

Skill level: Beginner

Key features:

  • A crash course to learning Farsi.
  • Has 100 chapters (the aim is to do 1 chapter a day)
  • Can get you to an advanced level fast.

This book makes the bold claim that it will get you to a fluent level of Farsi in just 100 days.

They have 1 chapter per day (that’s 100 chapters) but you will have to spend 90 to 120 minutes a day studying to complete it in 100 days.

If that sounds like it’s too much for you, you can slow down the pace and do less per day and still get a lot out of this book.

The book covers all the basics including grammar explanations, essential vocabulary lists, idioms, pronunciation and more.

Check price on Amazon here

12. Read and Write Persian Language in 7 Days: A Workbook and Step-by-Step Guide

Skill level: Beginner

Key features:

  • Focus on reading & writing.
  • Teaches you the Farsi script.
  • Lots of chances to practice.
  • Also teaches common vocab and grammar.

This book is ideal for a beginner who doesn’t know how to read or write in the Farsi script as it is extremely detailed.

It goes over each letter of the Farsi alphabet explaining how the letter sounds and how it is written.

In addition to the alphabet, this book also teaches basic grammar concepts, common Farsi words, sentence structures and pronunciation.

It serves as a good foundation to the Farsi language by teaching all of the basics that you need to know.

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And that’s it!

These are the top 12 best books to learn Farsi. 

There’s a range of great Farsi books that are ideal for all levels of learners including beginners, intermediate and even advanced learners.

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