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Is Farsi Worth Learning? Why You Should Learn Farsi

Before you decide to learn Farsi, you should probably motivate yourself by knowing if Farsi is worth learning, right? Well you’re in luck!

This post goes helps you decide by going into detail on if Farsi is worth learning, if it’s a useful language to know and how hard it is.

Is Farsi Worth Learning?

Well, learning to speak Farsi is worth it for a handful of reasons:

  • It gives you great job prospects & makes your resume stand out from other candidates.
  • Persian is one of the oldest civilizations in the world.
  • You can more easily meet (and even date) people who don’t speak English.
  • Iran is a global power with a huge oil and gas industry.
  • Farsi is the most spoken language in the Middle East & West Asia after Arabic.
  • Persian culture is vibrant from ancient poetry to world-class films.
  • You can easily travel to a new part of the world.
  • Farsi is relatively easy for English-speakers to learn.
  • Farsi is one of the 20 most spoken languages in the world with over 110 million speakers.

Keep reading to find out more about why Farsi is worth learning.

Is Farsi Useful to Learn?

Yes, Farsi is definitely a useful language to learn.

Farsi is actually one of the most important languages of the Middle East and Central Asia. It’s the second most spoken language in the Middle East after Arabic.

It has about 62 million native speakers and another 50 million people speak it as a second language. This places it among the world’s top 20 most spoken languages.

Farsi is the official language in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Sizable minority populations live in other countries like Uzbekistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Bahrain, Oman and the UAE.

There are also significant communities of speakers living in Turkey, Europe, Australia, Canada and the US.

Learning Farsi Will Improve Job Prospects

Without a doubt, learning a second language will improve your job prospects but is Farsi the best language to choose?

Definitely! And here’s why…

Farsi is not a popular language to learn, at least in places like Europe and the US. Very few people sign up to Farsi classes and even fewer learn to speak the language fluently.

It was found in 2013 that fewer than 3,000 college students were signed up to Farsi classes in the US.

This means that Farsi speakers are hard to find so it will definitely make your resume stand out from the crowd if you can speak Farsi. 

Of course, having Farsi on your resume will only help if being able to speak Farsi would be useful in the job you’re applying for.

For example, if you’re applying for a nursing job in New York City then chances are speaking Farsi won’t give you a huge advantage over other candidates.

But…there are lots of jobs out there that do need Farsi speakers urgently such as companies with interests in Iran.

Many government agencies in the US and Europe, particularly those involved in intelligence, military and diplomatic activities, have a high demand for Farsi speakers given Iran and the Middle East’s geopolitical importance.

The US government has actually designated Farsi as a ‘critical need language’ and now offers many scholarships for students learning Farsi.

Iran is also very rich in oil and other natural mineral resources. You would also have a huge advantage over other candidates in the oil industry.

You could also work as a translator or interpreter. Finding people who speak both Farsi and English is tough so you’ll be in high demand in this industry.

Learning Farsi could open up a whole new world of career opportunities for you.

Iran is an Important Country

Iran is all that is left of the former Persian empire and today it still serves as a huge regional power.

Iran actually holds the fourth-largest reserves of oil and the second-largest of natural gas in the world.

It also has the second-largest economy in the Middle East and a population of 80 million people. 

For this reason, as a Farsi speaker, you’d definitely be a sought after person who would be able to engage and do business with Iran and its businesses.

Farsi is Useful for Travel

You may not have considered traveling to Iran before but it’s about time you do.

Iran is home to 26 UNESCO World Heritage Sites including ancient ruins and archaeological sites, a palace, a desert and even a monastery.

You may not be aware but Iran actually has a huge travel and tourism industry with 5 million visitors traveling there each year.

If you do choose to travel to Iran make sure you give yourself plenty of time to prepare as American tourists currently need an entry visa and must be accompanied by a guide or tour group.

Tajikistan, where Farsi is also spoken (the language is known as Tajiki there), is another popular destination for travelers and many US study abroad programs are offered there.

Is Farsi a Hard Language to Learn?

Whilst Farsi isn’t the easiest language to learn, it is actually relatively easy for English-speakers to learn compared with other Middle Eastern languages.

I’ve actually written an entire post on if Farsi is a hard language to learn but here’s a quick overview.

Farsi grammar is actually very simple. Farsi has no gender, nouns only have one form and there are no irregular verb conjugations.

Pronunciation can be difficult for English speakers at first but it’s not impossible. 

One other difficulty is learning the alphabet which was borrowed from Arabic. Find out why Farsi is written in Arabic.

Again, this does take time to learn and become confident with but it’s nothing you can’t handle.

Farsi is actually much easier to learn than Arabic which many people often choose to learn instead.

Related Post: Should I Learn Farsi Or Arabic?

On average it would take about 1100 hours or 44 weeks to learn Farsi for an English speaker. 

This assumes you do 25 hours of studying a week. If you’re not able to dedicate this much time to learning Farsi it may take you longer. 

This is based on the language classification system created by the Foreign Service Institute.

The Foreign Service Institute has spent decades teaching foreign languages and has created a language classification system which tells you how long it takes for a student to reach ‘professional working proficiency’ in a language. 

They have placed Farsi in ‘category III’ alongside other languages like Polish, Russian, Hindi and more.

What is Unique About Farsi?

Farsi actually has huge historical importance as it was a language that was used in ancient civilizations which date back to 600 BC.

Farsi is one of the oldest Indo-European languages, it’s even older than Latin. 

Learning Farsi also opens you up to a rich and unique culture from ancient poetry to world-class films. 

Persian poetry and literature is world-renowned. Iconic poets such as Rumi, Hafez, Saadi and Ferdowsi all wrote their works in Farsi.

As the Persian language hasn’t changed much in the last 1,000 years, you’ll be able to enjoy their works in the original language they were written in. 

These Persian poets have influenced writers across the globe for centuries and modern Persian literature is also super popular with international audiences.

As well as literature, Iran is known to produce world-class films that have been recognized at a variety of international film festivals and honored with awards including the Oscars.

Additionally, Iran is the direct heir of the Persian empire meaning it has a huge amount of history to explore.

How Can I Learn Farsi?

If you’ve got to this point in the post and you’re up for the challenge of learning Farsi, you may now be wondering where to start.

Whilst popular language learning platforms like Babbel don’t have Farsi, there are many great courses out there to get you started.

The best free resource is our 100 most common Farsi words PDF. Grab yours below…

I can also personally recommend using the Pimsleur Farsi course

I’ve used Pimsleur courses many times in the past to learn new languages and they are honestly the best.

Pimsleur Farsi is a fantastic audio course that will get you speaking from day 1. 

This course is perfect for anyone who wants to focus on being able to speak the language (rather than just reading and writing). 

You can try the first Pimsleur Farsi lesson for free to see if you like it.

If you’re looking for a standard textbook to help you with Farsi then the Teach Yourself Farsi book is one of the best out there. 

If you also want to be able to read and write in Farsi then you’ll need a textbook like this one. 

It’s a great reference point and explains the language in clear, easy to understand terms. 

For more book suggestions, check out my post on the best books to learn Farsi which has a range of options for all learners.

Now that you have gotten a glimpse into if Farsi is worth learning, it’s time to embark on your own journey! 

Below are a few links to help you get started:

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