As a language, Persian belongs to the Indo-European family of languages, with roots well traced to the classical period of ancient Iran in three stages of development: Old Iranian which was continued up to the fourth century B.C., Middle Iranian, up to the ninth century A.D. and Modern Iranian up to the present.

Comparing individual members of Indo-European languages with each other, we find Modern Iranian the easiest of all for English-speaking people to learn. While there has been a universal drift among these languages towards reduction and regularization of flexion, Modern Iranian, which is known to the native speakers as zabān-i fārsī (The Persian Language), in the past 1,500 years provides distinct continuity. This continuity is mostly due to the simplicities of impressive grammatical points such as:

In addition to the aforementioned points, the Persian language provides a great deal of information about Indo-Iranian religious, philosophical, liturgical and ethical development through a vocabulary commonly shared by almost all members of the Indo-European family of languages, especially through the scriptures of the Avesta and other Zoroastrian books. The issues in these books were objects of interest and study in Europe long before the attempt was made to solve the problems of ancient world languages. In fact, the study of the old languages of Western Asia is closely connected to the Old Persian and the Middle Persian languages through which Western Europe knew the original texts of Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism.

Using three distinct scripts, i.e., cuneiform, Pahlavi, and Arabic, shared by almost all the nations of Western Asia and the Middle East, the Persian language is not only inspired by the culture and civilization of that area but has contributed a great deal of its own rich culture to it. Thus, the study of the Persian language supports the study of Indo-European civilization in which the influence of the literature, religion, philosophy, and the cultural history of the Near East can be traced.

In this book, a specific attempt has been made to teach idiomatic Persian from the very beginning in order to enable students to read and write through spoken language patterns based on the everyday lively language of the people of Iran.

In my years of experience working with students of Persian language, both individually and in-groups, I have found that an early introduction to a transliteration system has facilitated and expedited the learning of the language. Thus, in this book after the vowel and consonant sounds, I have presented a consistent transliteration system involving visual reproduction of the sounds into writing. For teaching the script, the letters are presented on a basic line where their visual relationships to each other facilitate the identity of the shape and place of the letters.

For a student first approaching the Persian language, the following introductory manual will be invaluable. Contained in these few pages is a synopsis of the crucial elements of the language: alphabet, writing technique, and pronunciation.

The primary contribution of the text is the encapsulation of all these crucial elements since, in the early stages of concentration on a new language, the student must constantly refer to an unfamiliar alphabet and novel writing rules and techniques. This information must be easily accessible, but both explanations in English and an excess of vocabulary, unfortunately, often clutter the typical language textbook. This first year primer, in contrast, is refreshing in its brevity and directness.

A correct emphasis is placed on the importance of hearing Persian as spoken by a native. When used in conjunction with such an exposure, this elementary text can be used in such a way that each student may progress at his or her own pace. This is possible precisely because the manual is simple and clear and may be interpreted independently of detailed explanations by an instructor.

This introductory text, then, provides the first stone in the construction of a sturdy foundation from which the serious student may approach more extensive vocabulary studies and more complicated grammatical structure. The journey into the heart of the Persian language has begun.

Kazem Tehrani