Help Support Easy Persian: Make a Small Donation

Menu

Persian Lesson 6 – Letters /ta:/ to /ghæin/

Hello everyone, welcome back!

How do you find the lessons? Is it really helping? I hope it is. I’ll be grateful if you let me know how the site is doing. Please keep on writing.

All right. To begin with, let’s take a look at the letters we learned last week. Remember? Good! Now repeat them again. They are , , , , . Click here if you need to listen again.

Zhe to Zaad

Ok. Now let’s start the new lesson. As you know, so far we have studied 18 letters and practiced them well with the help of short and long vowels. As I have told you before, you shouldn’t skip any of the lessons and at the same time you have to learn how to write and detect the letters. It will help you get strong with the basics. You are quite aware that it’s you who have chosen this site to learn Persian. And you know that you are doing this because of the reasons you have in learning this language. As a result, I don’t need to remind you on and on to follow the instructions as you are being told. All I must do is try hard, as much as I can, to provide you with the good, easy, and reasonable way to help you learn this language. In response, all you have to do is follow the instructions and practice as much as you need. I’ll be really happy just when I see your progress. Is that fair enough?!

Today’s letters,

19. This is called /ta:/.

Taa

This letter has only one form. When combined with the vowels, it may be pronounced as . Need help? Here!

All Ta

Note: as you see, these two letters, and , when combined with the vowels, have the same pronunciation. And of course, they have different functions.

20. This is called /za:/.

Zaa

This letter has only one form. By one form, I mean they have no distinguishable big and small forms. When combined, it may be pronounced as .

Zaal

Note: as you see, these letters, , , , and , when combined, have the same pronunciations but different functions. Currently, you don’t need to worry at all about these functions. Later you will see that it will not be really confusing. Just learn the letters as you are being told. That’s all.

21. This is the big letter. I need to explain some about the way it is pronounced. I am sure all of you know the pronunciation of this English word: Main /mein/. Is that correct? Ok. Now, just suppose that we pronounce it this way: /mæin/. And you know /æ/as /æ/ in dad. Now what will happen if we delete ‘m’ from its pronunciation? It’s quite clear. We will have /æin/instead of /mæin/. So, this letter is called /æin/.

Ain

It appears at the end of the words and stands separately. Like this word: .

Sometimes, it appears at the end of the letters but it is attached to the previous letter. In this case, it will be written as . Like this word:.

This is the small letter /æin/. It comes at the beginning of the words and is attached to the letters that come after it. Like this word: .

This one is the small form of the same letter too. The difference is that this small form sits between two letters and is attached to them. Like this word: . It does not appear at the beginning or end of the words.

In short, this is /æin/, and has four different forms.

When combined, it may be pronounced as . Click here to listen.

All Alef

Note: as you see, these two letters, and , when combined, have the same pronunciation but different functions.

22. This is the big letter. Like the previous one, it has four forms. The way it is pronounced needs some explanations. However, if you think the explanations of the letters are not convincing, simply listen to their pronunciations.

Hopefully, all of you know the pronunciation of ‘r’ in French words like ‘bonjour‘. The pronunciation of this letter in Persian is represented by /gh/, in Latin-based writings. As you saw in number 21, we changed the pronunciation of this English word ‘Main’ into /æin/. Now, simply put the French letter ‘r’ or its Persian Latin-based equivalent /gh/ at the beginning of /æin/. We will have /ræin/ or /ghæin/. Is that clear? So, this letter is called /ghæin/.

Ghain

It stands separately at the end of the words, like what you see in this word: .

Note: At this stage, you don’t need to know these words and it’s quite natural. All you need to know is the letters that you are just learning. I show these letters in different words to just let you see the status of these letters in different words. That’s all.

This is also the big form of the same letter and comes at the end of the words. The difference is that is attached to the previous letters. Like this word: .

This is the small letter. It comes at the beginning of the words and is attached to the letters that come after it. Like this word: .

This is the small letter too. But it appears between two letters and is attached to both of them. Like here: .

This letter, when combined with the vowels, is pronounced as .

All Ghain

If you need to listen to today’s letters once more, click here.

Taa to Ghain

All right. With this, we come to the end of lesson 6. I hope you are enjoying these lessons. As you know, practice makes perfect!

Don’t forget to check the Let’s write and Useful drill pages now.

Feel tired? Hit me!

Lesson 6

41 Comments

  1. Natalka
    May 26, 2012 @ 8:10 pm

    It is really very easy to learn Persian using your site. Yesterday I spent 2 or 3 hours studying the first five lessons and have learned to pronounce, write and detect the first 18 letters of the Persian alphabet.

    • Hassan H.
      May 29, 2012 @ 11:45 pm

      Thanks Natalka

      Best,
      Hassan

      • Hussain Istan
        November 23, 2013 @ 9:46 am

        no tnx u Hassan

    • Prantik
      February 19, 2015 @ 8:18 am

      Hello, administrator thanks a lot for this site a few day i am trying to learn persian becuse i have many persian friend so i need to learn it . Thanks for this site . i am trying heart and soul for it . Thasskoor

  2. Hamza
    June 6, 2012 @ 7:43 am

    Its a wonderful site. The way you have explained everything makes learning persian so easy.
    Thanks a lot.

  3. MIchael
    June 8, 2012 @ 5:31 pm

    Really enjoying the site – you are a talented teacher. My wife is on lesson 11 but I’m only on lesson 6! Need to work faster…

  4. Amin
    June 13, 2012 @ 6:36 am

    This website is fantastic.

  5. Hassan H
    June 15, 2012 @ 11:41 am

    Thank you everybody. Very kind of you. Glad to hear you are happy.

    Best,
    Hassan

  6. Max Jones
    June 19, 2012 @ 1:39 am

    I took a break from Persian, but am back noticing the awesome new features, however I’ve noticed a slight thing that I wondered if it could be fixed. When I go to the Lesson’s writing page I have to go back to the main lesson to go to the next lesson. Can you possibly make a link like the previous format to go to any of the four pages of a lesson? For example, can you somehow make a link on let’s write 6 to lesson 7? Thanks. I love the new format by the way. Can’t wait to review and catch up to my previous point. I hope to catch up on my goal set last year of lesson 77 by December :)

  7. Åsa Enkvist
    July 5, 2012 @ 8:57 am

    Thank you so much for this great site! It’s so easy to follow and since the lessons are so short you get the feeling htat you’re making progress all the time! Greetings from Sweden!

  8. Mo Sesay
    July 23, 2012 @ 6:02 pm

    Just to say thank you very much for this site. It is the best website I have found for learning a foreign language. It is really enjoyable to come to class every day! Thanks again. Mo

  9. Greg W
    July 27, 2012 @ 6:41 pm

    Thank you very much for this website! Very well done and easy to make your way through it, considering it’s a completely new language to me.

    I have just one question: How does the sound for Ghain differ from Re? You haven’t written that they’re both the same sound, so I listened to both and I have trouble finding the difference in pronunciation.

    Thanks again.

    Greg

  10. Tito Lume
    July 29, 2012 @ 6:01 pm

    It’s clear.The Persian alphabet is an Arabic alphabet for Farsi speakers.For this reason many signs have the same sound, meanwhile in Arabic the sound is different (I have an Arabic dictionary). For the Latin alphabet is the same thing with many other languages, strange world!

  11. YuYu
    August 9, 2012 @ 1:25 pm

    Thank you very much!! This site is a perfect way to learn such a difficult language….
    Just one question about this page:
    Why there is “All Alef” below the “Ain”?
    Sorry if I not understood something..

  12. Veronika
    November 25, 2012 @ 2:16 am

    YuYu, because they have the same pronunciation when “ain” is combined with vowels :)

  13. missaoitaliano
    February 2, 2013 @ 7:30 pm

    Is ghain pronounced the same as kh? I mean, with the vowels.

  14. Lisa
    February 18, 2013 @ 6:44 pm

    Thankyou Hassan! I married my Persian boyfriend last year and am dying to be able to talk to his family. I used Rosetta stone but your breakdown makes everything so much easier to understand – thankyou! Now I just have to keep up my patience to learn – thanks for the reminder every lesson :-)

  15. Umme Abiha Zahra
    March 23, 2013 @ 8:10 pm

    persian is more easy for me cuz i know urdu as i’m Pakistani and urdu and persian letters are same and pronounced same……. so i’m enjoying learning persian

  16. Tahir Mussa Omar
    May 28, 2013 @ 7:02 pm

    The site really helpful. I have found it very interesting.

  17. Nikola
    June 18, 2013 @ 9:12 pm

    I’m spending so much good and useful time here. Lessons are very easy to learn duo to great explanations. Thank you Hassan very much, you’re the best. :)

    Greetings from Serbia,

    Nikola

  18. Tawar
    June 18, 2013 @ 10:12 pm

    This website is fantastic! There is so much care and consideration put into the lessons.

    I was born in Iran but have lived in the US since the age of 5 (I’m now 21 years old). Recently, I’ve been incredibly eager to learn my native language and this website has been heaven-sent!

    THANK YOU – for all your effort and help!

  19. Jeremie
    June 19, 2013 @ 5:11 pm

    Hassan, I think there doesn’t exist in English any word to thank you enough for this wonderful knowledge you’ve made available to netizens. :) (maybe is there a Persian word to express our huge and sincere gratitude though? ^^)

    In any case, now that I’ve reached Lesson 30, I would like to share my workflow using your lessons, hope it can be useful to my fellow learners. :)

    1 – I’m using a classic paper notebook to write every words, sentences and homeworks (Persian, transcription and English most of the time).
    2 – Then I type the words on this virtual persian keyboard http://www.lexilogos.com/keyboard/persian.htm to be able to copy and paste them.
    3 – I check whether I spelled them correctly on the English version wiktionary (there’s a page for most of the Persian words taught here): http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ This is also useful to check the alternative definitions, the etymology, the other languages the words are used in, as well as derived terms.
    4 – To help remember the words, I create flashcards using Anki software: http://ankisrs.net/ One face has the Persian and transcription, the other face has the English translation. Using a spaced repetition algorithm, it helps me to work everyday on remembering the words that I tend to forget. Each of the words are tagged with their lesson number so it’s easily reusable. The best is to create our own flashcards, but if anybody is interested I’d be happy to share them. :)

  20. carlos gomez
    June 24, 2013 @ 2:56 am

    es excelente quisiera chat con otro que estén en esta pagina para practicar es posible?

    • erych
      December 14, 2014 @ 12:59 pm

      Hello teacher Hassan,

      Thank you so much for this website ..its so perfect and your teaching methodology here is so light… you made it really easy for us to understand especially for first timer ( like me)….meanwhile…. i need help if somebody ( ” online classmates”) who lives here in Dubai, we can meet and review the lessons face to face as we go along with our online learning…some interactions… this would be more effective….because we can apply it, we can speak to each bits of farsi phrases and all… thanks or do you have any other suggestions teacher/classmates out there? thanks a lot.

    • erych
      December 14, 2014 @ 1:05 pm

      hello jeremie, wow its nice, thanks for sharing, still visiting the website, may i know your email add if its okey with you? have some questions ;) regarding our online lessons…. thanks.?

    • Tonia
      January 5, 2016 @ 11:00 pm

      thank you these tips are awesome :) I have never heard of the pages you mentioned and really, it gives the learning process a whole new level

  21. Emm
    July 2, 2013 @ 1:20 am

    Excelent job! thank you Hassan!! :)

  22. irfan
    November 2, 2013 @ 11:33 pm

    khodafezz! ya Hassaan..

  23. Iris Marquela Santamaria Jurado
    November 13, 2013 @ 1:39 am

    estoy revisando el curso esta muy interesante

  24. Kriszti
    November 30, 2013 @ 11:58 am

    Hi, I love your site, it helps me a lot; my boyfriend is persian, that’s why I’m interested in the language. When he first tried to teach me something, I thought it’s almost impossible for me to learn this, but then I found this page and realised it can be learnt easily. Thank you:)

  25. Lauren
    December 19, 2013 @ 10:33 am

    Hi. I find your site to be really wonderful. I am learning Persian as a surprise for my persian boyfriend and I am so happy and grateful for this site. Its so helpful and really enjoyable. Thank you! :)

  26. Kassandra
    April 3, 2014 @ 2:18 am

    How am I sappost to no what I’m actually saying?

    • Alexander
      April 20, 2014 @ 9:20 pm

      Right now you aren’t saying anything. You are merely learning the alphabet and how the letters are pronounced. Actual lexicon, grammar, and syntax will come in later lessons.

  27. Louise
    September 11, 2014 @ 10:35 pm

    Hi
    Thanks for this site, it makes learning Persian so much easier, when I hear it being spoken it sounds so complicated but hopefully I will have a better understanding shortly and be able to speak to people when I’m handed the phone :)

  28. Andrew
    October 4, 2014 @ 12:42 pm

    Thank you so very much. I have found your site and method very easy to use, as well as interesting. In time, I hope to be able to use what I have learned to help me with my Setar playing studies, as the book that I am using (by Hossein Alizadeh)is not available in English. I can already “detect” words such as “Reng” and “Chaharmezrab” Again, many thanks.

  29. Marion
    April 20, 2015 @ 12:25 am

    Feedback on letter 21: The way you compared it to the English word “Main” is not correct. “Main” is pronounced completely differently. A better comparison would be the German word “Ein” as in “Ich bin Einberliner”. Apart from that, this site is fantastique.

  30. Ernie
    October 15, 2015 @ 5:17 am

    Hey Hass loving the course, however the printed test area where we search for words is really hard to read. The font is not as defined. Is there anything that can be done about that? If it comes down to man hours I can help! And Marion is correct German word “Ein” is better. Additionally in the english language you could achieve the correct sound by replacing the “M” in “I’m” with and “N”.. I’n.. Same effect.
    Love your course.

  31. Vinod
    February 29, 2016 @ 3:16 pm

    Hello Hassan,

    I can’t express my excitement, gratitude, respect and love for this site, your work and teaching style. Learning Persian was a sudden decision helped by my online pal from Iran. Whenever I needs some face to face clarification I do with her and rest is taken care by you here. I know Hindi, Nepali and Sanskrit so it’s easier for me to differentiate between same sounds but different uses. Thanks a ton!!

    Regards
    Vinod

  32. Masih
    March 26, 2016 @ 10:46 am

    Hi,

    I’ve been away from Iran for the past 19 years and always wanted to learn how to read and write. Tried several different resources but non have been as helpful as your site. It is amazingly well organized, easy to follow and effective.

    Thank you for providing this resource.

  33. Indra
    June 14, 2016 @ 11:13 am

    Salam, Hassanتشکر
    Thank you for the great work you did to make this site. I come from Latvia, Farsi is a completely new world for me and a challenge, as well. But on your site it is very easy to learn- I really enjoy it. I wish you all the best and thank you once more!!!!

  34. Nigar
    July 1, 2016 @ 2:50 pm

    This site is amazing. Thanks for your work. İ am an Azeri. Just love persian songs and culture so hopefully will learn the language by the help of this site. Thanks again for your work.