Let’s Learn Persian (A1): The Fun and Effective Way

🧭 For Complete Beginners

🧩 For Core Language Courses (A1–B1)

🌸 Why This Matters

If you have prior knowledge of Persian, start with our free Placement Test to find the course that best matches your level. For a more personalized assessment, you can also book a private consultation with Dr. Leila Seyedghasem, who will help tailor your learning path to your goals and current skills.

Yes! The first lesson of each course is a live demo, no signup required. It’s a great way to experience our teaching style and see how effective our courses are before committing.

We’re so glad you enjoyed the free trial! Every core lesson in this course is built on the “Fārsi bīyāmuzīm!” textbook and crafted using a consistent, meticulous design process by our expert instructional designer — ensuring the same high quality and learning experience throughout.

Still curious? We’d be happy to unlock two more lessons for you to preview. Just fill out the short form below, and we’ll set up your free mini-course right away.

Our core Persian courses are based on the acclaimed five-volume textbook series, “Fārsi bīyāmuzīm!” (Let’s Learn Persian!), authored by distinguished professors from Tarbiat Modarres University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Tehran. The course’s methodology emphasizes:

1. Balanced Skills: Equal attention to listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
2. Modern Approaches: Utilizes cognitive, communicative, and active learning methods.
3. Dual Language Forms: Teaches both spoken and written Persian side-by-side.
4. Practical Application: Covers about 60 real-life conversational situations throughout the A1 and B2 level courses.
5. Cultural Immersion: Integrates lessons on Iranian culture, art, literature, and history.

To adapt the “Fārsi bīyāmuzīm!” textbook for an optimal online, self-study experience, we enhanced its content with several key features:

1. Interactive Exercises: Book exercises that required typing were converted into user-friendly online formats like drag-and-drop, word matching, and self-check quizzes (using accordions). This makes them accessible for students without a Farsi keyboard.
2. Enhanced Audio System: We completely reworked the book’s audio. We organized the files by exercise, separated them into distinct written (formal) and spoken (colloquial) tracks, and color-coded them for clarity, a feature not available with the original book.
3. Support for Self-Learners: To aid independent study, we’ve added learning objectives for each lesson, English translations for instructions and dialogues, targeted grammar explanations to supplement the book’s discovery-based method, and self-check answers for open-ended questions, hidden in collapsible sections.
4. Multimedia Enrichment: We created multi-sensory vocabulary lists with audio, images, and translations. We also added new, web-based exercises like image hotspots that are not possible in a physical book.
5. Adaptation of Content: Group exercises designed for a classroom setting were modified to be effective for individual learners.

No, you don’t need to know Persian typing for our current exercises — they’re designed for beginners. Typing isn’t required yet, but we may add optional activities later to help you learn it.

Absolutely! We offer a flat 15% group discount on all our courses and workshops — perfect for partners, families, classmates, or colleagues learning Persian together.

To enjoy this discount, simply use code GP15 at checkout.

We believe learning a new language is more fun and rewarding when shared with loved ones. Let us know how we can help your group embark on this exciting journey together!

If you’re representing an entire classroom, institution, or organization and would like to discuss an ongoing collaboration, please contact us directly for a personalized arrangement.

The time to complete a course varies, as our curriculum is designed for two complementary goals: foundational language mastery and rich cultural exploration.

🧭 For Core Language Courses (Let’s Learn Persian! A1, A2, B1-1, etc.)

Yes — these courses are carefully structured to provide everything needed to achieve the corresponding CEFR proficiency level, through what we call Active Learning Hours.

Note: All time estimates are based on focused, interactive study in our courses and assume consistent effort. Actual time to reach CEFR levels can vary widely depending on prior experience (e.g., familiarity with similar scripts or languages), daily practice habits, and exposure to Persian outside the course. We recommend supplementing with real-world conversation for best results.

Each “hour” in our courses represents true engagement — reading, listening, and practicing interactively — not the passive classroom time spent waiting, commuting, or reviewing instructions.
Think of it as a concentrated, high-impact experience, where every minute counts.

Because lessons are self-paced and repeatable, you can progress faster while maintaining long-term retention and confidence. Every activity is intentionally designed to maximize your exposure and strengthen real communication skills.

📚 For “Beyond the Core” & Literature Courses

These courses serve a different purpose. They use Content-Based Learning (CBL) — helping you apply your Persian to explore culture, history, and literature.

In these, your learning time depends on curiosity — many students spend far more than the core hours, diving into poetry, philosophy, and cultural context.

✅ Summary:
Our Active Hour model removes filler, focuses on interaction, and leverages multimedia tools unavailable in traditional classrooms.
While the total hours may look shorter, the depth of engagement per minute is significantly higher — a distinction supported by current language-learning research.

That’s an excellent question. The flood of free resources can be overwhelming, and while tools like YouTube, apps, and podcasts are fantastic supplements, they often provide a fragmented learning experience. You might learn a word here and a grammar rule there, but it’s very difficult to build a solid, comprehensive foundation.

The “right choice” depends on your learning goals. Our courses are designed to solve the exact problem of fragmentation. Here’s how Joy of Persian is different:

1. A Structured, Academic Path: Instead of random videos, our courses (like Let’s Learn Persian! A1 & A2) provide a structured, step-by-step curriculum.This is a complete learning experience designed for deep comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and practical exercises—a clear path from one level to the next.
2. Unmatched Expertise: Our courses are developed by Dr. Leila Seyedghasem, our co-founder with over 9+ years of online university teaching experience. She is a recipient of prestigious honors, including the Jalal Al-e Ahmad Literary Award and Iran’s Book of the Year Award. You aren’t learning from a hobbyist; you are learning from a distinguished, professional educator who has taught at the university level.
3. Authentic Audio (Dual-Audio, Never AI): Immerse yourself in real Persian from day one with professionally recorded native voices—never AI. Our unique dual-audio system lets you practice both 🔵Formal Persian (news, speeches) and 🔴Spoken Persian (everyday talk) side by side, helping you master natural pronunciation and listening skills.
4. A Feature for Every Step of Your Journey: Our platform is built on proven instructional design principles to give you the right tools at the right time. As you progress, you unlock new features specific to your learning stage:
   • • Tier 1: Core Experience: All courses are built on a core foundation of expert-led curriculum, authentic human audio, interactive exercises (based on text, audio, and quizzes), and flexible self-paced learning, backed by a free preview and a 14-day money-back guarantee.
     • Tier 2: Foundation Essentials: Our foundational language courses (A1-B1) add essential tools, including a clear roadmap and our unique side-by-side audio tracks to help you master both Formal and Spoken Persian.
     • Tier 3: Advanced Study Tools: Advanced literature and thematic courses unlock powerful academic tools, such as synchronized audio & text, in-depth reading guides with built-in definitions, and rich visual/historical archives.

   For more details see: here.

5. Beyond Language—Into Literature: Most apps stop at basic vocabulary. We are one of the few platforms that take you from learning the language to truly appreciating the culture. We offer in-depth courses on literary masterpieces like Sa’di’s Golestan and the Rubaiyat of Khayyam, taught with the same academic rigor.
6. A Clear Path to Mastery: We offer different ways to learn based on your needs:
   • Async Courses: Perfect for self-paced, structured learning.
   • Live Workshops: For those who want to combine the async course material with live, interactive “flipped classroom” sessions led directly by Dr. Seyedghasem.
   • 1-on-1 Classes: For a fully personalized, guided experience.

This course is the right choice for you if:

• You feel overwhelmed by scattered resources and crave a clear, structured, A-to-Z learning program.
• You value learning from a highly qualified, award-winning university instructor.
• Your goal isn’t just to “learn some Farsi” but to build a deep, lasting connection with Persian language, culture, and classical literature.
• You want a complete system of lessons, exercises, and comprehension tasks, not just isolated videos.

We invite you to explore our free demos (No Signup Required) to get a feel for our teaching style. We believe you’ll immediately see the depth and quality that set our formal courses apart.

No, our courses do not include transliteration (or “Finglish”). This is a deliberate pedagogical choice we’ve made to ensure our students’ long-term success.

While it can feel like a helpful safety net at first, transliteration quickly becomes a “crutch” that actively prevents fluency. It trains your brain to look for English letters instead of engaging with the beautiful Persian script. This means you’ll always struggle to read anything in the real world, from a simple menu to a book of poetry.

We are confident you don’t need that crutch.

Our entire method is designed to make learning the Persian script itself fast, intuitive, and enjoyable. Features like our Multi-Sensory Flashcards are built to connect the sound of the word (from native speakers) directly to the shape of the Persian text. This builds a strong, direct foundation for true reading from day one.

We believe the best way to learn Persian is to learn Persian. If you’re new to the script, our Effortless Persian: Learn Persian with Rumi is the perfect starting point and is designed to get you reading confidently in a very short time.

While we don’t have a gamified app like Duolingo (which, by the way, doesn’t currently offer Persian), Joy of Persian focuses on a deep, structured, and joyful learning experience that’s just as engaging—without relying on game mechanics.

Our core courses, such as Let’s Learn Persian! (A1), offer a university-level curriculum presented in an intuitive, interactive format. You’ll explore over 140 interactive exercises—including drag-and-drop matching, word search puzzles, and instant-feedback quizzes—that make learning feel fun and rewarding.

To help you build vocabulary naturally, you’ll also get over 160 interactive flashcards featuring Persian text, native audio, and English translation—designed to engage your eyes, ears, and memory all at once.

With dual audio tracks for formal and spoken Persian, clear progress tracking, and cultural immersion woven into each lesson, our platform makes learning both meaningful and motivating.

It’s perfect for beginners. You can even try the first lesson for free, no signup required.

📖 Read more: Will Duolingo finally add Persian? The definitive answer 2025 and the best alternatives