I found “Easy Persian” by Nooshin Ahooie at a friend’s house in Tehran. She’d bought it for her American husband, who was trying to learn Farsi before meeting the family. He’d abandoned it after two weeks. “It was too easy at first and then too hard and then too easy again,” he said. “I couldn’t figure out what level I was supposed to be.”
He was right. Easy Persian has a pacing problem. it sprints through the alphabet, crawls through basic phrases, and then dumps compound verbs on you like a truck backing up. But for the first week of learning Persian, it’s genuinely useful.
Level: A1 | Time: 15-30 min/day | Cost: Budget (~$20) | Best for: Alphabet, Vocabulary
The Verdict: 4/10
| Criterion | Score |
|---|---|
| Persian Specificity | 5/10 |
| Real-World Usefulness | 3/10 |
| Value for Money | 5/10 |
| Elyar’s Verdict | 3/10 |
What’s In the Book
Twelve chapters covering the alphabet, greetings, numbers, basic sentences, colors, food vocabulary, family terms, and introductory grammar. It’s short. about 180 pages. and positions itself as a gentle introduction to Persian for absolute beginners. Each chapter has vocabulary lists, example sentences, and simple exercises.
The book includes transliteration alongside Persian script throughout. No audio component in the edition I used.
What Works
The First Three Chapters Are Genuinely Helpful
Ahooie’s alphabet introduction is visual and approachable. She groups letters by shape (the “tooth” letters: ب پ ت ث, the “hook” letters: ج چ ح خ) and gives memory hooks for each. The handwriting guide shows you exactly how to form each letter in connected script. For someone who’s never seen Persian script before, these first 40 pages are gold.
Vocabulary Is Practical
The word lists focus on high-frequency terms: food, family, greetings, numbers, common objects. No obscure academic vocabulary. The words you learn in the first five chapters are words you’d actually need in your first week in Iran.
Where It Falls Short
The Pacing Collapses After Chapter 5
Chapters 1-5 are accessible and well-paced. Then Chapter 6 introduces verb conjugation, compound verbs, and object markers in the same lesson. It’s like a swimming instructor who teaches you to float and then throws you in the deep end. The difficulty curve doesn’t ramp. it cliff-jumps.
Grammar Is Barely Explained
When Ahooie introduces the ezafe construction, she gives one sentence of explanation and three examples. Compare that to Sedighi’s “Persian of Iran Today,” which dedicates four pages to ezafe with tables, exceptions, and practice. If you’re the kind of learner who needs to understand why something works, this book will frustrate you.
Formal Register Only, No Audio
Same problem as most Persian textbooks: formal written register, no colloquial. Combined with no audio component, you’re learning to recognize words on a page without knowing how they sound in a real conversation. The book teaches you eshteghāl (اشتغال. occupation) when Iranians say kār (کار. work/job).
Exercises Are Too Simple
Match the word to the picture. Fill in the missing letter. Copy this sentence. These are exercises for children, not adults. There’s no translation practice, no sentence construction, no production of any kind.
The Persian Test: What I Learned From Chapters 1-3
After the first three chapters (about 3 hours): I could recognize and write all 32 letters in isolation. I knew 40-50 vocabulary words. I could read simple words in script. I could not form a single sentence, because grammar hadn’t been introduced yet.
The alphabet knowledge was solid. Everything else was a vocabulary list with no structure holding it together.
How It Compares
| Feature | Easy Persian | Teach Yourself | Persian of Iran Today |
|---|---|---|---|
| Difficulty | Very easy (A1) | Moderate (A1-B1) | Moderate-hard (A1-B2) |
| Grammar depth | Minimal | Good | Excellent |
| Alphabet teaching | Best | Good | Good |
| Colloquial Persian | No | No | Yes |
| Price | ~$20 | ~$25 | ~$50 |
| How far it takes you | Mid A1 | B1 | B2 |
| Category | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Script & Transliteration | 7/10 | Best alphabet section of any beginner book |
| Grammar Explanations | 3/10 | Barely scratches the surface |
| Exercise Quality | 2/10 | Children’s workbook level |
| Register Awareness | 2/10 | Formal only |
| Durability/Progression | 2/10 | You’ll outgrow it in 2 weeks |
Who This Book Is For
Complete beginners who want a gentle introduction to the Persian alphabet and basic vocabulary before moving to a real textbook. Heritage kids (or their parents) who want a low-pressure start. Someone who’s scared of the script and needs hand-holding through the first week.
That’s it. After week one, you need a different book.
The Verdict
Easy Persian is a starter kit, not a course. Use it for the alphabet section (genuinely good), learn the first 50 words, then switch to Persian of Iran Today or Teach Yourself for real grammar and progression.
Or skip the textbook entirely for the alphabet phase and use ZabanYar, which teaches all 32 letters with mnemonics, spaced repetition, and audio. everything this book does on paper but with better retention. ZabanYar’s alphabet course takes about 10 days and you’ll actually remember the letters a month later, which isn’t guaranteed with a workbook you close and forget.
See all your options in the complete resources guide or the textbook rankings.
For the complete picture, see our guide to all Farsi learning resources where we rank every option.