Learn to speak Persian  

Persian Language

Persian CD-ROM
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Where does Persian come from?
Farsi is a member of the Iranian group of the Indo-Iranian languages, a subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages. It is the language of Persia, now Iran.

How many people speak Persian?
There are around 46 million native speakers of Farsi. It is the most widely spoken of the Iranian branch of languages.

In how many countries?
Farsi is the official language of Iran, it has about 38 million speakers in Iran and another 8 million in Afghanistan. A variety of Persian called Tajik is spoken in the Tajikistan, but there it is written in the Cyrillic alphabet. It is also spoken in the United Arab Emirates and by Iranians in the USA.

Persian Culture

Persian Music and Dance
Classical music in Iran has a long history, stretching back to the music of medieval Persia, and a rich solo performance tradition. Under the religious and social provisions of Islam, Persian art music was relegated to private enjoyment. This seclusion has actually led to the preservation of this music in its original form for a long period of time.

The vocal style of classical Iranian music is distinctive from other Near-Eastern Islamic cultures. Vocal compositions are sung in a fixed melodic mode, but in a rhythm that is neither fixed nor free. A traditional Persian instrument is the santour, a hammered dulcimer played with wooden mallets.

Persian Food and Drink
Persian cuisine is steadily becoming recognised and enjoyed in the Western world. It is heavily based on rice, bread, fresh vegetables, herbs and fruit. Meat, usually lamb or mutton minced or cut into small chunks, is used to add flavour but is rarely the dominant ingredient, except in kebabs.

Strong, black and hot tea or 'chai' is the Persian drink of choice. Fresh fruit juices, milkshakes and yoghurt drinks are also popular among Irananians. In Iran itself, alcohol is forbidden to Islamic Iranians, except for religious purposes.

Persian Attractions
Tehran: Iran's capital city is a hectic metropolis known for its congestion and crowds. Tehran's main attractions are its museums, which house a wealth of Persian artefacts. These include the National Museum of Iran with its collection of ceramics, stone figures and carvings dating from around the 5th millenium BC. The Glass & Ceramics Museum is one of the most impressive in Tehran. The Reza Abbasis Museum contains examples of Islamic painting, pottery and jewellery, and the National Palace (White) Museum used to be the last Shah's palace and is now a complex of museums.

About Talk Now! Language CD-ROMs
This is an excitingly different language learning series. Talk Now! uses games and quizzes as a basis for making the learning process fun, easy and relaxing. There is no better way to teach an old dog new tricks and this fun element of the program means that your fears are forgotten as you absorb words and phrases without even realising you are learning them.

Talk Now! is the world's best selling language learning CD-ROM series for beginners, used by more than three million people to date. It's ideal for travellers, holidaymakers, business people, schoolchildren, students and families.

Anyone over 10 years of age will find the disc indispensable for improving listening, understanding and spoken language skills. There are nine topics: first words, food, colours, phrases, parts of the body, numbers, time, shopping and countries.

The games and quizzes included on the disc ensure that users have fun whilst using the disc, without realising that they're learning. The "intelligent" software feature remembers words you get wrong and targets your weak points.

"This is an excitingly different language learning series. Talk Now! Uses games and quizzes as a basis for making the learning process fun and relaxing." - PC Answers

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