The field of language learning and teaching has been through ups and downs with a persistent effort to facilitate the process of second language learning. Over the past hundred years we have observed various changes in approaches to language teaching and learning which can be analogous to shifting paradigms. The advent of a new paradigm would mean a decline in the popularity of already existing practices and the bold claim of having reached the best way to teach a foreign language; these claims would affect all aspects of the field including curriculum design as well as techniques used in classrooms and the process would go on like ‘changing winds and shifting sand’ with a new method breaking from the old one and taking with it some of the positive aspects of the previous practices.
Not an exception, developing language learning course books, as a crucial part of the field, has always reflected the prominent contemporary theories of each period going all the way from books replete with tedious grammar instructions to the ones which enjoy a freshness incorporating new approaches to learning a second language.
At an attempt to overcome various shortcomings of other Farsi language books, Saeid Atoofi has created the self study book ‘Farsi for Beginners’ to help Farsi learners survive in basic social interactions.
Organized in seven interactive chapters which are thematically related, the book introduces use of Persian in real-life situations providing ample new vocabulary words as well as relevant cultural information.
Wisely, the author motivates learners by encouraging them to have perseverance in the path of learning Farsi as an enjoyable language by which several prominent literary figures have created their masterpieces.
The author has tried to tackle the needs of new language learners by providing the information in a step by step fashion taking advantage of transliterations (Romanized versions of the Farsi) to guide learners at the very beginning stages.
Themes and topics of the lessons have been selected to precisely fulfill the needs of those who plan to travel to Iran for business or pleasure as well as of those who want to interact with millions of Persians all around the world.
Farsi for Beginners can be considered as a quick and easy entry point to Farsi language as it tells the story of a character Daniel who is visiting Iran with his Iranian-born wife to further make the context of learning as realistic.
Each lesson includes a short dialogue, which gets progressively longer throughout the book, written in Farsi together with direct translations next or below each sentence. As you follow through the dialogues, you listen to the audio and read through. The great thing about the audio is that it is free of tedious and long explanations in English and it insures correct pronunciations. Not having annoying expressions like ‘repeat the following sentences’ is good and important.
The approach followed in the book is highly intuitive, by encouraging the readers to assimilate the language like what they did in learning their mother tongue as a child. At the same time, there are helpful explanations, grammatical rules and language expressions provided as necessary. Fortunately, the underlying philosophy of the course remains that language is best learned when it’s used for meaningful communication.
Other prominent features of the book include extensive exercises - follow-up exercises however could be placed after dialogues and reading passages so that learners can put their comprehension in the crucible as well as to make the reading process meaningful by providing a purpose for that - fascinating cultural notes, proverbs and poems which enable beginners to acquire an average vocabulary of 2000 word learning basic grammar rules and gaining a command of everyday conversations, focus on accuracy and fluency, contemporary and real world topics, natural and conversational language, presentation of grammar in communicative contexts, a thorough pronunciation syllabus and to put it in a nutshell, teaching students to use Farsi for everyday situations and purposes related to social life and leisure.
The book has dedicated a considerable deal of its content to the rather difficult writing system of Farsi from early stages which can be a point of strength considering the Right-to-Left nature of the language which is difficult for usually Left-to-Right language speakers, but for those more focused on conversational aspects of the language, it can be too much.
The readers need to bear in mind that ‘Farsi for Beginner’ is a self-study book and they need to be wary of possible negative consequences if they are not learning Farsi under the supervision of a teacher. Probably, it can provide best results if used as a companion to institutional courses and as long as learners expose themselves to abundant authentic language materials like news, media, films, blogs, etc.
While the book could be much more interesting if printed in colorfuk pictures and illustration, yet on the whole, the course book is good and there are no major downsides to it except for some small things which are worth considering.
In brief, Farsi for beginners is a solid language learning course book with dialogues included together with the audio and learners are directed through the various units and encouraged to do exercises in order to make them familiar with basic conversational skills in Farsi. However, you would better spare good deal of time and patience to follow up with the pace of the book to be able to take the most out of it, particulraly if you are not familiar with the Iranian and Persian culture at all! All in all, it is truly worth keeping a copy of ‘Farsi for Beginners’ in your bookshelf!
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