Farsi for kids

Children of the diaspora often understand Farsi long before they speak it, and speak it long before they can read it. This corner of Virtual Pardis is for them and for the parents and grandparents who want to pass the language on: letters, first words, songs, stories and first verses, a little at a time.

Classes are being planned. There are no classes scheduled yet. Join the Farsi conversation circle to hear first when they start, and tell us your child’s age so we can plan the right groups.

How we will teach

The alphabet

Persian is written from right to left, in 32 letters. Most letters join to the next one, so a letter changes its shape depending on where it sits in a word: at the start, in the middle, at the end or alone. Four letters, پ چ ژ گ, are special to Persian and not found in Arabic.

Letter	Name	Sound
ا	alef	a, as in “father”
ب	be	b
پ	pe	p
ت	te	t
ث	se	s
ج	jim	j
چ	che	ch
ح	he	h
خ	khe	kh, as in “Bach”
د	dal	d
ذ	zal	z
ر	re	r, lightly rolled
ز	ze	z
ژ	zhe	zh, as in “measure”
س	sin	s
ش	shin	sh
ص	sad	s
ض	zad	z
ط	ta	t
ظ	za	z
ع	eyn	a short catch in the throat
غ	gheyn	gh, deep in the throat
ف	fe	f
ق	ghaf	gh
ک	kaf	k
گ	gaf	g
ل	lam	l
م	mim	m
ن	nun	n
و	vav	v, or the vowels u and o
ه	he	h, or e at the end of a word
ی	ye	y, or the vowel i

Several letters make the same sound (there are three ways to write “s” and four to write “z”). They come from Arabic words, and children learn them one word at a time.

First words

Persian	Say it	Meaning
سلام	salâm	hello
مامان	mâmân	mom
بابا	bâbâ	dad
مادربزرگ	mâdarbozorg	grandmother
پدربزرگ	pedarbozorg	grandfather
آب	âb	water
نان	nân	bread
گل	gol	flower
خورشید	khorshid	sun
ماه	mâh	moon
مرسی / ممنون	mersi / mamnun	thank you
دوستت دارم	dustet dâram	I love you

First verses

Children learn poetry the way Iranian children always have: by heart, a couplet at a time, said aloud to the family. Two to start with:

توانا بود هر که دانا بود / ز دانش دل پیر برنا بود

“Whoever is wise is strong; through knowledge, an old heart stays young.” Ferdowsi

بنی آدم اعضای یکدیگرند / که در آفرینش ز یک گوهرند

“The children of Adam are limbs of one body, made from one essence in creation.” Saadi

Stories

• Shahnameh for kids: Rostam, Sohrab, the Simorgh and the heroes of the Book of Kings, told for young listeners.
• Kelileh va Demneh: animal fables of clever jackals and foolish lions, read in Iran for a thousand years.
• Nowruz and Yalda: what the haft-sin means, and why we stay up on the longest night. See Nowruz and Shab-e Yalda.

At home: ideas for parents

• Pick a Farsi time. Dinner, bath time or the drive to school: one part of the day in Farsi only.
• Let grandparents lead. A weekly call with grandparents, in Farsi, does more than any app.
• Write their name. Children love seeing their own name in Persian letters. Write it together, then try it in calligraphy.
• Celebrate small wins. A first couplet learned by heart deserves an audience: read it at a family gathering or at a poetry night.

Photo credits

• A haft-sin table with goldfish and sabzeh. Photo: Katzenfee50, CC0, Wikimedia Commons
• The Simorgh arrives to help at the birth of Rostam. Photo: Mohammad Zaman, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
• A naqqal. Photo: user:Y.movahed, Public domain, Wikimedia Commons
• The lion and bull at Persepolis, often read as a symbol of the spring equinox. Photo: Anatoly Terentiev, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

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