Free Lesson: The Persian Alphabet

A Beautiful Alphabet — Easier Than It Looks

The Persian alphabet has 32 letters, and it is written from right to left. If that sounds intimidating, here is the good news: Persian is written almost exactly as it sounds. Once you know the letters, you can read words out loud even before you know what they mean — and that is a wonderful feeling for a beginner.

Many letters share the same basic shape and change only by the number of dots above or below them. For example, the shapes for "b," "p," "t," and "s" sounds are close cousins. This means that once you learn one shape, you have already partly learned several others. The alphabet is a system, and learning it as a system makes it much easier than memorizing 32 separate symbols.

How the Letters Connect

Unlike English, Persian letters change shape depending on where they sit in a word — at the beginning, in the middle, at the end, or standing alone. Some letters connect to the letter after them and some do not. This sounds complicated, but in practice it becomes natural very quickly, because you always see letters in real words, not alone on a page.

My advice for beginners is simple: learn a few letters at a time, practice reading real words with just those letters, and then add more. Do not try to learn all 32 letters in one sitting. Small steps, practiced often, are how the alphabet sticks.

Watch and Learn Free

I teach the alphabet step by step in my free Persian Alphabet video series on my YouTube channel, "Persian Language, Culture & Music" — Parts 1, 2, and 3 are available, and the videos are embedded on this site. Watching the letters written and pronounced, and then practicing along, is the fastest way to make them yours.

Keep Going With a Teacher

Free videos are a great start, and a teacher makes the difference between knowing the alphabet and actually using it. In private lessons we read, write, and speak together from the very first lesson, so the alphabet becomes a tool you use — not just something you studied. One term is four one-hour online sessions for $80, paid in advance via Venmo (@shadi-davarzani). Visit the "Book & Pay for Lessons" section on www.shadi-davarzani.com to reserve your term.