An Indo-European language and a member of the Iranian group of languages, spoken by approximately 57 million speakers mainly in Iran, where it is the official language, as well as in Afghanistan and Pakistan and some Gulf countries (Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates) and through sizeable émigré communities in many other countries of the world, primarily in the USA. The closest linguistic affiliation is with Tajik.
The language was first attested from the Old Persian cuneiform inscriptions dating from 6th century BC, originated in a province in southwest Iran that was once the centre of the Persian Empire -- Parsa or Fars, hence the contemporary Persian name of the language: Farsi. Middle Persian, also known as Pahlavi, is known chiefly through its use in Persian's pre-Islamic Zoroastrian religious writings. The Early Modern period of the language (9th-13th centuries), also known as Classical Persian, is preserved in the literary tradition represented by poets such as Rudaki, Firdowsi, and Khayyam. During this period, Persian was adopted as the lingua franca of the eastern Islamic nations.
Today the language is spoken in two main mutually intelligible varieties: Western Persian, or Farsi, mainly spoken in Iran, and Eastern Persian, or Dari, spoken in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The formal standard language is based on the dialect of Teheran. It is written in a form of the Arabic script called Perso-Arabic.
| Basic | |
| Beginner's Persian | PER CBEG 1(PACK) |
| Colloquial Persian : the complete course for beginners | PER CBEG 4(PACK) |
| Complete Persian (Modern Persian/Farsi) | PER CBEG 2(PACK) |
| Farsi : a complete course for beginners | PER CBEG 7(PACK) |
| Learning Persian : the essential Persian language coursebook | PER CBEG 10 |
| Learn to speak Persian fast : for beginners : Book 1 | PER CBEG 12 |
| Mastering conversational Farsi : Farsi (Persian) for beginners | PER CBEG 9(PACK) |
| Modern Persian : a course book | PER CBEG 6(PACK) |
| Modern Persian : spoken and written. Vol. 1 | PER CBEG 8; PER CBEG 8(CD) |
| Modern Persian [Teach yourself] | PER CBEG 3(PACK) |
| Persian in use : an elementary texbook of language and culture | PER CBEG 11 |
| The Routledge introductory Persian course | PER CBEG 5 |
| Intermediate | |
| Modern Persian : spoken and written. Vol. 2 | PER CINT 2; PER CINT 2(CD) |
| Persian : Here and now book 2 Intermediate Persian | PER CINT 3 |
| The Routledge intermediate Persian course : Farsi Shirin Ast, book two | PER CINT 1 |
| Advanced | |
| What the Persian media says: a coursebook | PER CADV 1 |
| The genius of Omar Khayyam | PER DOCU 3(VS) |
| On the road with Kiarostami | PER DOCU 1(VS) |
| Taxi Tehran | PER DOCU 5(DVD)* |
| This is not a film | PER DOCU 4(DVD)* |
| 20 Angosht (20 fingers) | PER FILM 13(VS) |
| About Elly | PER FILM 2(DVD)* |
| At five in the afternoon | PER FILM 23(DVD)* |
| Badkonake sefid (The white balloon) | PER FILM 5(VS) |
| Children of heaven | PER FILM 4(DVD)* |
| Daan (Don) | PER FILM 14(VS) |
| Daav (The Cow) | PER FILM 12(VS) |
| Dayereh (The circle) | PER FILM 11(DVD)* |
| Fireworks wednesday | PER FILM 22(DVD)* |
| Gabbeh | PER FILM 9(VS) |
| Nun va Goldoon (A moment of innocence) | PER FILM 10(VS) |
| Offside | PER FILM 20(DVD)* |
| The salesman | PER FILM 25(DVD)* |
| Secret ballot | PER FILM 21(DVD)* |
| A separation | PER FILM 1(DVD)* |
| Sib (The apple) | PER FILM 15(VS) |
| Stardust stricken - Moshen Makhmalbaf : a portrait | PER FILM 8(VS) |
| Still life (Tabiate bijan) | PER FILM 18(VS) |
| Ten | PER FILM 19(DVD)* |
| Under the shadow | PER FILM 24(DVD)* |
| Where is my friend's house? (Kanje, ye doust kojast?) | PER FILM 16(VS) |
| The wind will carry us | PER FILM 26:1-2(DVD)* |
| Women without men | PER FILM 3(DVD)* |
| Zendegi edame darad (And life goes on) | PER FILM 7(VS) |
| Zire darakhatan zeyton (Through the olive trees) | PER FILM 6(VS) |
| Classical Reading | |
| Absorbing Persian | PER CLASSIC 1 |
| Reading - Fiction | |
| 100 short stories in Persian : for intermediate to advanced learners | PER RFICT 2 |
| Persian (farsi) second grade school reader | PER RFICT 3 |
| Persian (farsi) third grade school reader | PER RFICT 4 |
| The little black fish | PER RFICT 1 |
| Reading - Poetry | |
| Robaiyat Khayam | PER RPOEM 1 |
| Reading Skills | |
| Farsi reading : improve your reading skill and discover the art, culture and history of Iran | PER RSKILLS 4 |
| Learn to read Persian | PER RSKILLS 2 |
| Persian first grade reader -- Revised second edition | PER RSKILLS 1(PACK) |
| Reading Nastaʻliq : Persian and Urdu hands from 1500 to the present | PER RSKILLS 3 |
| Media | |
| Media Persian | PER MEDIA 1(PACK) |
| Medicine | |
| English-Persian dictionary of Body Idioms | PER MED 1 |
| 1001 Persian-English Proverbs : Learning language and culture through commonly used sayings | PER VOCAB 1 |