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An Introduction to Persian
 
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An Introduction to Persian [AUDIOBOOK] (Audio Cassette)

by W. M. Thackston (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)

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An Introduction to Persian + Persian Grammar: For Reference and Revision + Persian-english English-persian Learner's Dictionary: A Dictionary for English Speakers Studying Persian (Farsi/dari
Price For All Three: $147.80

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Editorial Reviews

Review
"This long awaited text once more demonstrates Professor Thackston's mastery over the Persian language and its intricacies, both in its modern and classical form. Thackston makes Persian grammar clear and understandable. His emphasis is on the spoken and written language in today's Iran, on the Persian which is taught in schools and spoken and understood by all the different ethnic groups in Iran.

This new edition is a major contribution for those involved in teaching the Persian language. It also makes the learning of Persian more accessible and enjoyable." -- Haleh Esfandiari, Princeton University. -- Middle East Studies Association Bulletin

Product Description
A comprehensive grammar of modern, classical & colloquial Persian. Includes glossary. Accompanying set of tapes useful for pronunciation is available.

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Product Details

  • Audio Cassette
  • Publisher: Ibex Publishers (May 1993)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0936347309
  • ISBN-13: 978-0936347301
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 8.7 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,301,686 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #6 in  Books > Books on Cassette > Languages > Arabic

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Customer Reviews

26 Reviews
5 star:
 (13)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (4)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:
 (3)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (26 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
64 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Good for certain purposes., July 1, 2002
By Michael A. Brooks (Lexington, KY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
First and foremost, understand what this book is. It would most properly be termed a graded grammar. It is not a book to teach you to memorize how to ask the location of nearest bathroom. The focus is on the written modern language, with some discussion of classical Persian as well.

Now, because it *is* a grammar, it uses actual grammatic terminology. Some reviewers are apparently shocked by this. So, if you're not familiar with that terminology, you may actually have to use an English dictionary to look up some words. It's pretty difficult to learn a language on your own without understanding some grammar. There are very expensive and time-consuming courses in some languages that will drill you through all the various grammatical forms without explaining what they are, or using any hard English words (but nothing like this is available in Persian, anyway.) So, get over it, and use a dictionary.

I'm using this book to learn how to read Persian. It's pretty good for that, and quite thorough. It would be useful as an adjunct resource if you want to learn to speak Persian, but not as your primary resource. It doesn't have the appropriate sort of drills and tapes for learning to speak. The drills are of the more traditional two-way translation variety.

The major weakness of the book, as others have pointed out, is the lack of keys to exercises. For me, it's not a big problem, because if you're learning to read a language, you can usually tell when you've figured out the right translation, because things will just "click". If you wanted to learn to write to your Persian friend in Persian, this would be a major problem, as you really need a key to the exercises, because you'll make little grammatical errors that you won't catch without a key.

A minor weakness is the presentation of the alphabet. Everything you need to know about the Persian script is presented in the introduction to this book. However, it's presented in a very concise format, so what you'll have to do is use this information to make up your own drills with flash cards, etc., so you have a good handle on the alphabet before you start. That's what I did, and it worked fine.

You may also want to either get the tapes associated with the book, or get another course where the focus is on speaking. I say this only because I've had real trouble in the past learning to read languages where I didn't have a firm grasp on what the language sounded like. For some reason, I can teach myself to read much better if I can hear the words in my head. The tapes with the book are fine for that, with good, clear, slow pronunciation, but they're not good for learning to speak, because, again, they don't have the appropriate sort of drills.

So, in summary, it's quite good for learning to read, so-so for learning to write, and useful only as a secondary resource for learning to speak.

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55 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Technical but precise, February 20, 2000
By A Customer
For those who want to be able to read and write Persian, Thackston is essential. Wheeler M. Thackston has a masterful array of English grammatical terms at his disposal and he uses them wisely to give a precise understanding of Persian grammar. Each grammatical point is lavishly illustrated by several examples. The exercises at the end of each chapter sensibly use the vocabulary, and rigorously re-inforce the grammar, introduced in the same chapter.

The technical language and grammatical approach may be off-putting for a beginner, but I managed to teach myself chapters 1 to 18 (out of a total of twenty-five)in about four months of constant study (a couple of hours most days)which allowed me to enter and subsequently complete a second year Persian course as part of an undergraduate degree. However, I was already familiar with the Arabic script and I did need a little English grammar book to explain the meaning of terms such as "predicate" and "copula".

The tapes should help you to pronounce words correctly but I did not use them when I was teaching myself. The book does not feature many conversations to emulate and useful phrases appear in grammatical, but not necessarily subject, order. There are some useful thematic vocabulary sections such as food and clothing.

If your primary objective is to speak Persian, look elsewhere. Completing this book will provide a platform from which the grammar necessary to read newspapers and simple literature is second nature. In addition, it should allow the spoken language to be rapidly acquired in a Persian speaking environment.

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32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Demanding but excellent as your SECOND Persian book, July 18, 2004
By A Customer
The reviews below make clear that different people have different reactions to this book. Having used a number of beginning textbooks of Persian over the years, here is another commentary that will hopefully put this book into perspective:

It is a very complete and sophisticated handbook to the grammar of Persian, arranged in progressive lessons, but it does in many places demand a knowledge of English grammar (and grammatical terminology) that excees what most readers have these days. Frankly, I think that this book, and particularly the grammatical descriptions/explanations in it, would be very heavy going for a true beginner at Persian, especially someone working on his/her own without a teacher or class.

For the true beginner, or the independent learner, I think the tried and true "Teach Yourself Modern Persian" by John Mace, (and NOT the new book by the same title written by Narguess Farzad) offers the easiest way to become aquainted with the Persian alphabet and language in easy stages in such a way that, even working on one's own, you can make good progress and get a good feel for the structure of the language.

In my view, the Thackston book is a good follow-on book for someone who has already picked up the basics from Mace. Thackston's particular strength, in my opinion, is the way he has analyzed virtually all the aspects of the language and provided very clear-cut sample sentences, always in both Persian and English, to illustrate even the finest nuances of meaning. In this regard, it is outstanding, and the sentence-examples and their translations make the points sink in well even if the explanations are a bit abstruse in terms of grammatical teminology. But unless you already have a basic grasp of the fundamentals of Persian, you may not be able to benefit so much from Thackston.

In short, I think Thackston's book is marvellous as a "follow-on" textbook for people who have already picked up a basic understanding of the way the language works, but is probably a bit heavy for those just starting out. I thus recommend it as your SECOND Persian book, and I think that if you approach it in this way you will value it very highly for the way it clarifies and solidifies what you have learned from Mace.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Best introduction to persian
Before reading this book I did not have even a basic understanding of the structure of the persian language. Read more
Published 18 days ago by Ahmed Fazly

3.0 out of 5 stars useful to have
This book has some very positive features. It undeniably is extremely grammar oriented(get over it!), and contrary to what some other reviewers have said, it is not necessary to... Read more
Published 4 months ago by perekladach

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Persian Grammar Book
This is the best introductory Persian grammar book available in English. Some of the previous reviewers seem to not like having to look up the grammar terms. Read more
Published 5 months ago by C. A.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Delight
My main complaint about language books is that they either lose the forest for the trees or vice versa. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Alec

2.0 out of 5 stars Introduction to Persian, Thackston - poor tool for language learning, but a decent reference
This book was assigned to our beginning Persian class by a former student of Thackston, who clearly shares many of his thinking styles. Read more
Published 21 months ago by irrgalaxies

3.0 out of 5 stars The best - but not very good
Unfortunately, good Persian courses are very hard to find. As for learning the grammar, this is the best course out there, and there are also other positive things to say about... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Gwilym

4.0 out of 5 stars Your second book
This is a more scholarly work than Mace, and I would suggest that it is only valuable for someone who wishes to speak grammatically perfect Farsi. Read more
Published on February 8, 2007 by Dr. Robert C. Oswald

5.0 out of 5 stars Best for the intended purpose
Thackston's book is one of the best out there for learning Persian. Admittedly, there aren't too many books out there. Read more
Published on January 2, 2007 by K G R

2.0 out of 5 stars The Incoherence of Thackston
I am no stranger to technical language, nor do I detest grammatical terminology. I have spent my entire academic life learning or reading Latin, Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, Coptic,... Read more
Published on July 6, 2006 by sebastos

5.0 out of 5 stars The best I've found so far
I've been living in Afghanistan for the last 3 years and I've been trying to learn Farsi with all methods I could find. Read more
Published on November 13, 2005 by Anne Falher

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