Farsi, is in fact the language of Iran, and the Iran of today, is just a fraction of the vast Iranian lands (Iranian empire) of centuries ago.Today, Farsi is spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, parts of Pakistan and India, and in some Persian Gulf countries, such as Bahrain. There are about 200 million Farsi speakers in all.You may well be aware that Farsi is one of the oldest languages on earth. But do you know to what period the oldest Farsi manuscripts and tablets so far discovered date to? Are you aware of the history of Persian / Farsi literature? If you listen regularly to our programmes, then you will find out the answers to these questions, and a whole lot more.Since Farsi is such an ancient language, the history of the Persian language has been split up into three eras.The first era which dates back to 500 – 300 BC, is called ancient Farsi (or ancient Persian) . Archaeologists have recovered numerous stone and clay tablets, and pieces of pottery and leather which bear the ancient Farsi script. These have provided us with a wealth of information concerning the ancient Farsi language as spoken 2500 years ago.Some historians and experts in ancient languages believe ancient Farsi tablets date back to 8th century BC (that is 2800 years ago). This gives an indication of the richness of the Farsi language.The second era known as middle Farsi (or middle Persian) era, stretches from 300 BC to about 7th century AD. There are large number of literary and historic texts, written in middle Farsi, and dating from this period.In fact middle Farsi (or middle Persian) can be thought of as the evolution of ancient Farsi and a transitional language linking modern Farsi (Farsi-e- Dari) to ancient Farsi.The third period, known as the era of modern Farsi in Iran, stretches all the way from 7th century AD to the present day. There is a wealth of literary, scientific, and historic texts, many of them literary and scientific gems, written in Modern Farsi, from this period.Modern languages whose literature goes back 2000 years or more are relatively few.Given its ancient history and literature, Iran has a unique position within the literary world. The richness and antiquity of the Farsi language has attracted some renowned linguists over the years, who have dedicated their entire lives to the study and dissemination of the Farsi language. Undoubtedly, those who have studied literature, and those who are interested in literature, have heard about the literary treasures of Iran, and would like to learn the language and study the masterpieces of Iranian writers, poets and scientists.Such world-renowned Iranian poets as Omar Khayyam, Ferdowsi, Sa’di and Hafez , and famous scientists such as Abu Ali Sina ( Avicenna ) , Abou Reihan-e- Birouni, Zakaria Raazi ( Rhazes) and Abu Nasr Faraabi, created great works of distinction in Farsi ; and have attracted many learned scholars and other interested individuals to the Farsi language.Farsi is the second most important language of the world of Islam, and is recognized as the primary language of Islamic –Iranian culture and civilization. Many religious, philosophical, Gnostic, mystical, and historical works have been (originally) written in Farsi, and as such, all those who wish to learn the Islamic arts and sciences have chosen to learn Farsi.Many Muslims have studied Islam, Islamic thought and theology through the Farsi. Today, Farsi is taught in many universities, throughout the world, different countries. Farsi is rightly regarded as the language of literature, culture and thought.The existence of many Persian language departments and Chairs of Farsi language in universities throughout the world is a measure of how much importance is attached to Farsi.Also Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, as well as Organization of Islamic Culture and Communications regularly organize a variety of Farsi language classes (for all levels from beginners to experts) abroad, in many different countries. The idea is to introduce and disseminate the Farsi language to as wide a circle as possible; introducing the language and culture of Iran to all those who are interested.Also within Iran itself, many universities, institutes of higher education and language teaching centers organize Farsi classes for foreign students who wish to learn Persian language and literature, in some depth.Over the years, the richness and antiquity of Farsi language has meant that the language has evolved into two different forms; Spoken Farsi and Written Farsi. These changes almost invariably appear in the spoken form of Farsi first.It is true to say that spoken Farsi is different from the point of view of vocabulary, grammar and phonetics.But since our main aim in this series of programmes is to teach Farsi that is spoken, because, we first of all concentrate on Spoken Farsi.By Listening to our programmes, you will learn spoken Farsi, and will be able to communicate with all Farsi-speakers.The technique we use in this programme for teaching the language is called interactive communicative language learning. It is one of the most effective ways of teaching (and learning) any language.
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