Nonfiction. "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 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.
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"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. "...both meticulous and systematic, without being idiosyncratic..." -- Brian Spooner, University of Pennsylvania, AACAR Bulletin.
About the Author
Wheeler M Thackston Jr is Professor of the Practice in Persian and Other Near Eastern Languages at Harvard University.
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
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.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Zeno
Format:Paperback
I am a native speaker of Farsi, teaching myself to read and write in that language. I could not imagine using this book to teach myself the language as a whole from the beginning. Needless to say, if you do not have any prior exposure to Farsi, this is not the textbook for you, unless you happen to be admirably perseverant. I would recommend instead "Colloquial Persian: The Complete Course for Beginners" by Abdi Rafiee. Although geared more toward conversational Persian, this book is structured and written in a more lucid style, while managing still to be quite thorough. It contains a key to the exercises and a tape to aid with pronunciation, neither of which are included with Thackston's book.
By Other
Format:Paperback
I have purchased all of the books and CDs for learning Persian and this along with Modern Persian a Complete Course from the Teach Yourself Series by John Mace are the only books worth buying. I bought the Learn to Speak Farsi CD for 150, Colloquial Persian, etc and this is the only one which really helped me. Thackston truly knows the Persian language and how to teach it. It IS technical but how else do you expect to learn a language? If you are just looking to learn a few phrases like "where are you from" or how to get a taxi than buy the Colloquial Persian books which is good for that and for conversation. If you want to really learn Persian however it is crucial that you obtain Thackston's book. Khuda hafiz!
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3.7 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Should come with an English Dictionary
While Thackston is obviously well educated in eastern studies, and knows his Arabic and Persian, he ought to keep in mind that not everyone who will purchase his book is a Harvard... Read more
Published on Jan 25 2003 by Jason Zolghadr
4.0 out of 5 stars
Logical Approach to Modern Persian
Thackston applies a logical and systematic approach to teaching Persian. For those wanting to learn the language for letter writing and for reading newspapers, this is a great... Read more
Published on July 30 2002 by Michael J. Khorsandi
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good for certain purposes.
First and foremost, understand what this book is. It would most properly be termed a graded grammar. Read more
Published on July 1 2002 by Michael A. Brooks
1.0 out of 5 stars
Awful awful awful
Probably one of the worst tutorial books ever written. I doubt how anyone without degree in grammatics could ever understand this book. Read more
Published on Jun 3 2002
1.0 out of 5 stars
a major disappointment
I keep hoping that someday I'll find a comprehensive text on Persian. This one ain't it. It's introduction to the alphabet isn't even as good as Mace's in the nightmarish... Read more
Published on Oct 23 2001 by "roslynplace"
1.0 out of 5 stars
A misleading title
The title of the book is misleading. Instead of "Introduction to Persian Languages" it should have been "Summary of Persian Grammar and Idioms" as it really... Read more
Published on Aug 17 2001 by "hafidh"
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great introduction
This book is an excellent introduction, and I found that, after studying it for about 2 hours a day, I was able to acquire basic conversational ability by the end of the book. Read more
Published on July 22 2001 by Bennett Bullock
5.0 out of 5 stars
A brilliant Persian grammar
I wish I had had this book when I was living in Iran!
It is concise, accurate, and extremely helpful. Read more
Published on July 2 2001 by Geoff Puterbaugh
3.0 out of 5 stars
Thorough and grammatically precise but often confusing
This is a good introduction for written Persian language used in present-day Iran, but for a beginning student it can also seem a bit daunting (excessive use of grammatical terms... Read more
Published on Jun 4 2001 by "pap26"
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent tutorial
Excellent tutorial, tho' it does not replace Lambton's Persian Grammar as a reference book. However, it is syntactically more useful and except for its lack of a key (why no key? Read more
Published on Feb 5 2001 by J. E. S. Leake
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