Farsi Persian, Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand Farsi Persian with Pimsleur Language Programs [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

This pack comes with 8 CDs, which is 16 half-hour lessons. There is no book - the theory is that your accent will be better if you learn from speech only and without writing things down. For a grammar-nerd like me, it was a difficult proposition, but I really think it works. From the very first half-hour session, you feel you are making impressive progress. Each session starts with a short conversation, which is pretty incomprehensible when you first hear it, and then the lesson goes on to introduce you to the words and phrases, so that by the end, you can understand the conversation. The recording is beautifully clear, with a man and woman taking turns to speak the Farsi, and an American man walking you through, pointing out the alien sounds you need to pay extra attention to, and prompting you with bits of English so that you can supply the Farsi in the gaps. You will often work with a phrase for a minute or two, and then move on to something else, only to be prompted for the original phrase again ten minutes later - it is hugely satisfying when you manage to recall it correctly, and hear the Persian voice come in and say exactly what you just said. This publisher knows how to make you feel good; the other clever move is that they never explain grammar, but through their choice of examples they allow you to infer grammar over time (hmm, seems like every time we say "you" do something, it ends with that sound, and every time we say "I" do something, it ends with this other sound...). This sense of self-discovery motivates you to keep listening, although you are discouraged from tackling more than one lesson in a day. In fact you will probably want to listen to most of the lessons twice before moving on, but that still allows you to obtain a decent level of basic Farsi in just one month, during your morning commute.

You can't beat this package for value either. If you're interested in learning Farsi, get this *first*. It's a great way to start out.

this is the best language learning method i have used. i have a degree in french and linguistics and i can tell you that from a technical standpoint these cds are excellent. you learn things you don't even realize you're learning, you repeat A LOT but somehow you're not bored by it (the way they set it up is so that you repeat things but in a different "conversation"), and you don't just learn travel-type information -- it's stuff you would use if you had farsi-speakers in your life or as acquaintances. it also gives cultural information so that you don't make any faux pas when speaking and so you can better understand the context for the language. so worth the money. you can actually come out speaking fairly competently.

it has been a great introduction to the persian language. i am learning a lot of great phrases and i especially enjoy hearing pronunciation from an iranian man and woman.