Recently one of my students asked how to improve his Farsi speaking skills. I gave him my usual advice about doing listening exercises, memorising new vocabulary and so on. However, it seems to be a big concern for many Farsi learners and perhaps there are not that many good materials to practise this beautiful language.
This article is for my student David and all other Farsi learners who would like to speed up their learning and particularly their speaking skills.
To start: please watch this 20‑minute Ted Talk: https://ed.ted.com/on/GOA9dfE2.
You need to focus on the language content that is relevant to you. So if you have a Farsi-speaker family member, try to focus on information you can get from them speaking to their friends, family, to you, on the phone… In this way you are more likely to pick up vocabulary that’s relevant to you and that you are likely to use sooner rather than later.
You need to ask questions - or as it was called in the Ted Talk, build a “Tool Box”. Some essentials:
I have a two‑and‑a‑half‑year‑old daughter who is fluent in Farsi and Polish. Watching her learn the language you could see she was (still is) applying many of these principles all the time. On a single day when she was less than two she could ask up to 300 times “what is this” (این چیه؟). Then she would ask it sometimes up to 10 times for a single object – her way to memorise it. So don’t be shy: ask either in class or outside if you have a speaking partner. If you don’t have someone try to find one either online or at international societies of a nearby university.
My last word is: give yourself time. Be patient with yourself and never think you are not learning. Human brain and memory work in a complicated way; you need to give input but be aware that one of the ingredients of learning is time.