Dari: An Elementary Textbook

Great book! Very thorough. It focuses on reading and writing as much as on listening and speaking, and eases the newcomer to Arabic script in to how this script works with the Dari language. I am in the middle of chapter 2, and so far the quality has been good. I've noticed one or two mistakes, where the book mentioned that a sound should be said one way, but the audio recording did not match; however, these problems have been minor. I would recommend that the reader be astute when it comes to these details. It is a great introductory book, speaking both to written and spoken Dari, and providing at minimum 160 hours of "intensive language instruction", according to the preface. Lastly, I would like to point out that the preface says the book has been developed "specifically for classroom use". While this may be the case, I have been working through it by myself, and still find it very useable. I can see how at some times it may be helpful to have an instructor to help clarify some things, but I am not disappointed at all in my purchase.

The audio/listening exercises that accompany this textbook are no longer available on CD-rom. You have to contact the publisher (Georgetown University Press) in order to get the link to be able to stream the audio.

Good in-depth textbook. I do not know any Dari, but have found this book to be very helpful. For the audio, you have to go to the website (Georgetown University Press) and download. My only complaint is that some of the audio lessons are incomplete. For instance, I wanted to hear the pronunciation of each letter in the Dari alphabet, but the audio only had the first few letters. I could not find audio for the entire alphabet. Otherwise, very good book, and I would recommend it for someone who wants to learn Dari.

This textbook is decent for learning Persian/Dari, but not as good as "Elementary Persian" by Khorrami or "Persian: Here and Now" by Farokhfal. However, the DVD has good material on it to teach the student the difference in pronunciation between Dari and Persian.

Among all the study books of Persian I've seen, this is clearly the most appealing: lots of photos, colourful, very nicely designed cultural note "boxes" to mention just a few reasons. It's also big compared to most study books, so I wouldn't mind having it split in two parts, the other being the alphabetical vocabulary + key to the exercises. Well, there's a lot to study. In the end there is a key to the exercises and also a part in which the listening exercises are in script. Hopefully there will be a second and revised edition, as there are some clear mistakes in the book (missing transliteration part, wrong solution, repetition when not intended), but these are clearly editing mistakes. First editions of study books tend to have something to correct.In some sections I'd like to have more explanations (how to use some of the typically Persian phrases, some grammar points), but mostly things seem clear and well explained.At first I was disappointed when I realized that the audio material is not a CD but a CD-rom and therefore must be used with a computer. Why not a CD or mp3-version? When I finally started using it systematically I realized that a CD-rom was actually a good thing, because it's very easy to stop after an exercise and listen to it again and again as many times as needed. Another thing is that this way also animated writing instructions can be included. This is a good thing for anyone needing help with the script.All things considered, for me this was an excellent buy. Many thanks for the interesting layout, cultural notes and colourful photos.

I took three years' of Dari courses from Professor Rahman Arman using this book. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to use their Dari language skills to actively pursue employment. Most text books fall short of teaching essential vocabulary and cultural notes, which are vital to passing and excelling on standardized language proficiency tests such as the ACTFL and DLPT tests. The text includes notes for those who are learning Dari through prior knowledge of Farsi or have a base knowledge of Arabic roots and plurals. Having studied both, Arabic and Farsi, I found this text extremely useful at developing a working proficiency in the Dari language. Every serious student of Dari should have Dari: An Elementary Textbook in their library.

The book is of course great, but it came with the audio-visual part missing.

Excellent practical and authentic textbook! I highly recommend it to all learners whether civilian or military. You will not find another textbook like this one!