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Persian, an ancient language that never gets old

Tuesday, 01 March 2022 2:28 AM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 01 March 2022 2:28 AM ]

Yusef Jalali
Press TV, Tehran

Persian language has been spoken for three millennia, but like every cultural heritage it needs to be preserved. Officials from Iran's ministry of foreign affairs, along with Persian language activists sat together to discuss ways to promote Persian through teaching it to non-Iranians.

Saadi Foundation is the leading entity in the promotion of Persian language.

Every year, the institute, together with the Islamic Relations and Culture Organization, organizes a number of Persian refresher courses in and outside Iran for non-Persian speakers.

Recently, the institute has launched online courses and published self-study books for Persian language enthusiasts.

Persian comes from the Indo-European family of languages.

The earliest versions of Persian date back to roughly 2,500 years ago during the Achaemenid dynasty.

Today it is spoken by more than 300 million people in the world, in different dialects, including Dari and Pashto, in countries such as Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

Besides its significant impact on science, medicine and astronomy, Persian has its own prominent place in literature and poetry. Khayyam, Rumi, Sa’di and Hafez are only a few examples of world-renowned Persian poets.

Language is the identity of a nation, and through the centuries of its spoken and written history, Persian has grown to become a narrator of Iran's rich past and its ancient civilization.

Now as learning a language is learning a culture, promoting Persian on a global scale is translated into introducing Iran and its culture to the world.

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