Texts in Persian
Short texts in Persian with a translation alongside and comprehension questions, levels A1–B1. The first ones need two or three hundred everyday words; the B1 texts need about three thousand. The translation stands next to it whole, not word by word: stopping at every other word tears the sentence apart.
All texts
- 📖An ordinary dayA1 · Hello! My name is Reza, and I live in Tehran. In the morning I drink tea, then I go to…
- 📖At the bazaarA2 · Today we go to the bazaar. The bazaar is close. At the bazaar we want bread, cheese…
- 📖Saturday morningA2 · On Saturday morning we go to the bazaar. The bazaar is close. The fruit at the bazaar is…
- 📖The new flatA2 · Next month we have a new flat. The flat is on the third floor. We have two rooms and a…
- 📖At the doctor’sA2 · On Monday morning my head aches and there is a fever. I go to the doctor. The clinic is…
- 📖The weather all year roundA2 · In spring it is warm, and there is little rain. In summer it is very hot. In autumn it is…
- 📖My workA2 · My work is programmer. I work from home. The workday is from morning to evening. The…
- 📖A night on the trainA2 · Tomorrow we go to Shiraz. We have tickets there and back. The train leaves at six. We…
- 📖A day off by the seaA2 · Today we go to the sea. The beach is close. The children are swimming. There are many…
- 📖A jacket for winterA2 · My jacket is too small. I go to the market. I see a gray jacket. Big — it fits me. I am…
- 📖A quarrel and making upA2 · Yesterday I quarreled with a friend. The mood was bad. This evening my friend and I drank…
- 📖A table by the windowA2 · This evening we go to a restaurant. We take a table for two. I order food without meat.…
- 📖Seven missed callsA2 · In the morning I took the phone: seven calls! Six calls were from mother. To mother I…
- 📖At the barber’sA2 · This morning I rode to the barber shop by bicycle. I had much hair, and a haircut was…
- 📖The first concertA2 · With a friend I went to a concert. The tickets were inexpensive. The music was very loud…
- 📖Sunday in the villageA2 · Grandmother lives in one village. In the village there is an old mosque. In the mornings…
- 📖A house with a yardA2 · We took an old house with a yard. The gates of the yard were open, and the roof was big.…
- 📖The first semesterA2 · Maryam is a student of the first year. In her schedule there are many lectures. The…
- 📖The family budgetB1 · Our family budget is simple. First the income, then the expenses of the house. We spend…
- 📖A week at the hospitalB1 · My father fell ill. We called an ambulance. The operation lasted two hours. Father was in…
- 📖The new contractB1 · Reza had three interviews. He was hired! The employment contract is for one year. The…
- 📖The rented flatA2 · We rented a flat. The flat was furnished, but small. The furniture was old. The carpet…
- 📖The first trip out of the cityA2 · For the first time we got out of Tehran by car. First we filled the tank and fastened the…
- 📖A sister on the social networkB1 · My sister has many followers on one social network. Every photo she first thinks over…
- 📖A protocol at the stationB1 · On Friday evening I left my bag on the bus. I went to the station and filed a report. The…
- 📖Work in another cityB1 · A job in another city was offered. On the one hand — the salary is bigger, and such an…
- 📖Papers in orderA2 · First I went to the tax office and took a form. Then I entered the name and address. Then…
- 📖The neighbor MahmudA2 · Our neighbor is mister Mahmud. He is of medium height and very well-mannered. Friends say…
- 📖An old friendB1 · Zahra is my old friend. A misunderstanding happened, and we cut off the relationship. She…
- 📖The Sunday kitchenA2 · Today we cook pasta. The water is coming to a boil. I boil the pasta in the water. I add…
- 📖For a jacket to the centerB1 · Today mother and I went to the mall. That jacket was of wool, pretty, but expensive. We…
- 📖The washing machine rattlesB1 · Our washing machine rattles. First I checked the wires. Then the manual helped. One screw…
- 📖A storm over the valleyA2 · In the morning the air was very hot and stuffy, and nobody could work at the garden bed.…
- 📖The first week with the carB1 · On Monday I bought a second-hand car, and on Wednesday I had the technical inspection. On…
- 📖A year of the languageB1 · A year ago I signed up for a language course, still a beginner. The first month I learned…
- 📖Grandmother’s childhoodA2 · Grandmother was born in a small village where there was only one shop. In childhood she…
- 📖A talk in the corridorB1 · A colleague stopped me in the corridor and asked whether there was a minute. He said he…
- 📖The first year of one’s own businessB1 · Two years ago I became an entrepreneur. My workplace is a small factory. At first I had…
- 📖An order on the internetA2 · I ordered a present for mother at an online shop. I chose cash on delivery, and the…
- 📖Our streetA2 · On our street there are many residents. The playground was old. The residents of the…
- 📖A theater subscriptionB1 · For my birthday I was given a subscription to five plays. The first play was a comedy.…
- 📖The first marathonB1 · A year ago I did not do sport and tired quickly. First I learned the warm-up at the gym.…
- 📖Measurements for the wardrobeA2 · Before buying a wardrobe we measured the wall in the bedroom. The length of the wall is…
- 📖A week without cigarettesB1 · I smoked for fifteen years and began every morning with coffee. Last year the doctor…
- 📖A wedding in the villageA2 · My sister’s wedding was in the village where our grandfather and grandmother live. In the…
- 📖The residents’ meetingB1 · At the residents’ meeting the manager proposed changing the old windows. By his words…
- 📖The exam passed first timeB1 · I took the driving exam at twenty-nine, much later than my friends. The instructor said…
- 📖The old chest of drawersA2 · In the basement of grandmother’s house stands a chest of drawers older than me. The wood…
- 📖The shortcut pathB1 · With my brother we went to the hut by the path we have known since childhood. At the fork…
- 📖How much water we pourB1 · At school we measured for a week how much water our family spends. The total is almost a…
- 📖The repair that draggedB1 · We planned the renovation of the bathroom for two weeks, and it dragged two months. First…
- 📖An experiment at schoolA2 · We did an experiment with water from three different places. Each group took its own…
- 📖The village over half a centuryB1 · Fifty years ago life in our village was hard. There was no road; water was carried from…
- 📖The river that came backB1 · By the river stood an old factory. For years its wastewater poured into the river. The…
- 📖The first day in the shopA2 · Today was my first shift in the production shop. First they explained workplace safety to…
- 📖Half an hour at the stopB1 · Once I was waiting for my brother at the stop. A woman asked where the number-six bus…
- 📖The neighbor and his promiseB1 · Our neighbor is a man of few words. At first we thought him vain. In winter, when our…
How to read a text in a language you barely know
First pass — all the way through, without peeking at the translation. The goal is not to understand but to catch familiar words: there will be more of them than you expect, and that feeling matters more than any rule.
Second pass — with the translation beside you. Now it becomes clear what exactly was in the way: an unknown word, a construction you did not get, or just reading speed.
Third pass — all the way through again. The second pass brings noticeably more, and this step is what makes reading useful: it turns analysis into recognition.
At the first levels a dictionary is still too early: stopping at every other word tears the sentence apart, and understanding never assembles. That is why the translation stands beside the text whole, not word by word — in the B1 texts too, although there it is for checking.
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read texts in Persian?
A1–B1. For the first texts the letters and two or three hundred everyday words are enough; the B1 texts need about three thousand. The translation sits next to it, so an unknown word does not stop the reading.
How many times should you reread the text?
Three times: without the translation, with it, and without it again. The third pass is what all of this is for — the second time you recognize noticeably more.