Learn Central Kurdish (Sorani) Free From French – PBC Languages
Learn Central Kurdish (Sorani) for free with native speakers, starting from French. Small group classes and 1-to-1 exchanges at PBC Languages.
Create your free accountNo card needed. Exchanges between members are always free.
French gives you one real shortcut into Central Kurdish (Sorani): the guttural French R. That same back-of-the-throat friction is close to the Kurdish غ (written 'x' or 'ẍ' in Latin transliteration), so a sound that stops most learners cold barely registers for a French speaker. The rest of the consonant set is less forgiving: Sorani keeps pharyngeal sounds like ع and a hard خ that don't exist anywhere in French, and the difference between a single flapped r and a rolled rr changes word meaning in a way French speakers routinely miss, because French doesn't use that contrast at all.
Word-for-word false friends between French and Sorani are almost nonexistent, simply because the two languages don't share a common ancestor - if a word looks familiar, it usually just works: 'sînema', 'radyo', 'otobîs' and 'telefon' mean what you think they mean, no trap involved. The real snag is grammar, not vocabulary. Central Kurdish builds sentences verb-last (SOV) instead of French's subject-verb-object order, and it links nouns to their adjectives or possessors with the ezafe suffix (-î, -y), a construction with no French equivalent - so a phrase like 'my brother's house' isn't put together the way your French instincts expect.
One thing that speeds things up: Central Kurdish nouns don't carry grammatical gender, so you can drop the constant masculin/féminin bookkeeping you're used to from French. The script slows things down at the start - Sorani is written in a modified Arabic alphabet, right to left, so before grammar even matters you're learning to read again from scratch. Once the alphabet clicks, usually after a few weeks of regular reading practice, pronunciation and basic sentence building move faster than the script made you expect.
Words you will actually hear
| Here | Elsewhere | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| sînema | cinéma | Same word, same meaning: cinema. Instant recognition, no trap. |
| radyo | radio | International word for radio, works the same in both languages. |
| televîzyon | télévision | Television. Longer word but the shape matches enough to guess it on sight. |
| otobîs | autobus | Bus. Close enough in sound that you'll understand it spoken before you learn to spell it. |
| telefon | téléphone | Phone, same core meaning, just missing the French silent letters. |
| doktor | docteur | Doctor. Practical word to have early if you're traveling or dealing with health. |
| kart | carte | Card, in the everyday sense (bank card, ID card), not a false friend. |
| kîlo | kilo | Kilo, used the same way for weight, handy for markets and cooking. |
| banka | banque | Bank, as in the financial institution. No twist here, it means exactly that. |
How it works here
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Sign up and say your level
Two minutes. If you do not know your level, we place you in the first class.
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Pick a class or an exchange
Classes are led by a native teacher. An exchange is with another member: half the time in their language, half in yours.
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Join by video, nothing to install
From your phone or your computer. If you cannot make it, cancel and get your place back.
Questions about this
How long does it take for a French speaker to hold a basic conversation in Central Kurdish (Sorani)?
There's no fixed timeline, it depends on how often you show up and how much you use the language outside class. People who come to the small group classes weekly and also do 1-to-1 exchanges tend to start following simple conversations within a few months, mostly because the Perso-Arabic script and the SOV word order need real repetition, not just class time.
Is the 1-to-1 exchange actually free?
Yes. You spend half an hour helping a Central Kurdish speaker with their French, and they spend half an hour helping you with Sorani, no money involved on either side. PBC Languages doesn't charge to match you with a partner; the only sessions with a cost are the small group classes with a native teacher.
What level of French or Kurdish do I need to start?
None. You can start the exchange from zero, since your partner is there precisely to help you form your first words in Sorani, the same way you'll help them in French. The small group classes with the native teacher are organized by level, so you're placed with people at a similar stage instead of a mixed room.
How exactly does the half hour / half hour split work in the exchange?
You spend the first thirty minutes speaking only Central Kurdish with your partner, then you switch and spend the next thirty minutes helping them in French. Nobody translates for the other person during their half, the whole point is to actually produce the language, mistakes included.
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