Learn Persian from German for Free at PBC Languages
Free 1:1 Persian-German exchanges and small group classes with native teachers at PBC Languages. What's easy, what trips you up, real examples inside.
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If you speak German, the hardest part of Persian isn't grammar, it's your mouth. Sounds like ع (ayn) and غ (ghayn) come from the back of the throat in places German doesn't use, and ق (qaf) is a hard uvular stop with no real German equivalent. The good news: خ already exists in your German (the ch in 'Bach' or 'Nacht' is basically Persian خ), and ش sounds just like German sch, so those transfer immediately.
German and Persian are both Indo-European, so some words look like cheat codes: baradar (برادر) next to Bruder, mādar (مادر) next to Mutter, pedar (پدر) next to Vater, dokhtar (دختر) next to Tochter. Even 'is' matches: Persian ast and German ist share the same root. But watch for man (من), which means 'I' in Persian and 'one/people' in German (as in 'man sagt') — same four letters, opposite job in the sentence.
Grammar actually favors you in some spots: Persian has no grammatical gender and barely any case system, so you drop the der/die/das juggling. You also already have the mental slot for formal vs informal address from du/Sie, which maps cleanly onto Persian to/shomā. What's new is the ezafe construction (linking nouns and adjectives with an unstressed -e) and the object marker rā, neither of which has a German parallel, so budget real practice time for those two.
Words you will actually hear
| Here | Elsewhere | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| برادر (baradar) | Bruder | Same Indo-European root, same meaning: brother. One of the easiest words to lock in on day one. |
| مادر (mādar) | Mutter | Mother in both languages, close enough in sound that most learners get it instantly. |
| پدر (pedar) | Vater | Father, cognates through a p/f sound shift — say it out loud and the link clicks. |
| دختر (dokhtar) | Tochter | Daughter, spelled almost the same once you strip the script differences. |
| نام (nām) | Name | Name in both languages, nearly identical — no trick here, just a free word. |
| ستاره (setāre) | Stern | Star, shared root, easy to remember once you hear the first syllable. |
| است (ast) | ist | Both mean 'is'. Same ancient root, and it makes basic sentences feel oddly familiar. |
| نو (no) | neu | Means 'new' in both. Handy for anything from nogozashte (new past) to modern compounds. |
| من (man) | man | False friend: Persian man means 'I', German man means the impersonal 'one/people'. Mix these up and your sentence subject disappears. |
| سگ (sag) | sag | False friend: Persian sag means 'dog', German sag is the imperative 'say!'. Same four letters transliterated, unrelated meanings. |
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 actually take a German speaker to hold a conversation in Persian?
We don't have a number to give you, because it depends on how often you practice speaking, not just how many rules you memorize. The lack of gender and cases speeds up early sentences, but the script and the pharyngeal sounds slow down the first few weeks. Regular half-hour exchanges move people faster than solo study because you're forced to produce the language, not just recognize it.
Is the 1:1 exchange really free?
Yes. No money changes hands: you give half an hour in German and get half an hour in Persian from your exchange partner. It works because both people need the same thing from each other, so nobody owes anything at the end.
What level of Persian do I need before joining an exchange?
A basic vocabulary and a handful of set phrases go a long way, since the conversation is built together with your partner. If you're starting from zero, the small group classes with native teachers are a better first step to get the alphabet and core sounds under control before jumping into exchanges.
How exactly is the half hour split during an exchange?
Thirty minutes run in Persian, thirty minutes run in German, agreed between the two of you at the start. Whoever is the native speaker of the language being practiced corrects and helps during that block, then you switch roles for the second half.
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