Comments on: What’s your favorite English-Persian/Persian-English dictionary?

By: biloo

biloo — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 19:34:34 +0000

I used to consult English/Persian online talking Dictionary. I think they have taken it off the internet.
Could you please help me to find a free English/Farsi talking dictionary.

Thanks.

By: Ali

Ali — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 17:21:23 +0000

The Other,
Are the Bateni and Aryanpour books regarded as the best for Eng-Per and Per-Eng? I have the old Haim (Hayem) books but if these are regarded as much better then maybe I’ll switch. Same goes for the Sadri Afshar for Per-Per; I currently use the Moin one. Also, where is the best place to buy the slang dictionaries? Thanks!

By: Mariam

Mariam — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:07:33 +0000

My favorite (and the one I own) is actually Gilani’s English-Persian dictionary. I bought it in Westwood at that smallish bookstore with the nice couple who taa’rof tea to the customers (can’t remember the name of the place), but you can get it on Amazon too.

My gripes with the volume are the same as yours – I want something that has Persian-English too in the same volume, and preferrably with convenient transliterations.

By: The Other

The Other — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 15:27:13 +0000

Darius Guilani’s dictionary is not the best one in the market. Unfortunately I don’t think you can find a good two-in-one dictionary for your everyday usage. You need Farhang Moaser English Persian Dictionary by M. R. Bateni as your English Persian Dictionary, and Aryanpour’s Persian English dictionary as your reference for Persian words.

But my suggestion is using a Persian-to-Persian dictionary. My experience with English has shown me that you have to use a dictionary written in the same language you are learning to improve your reading and speaking skills. My suggestion for this purpose would be “Farhang-e Mo’aaser-e Farsi” by Gholamhossein Sadri Afshar. You cannot read Hafiz or Rumi with this dictionary, but you can certainly use it to understand the contemporary Persian. “Farhang-e Mo’aaser-e Farsi” is pretty big, but I think it has a pocket edition too. To find the meanings of the latest slang idioms you might want to buy two more dictionaries: “Farhang-e Loghaat-e Zabaan-e Makhfi” (Mehdi Samaa’i) and “Mardomshenaasiy-e Estelaahaat-e Khodemaani” (Mahmood Ekraami).