Resources

Two resources I have authored in Dari are

Intermediate Dari: Readings and a Review of Grammar. This textbook starts with a review of Dari grammar emphasizing examples with translations. The bulk of the book, however, is made of selections about various subjects that have been adapted to Intermediate and sometimes advanced level. The passages themselves have not been translated. However, each passage is followed by an extensive glossary. There is also an expanded word list at the end of the book. To reinforce reading and grammar skills, at least two exercises have been added to each selection. All exercises have been keyed at the end.

Two audio CD's that cover all selections in the text as well as a few additional audio lectures. Additional lectures are on Dari language in general, on verbs, and on names in Afghanistan.

Both the textbook and the CD's are available on Amazon.com. I have added samples to this site, especially from the grammar review area.

In Pashto, I have not written a textbook yet. However, I do have some web-based lessons as a part of the GLOSS project. These lessons help with reading and listening skills and focus on inflection, gender, the subjunctive, verb behavior, pronouns, etc. My lessons and a host of others written by other folks in Pashto, Dari, and many other languages are available on the web. The site is listed below, but a search phrase like "gloss Pashto lessons" or "gloss Dari lessons" should produce the correct URL easily.

www.dliflc.org (The acronym stands for Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center)

So far I have not seen a beginning Dari book that I can recommend comfortably. Of course I am not claiming that I know all available textbooks, and I have left out texts that are authored for the military, since they may not be available to the public at large.

In Pashto, a special project in the University of Indiana called CeLCAR (Center for Languages of Central Asia Region) has compiled a sizable book with audio and even video. In my view, this is a good book, although it has some inconsistencies and is thin in grammatical explanations.

My favorite dictionary in Pashto so far has been Dr. Abdul Hamid Bahij's Pashto English Dictionary (2008) published by Danish. The online series of dictionaries called qamosona is also useful provided you can click the right ones.

I have heard of a new Dari dictionary but have not seen it to comment. Persian or Iranian online dictionaries are good, but some that I have tried have been too crowded by commercial content. The ones I use are print copies. Hayyem حیّم is my favorite.

Samples from Dr. Sharif's works:

From Review of Grammar in
Intermediate Dari

Feminine Endings in Pashto