Level A2 – Elementary

Overview of Level A2 – Elementary

Level A2 is the stage where you move from surviving in Persian to beginning to live in it. You already know the alphabet, basic pronunciation, simple sentences, personal pronouns, the verb “to be,” some numbers, and simple questions from Level A1. In A2 you will learn to combine these pieces so that you can talk about daily life more comfortably and more precisely.

At this level, the focus is on everyday communication. You will still use very common words, but you will learn to talk in the present and past, describe people and things, and handle simple real-life situations like shopping, eating out, and asking for directions. You will also start to see that Persian has its own typical ways to express time, frequency, and relationships between ideas.

Throughout Level A2, we will mostly use the variety of Persian spoken in Iran, often called “Farsi.” When needed, we will briefly mention common colloquial forms, especially for very frequent words like “to want” or “to go,” but the main goal is a clear and usable elementary standard.

What You Will Be Able to Do at A2

By the end of Level A2, you will be able to:

Talk in the present tense about what you usually do and what is happening now, using the simple present of common verbs. You will say things like “I live in Tehran,” “She works in a bank,” or “We eat breakfast at 8.”

Talk in the past tense about simple events and experiences. You will learn the simple past to say “I went,” “we saw,” “they bought,” and to tell short stories about yesterday, last week, or last year.

Speak about daily routines and typical activities. You will use adverbs of time and frequency to say how often you do something, for example “always,” “sometimes,” “never,” and you will connect these with your basic verbs.

Ask for and give simple information in everyday situations. You will handle shopping, prices, food, transportation, directions, and visits to the doctor at a basic level, using question words and yes/no questions that you already know from A1, but in more detailed sentences.

Describe people, places, and things more fully. You will expand your use of adjectives, learn colors and sizes, and you will learn how to compare things and form simple superlatives such as “bigger,” “the biggest,” “more interesting,” and “the most important.”

Express simple likes, dislikes, requests, and basic opinions. You will learn set expressions for asking politely, saying what you like and do not like, and linking ideas with basic conjunctions like “and,” “but,” and “because.”

Begin to manage short conversations. You will practice short dialogues, answer follow-up questions, ask for repetition or clarification, and move from single short sentences to pairs or small groups of connected sentences.

Structure of Level A2

Level A2 is divided into four main parts, each with its own focus.

In A2.1 “Expanding Communication,” you will concentrate on the simple present tense, common everyday verbs, adverbs of time and frequency, and the most useful prepositions. You will also learn basic strategies for making requests, for example asking for help or asking someone to do something.

In A2.2 “Talking About the Past,” you will learn the simple past tense and how to use it for recent events and short stories. You will connect past verb forms with time expressions such as “yesterday” and “last week,” and you will see how to make negation and questions in the past.

In A2.3 “Everyday Situations,” you will apply your grammar and vocabulary to typical real-life contexts: buying things, asking about and stating prices, understanding a menu and ordering food, asking for and giving directions, using transportation, and visiting a doctor or clinic. The goal is to be able to get through these situations with short, understandable Persian sentences.

In A2.4 “Descriptions and Comparisons,” you will learn grammar and vocabulary that help you talk about people, places, objects, and your preferences. You will form comparative and superlative adjectives, learn many useful describing words for size and color, practice expressing like and dislike with common patterns, and connect simple sentences with conjunctions so your speech becomes smoother.

Grammar and Communication Focus at A2

At the A2 level, grammar is always taught to support communication. The key structures you will meet are:

The simple present tense for regular or repeated actions and sometimes for general truths. You will form it for common verbs and see the difference between formal and everyday spoken forms where this is important for understanding.

The simple past tense for finished actions in the past. You will learn the basic patterns to form the past of regular verbs and meet the past forms of the most common irregular verbs.

Negation and questions in present and past. You already know simple negation and yes/no questions from A1. In A2 you will apply these to the present and past forms of verbs, always with plenty of examples from everyday situations.

Adverbs of time and frequency. These words help you answer “when?” and “how often?” such as “today,” “now,” “often,” “sometimes,” and they usually come directly before the verb.

Prepositions for place, time, and movement. You will meet very frequent prepositions like “in,” “at,” “to,” “from,” “with,” and use them to say where you are, where you are going, and with whom you are doing something.

Comparative and superlative forms of adjectives. You will learn the typical Persian patterns that mean “more” and “the most,” and use them in short sentences to compare people and things.

Basic conjunctions. You will learn how to connect sentences with words equivalent to “and,” “but,” “because,” and “so,” to express simple reasons and consequences.

Throughout Level A2, the aim is not to memorize abstract rules in isolation. Instead, each new structure will appear in short dialogues, simple descriptions, and practical tasks related to daily life.

Vocabulary Growth at A2

Vocabulary is especially important at this level. You will expand your word list in several key areas.

You will learn verbs related to daily activities such as “to go,” “to come,” “to eat,” “to drink,” “to work,” “to study,” “to buy,” “to sell,” “to like,” “to want,” “to be able,” and others that appear again and again in simple speech.

You will add many useful nouns for everyday life: names of shops, foods and drinks, items of clothing, basic household objects, parts of the city, means of transport, common illnesses and body parts.

You will learn adjectives to describe appearance, character at a very basic level, and places, along with color words and typical descriptive phrases used for size and quantity.

You will also meet many very frequent little words, such as time expressions (“today,” “tomorrow,” “yesterday,” “now,” “late,” “early”), frequency adverbs (“always,” “usually,” “sometimes,” “never”), and conversational expressions like “excuse me,” “thank you,” “please,” “maybe,” and “of course,” in forms that are natural in everyday Persian.

Throughout the A2 chapters, we will repeat and reuse important words. Short example sentences and mini dialogues will help you remember not only the word itself, but also its typical combinations.

Learning Strategies for the A2 Level

To get the most from Level A2, it helps to adjust how you study. At A1 you may have focused on single letters or isolated words. At A2, try to concentrate on short phrases and full sentences.

Since you already know the Persian script, you should now read words and sentences directly in Persian rather than always relying on transcription. However, if a word is very important and potentially confusing, we may sometimes remind you of a helpful pronunciation clue.

It is useful to keep a personal vocabulary notebook. Write new words with their Persian form, English meaning, and one simple example sentence. Add whether the word is mostly formal, mostly spoken, or neutral, when that is relevant. Review this notebook regularly, especially the verbs and small function words like prepositions and conjunctions.

Try to say the example sentences aloud. Speaking helps fix both grammar and vocabulary in your memory. You do not need to sound perfect. The main aim is to practice forming and pronouncing whole sentences so that in real conversations you can respond more quickly.

As you progress through Level A2, try to listen to simple Persian content, such as slow dialogues or children’s materials, that match the themes you are studying. Even if you understand only parts, this will strengthen your ear for the rhythm and patterns of the language.

Important Note about Forms and Colloquial Persian

At A2 we still keep the language simple and standard, but you will sometimes see that everyday spoken Persian in Iran uses slightly different forms from the most formal written standard. For high-frequency verbs and expressions, we will point out the most common spoken forms so that you can both understand and be understood in real situations.

If you keep this balance, you will build a solid base that will support more advanced listening and speaking skills in later levels.

How Level A2 Connects to Higher Levels

The A2 level is the bridge between basic survival Persian and more flexible, independent use of the language. The simple present, simple past, and descriptive tools you learn here are the foundation for the more complex tenses and structures in the B levels. Your everyday vocabulary from A2 will also be reused and expanded later, especially in more detailed stories, opinions, and discussions.

For this reason, it is better to move slowly and steadily through A2, making sure you can actually use what you learn in real or simulated conversations. Accuracy is helpful, but at this stage the main goal is practical, understandable communication.

Vocabulary for This Section

The table below gathers key words and expressions that are important for understanding the goals and content of Level A2. Later chapters will introduce many more items, but these give you a useful preview and some very frequent words that you will meet again and again.