Guide Me Please

[Mohsinkhan]

Assalamu Alaikum Pukhtano,
I'm from India and I really want to learn Pashto so someone please guide me a better grammar teaching book that I can learn through it.
Book should be 'English or Urdu to Pashto'. I have a Facebook friend from Pekhawar he can send me book if it is available in Pekhawar.
So Please suggest me a best book name for it.
Mananaa.

[Admin Khan]

Check out our Pashto section, and our library. We have thousands of resources. Just do some page-flipping and digging. If you still need help, let us know.

[Masha]

awww <3 Even tho this is not an intro thread i want to say welcomeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee to the neighborhood

[Mohsinkhan]

Check out our Pashto section, and our library. We have thousands of resources. Just do some page-flipping and digging. If you still need help, let us know.

Sir, I'm not able to find it out so You please suggest me any Book Name.

[طالب]

Walaikum assalaam, Mohsinkhan. I can't recall any Urdu books (though I'm sure they are available) but know of a couple of English ones. None of them are "teach yourself" books though.

1. CAL Materials
These books are now free and available to everyone. Written by Habibullah Tegey and Barbara Robson they are quite detailed and bring you from a beginning level to intermediate and further. There are a couple of problems though; first of all I have been unable to locate the language tapes that goes with the first two books (Beginning Pashto and Intermediate Pashto). The tapescripts are available, but without the tapes pronunciation is pretty much left to your imagination. Audio for the Pashto Conversation book is available though. Second, the some of the pages are not the best quality which can give problems when reading the Pashto script.
I've uploaded the books here:

Beginning Pashto
Intermediate Pashto
Pashto Conversation
Pashto Reader
Pashto-English Glossary for the CAL Pashto Materials

This YouTube user also has quite a few videos going through the materials.

2. Speaking Afghan Pashto by Randall Olson.
This book is not free, you'll have to order it from Interlit Foundation. However, I can highly recommend it. It goes through all the grammar of Pashto and contains both transliteration and Pashto script. The quality of the book is great and it contains many interesting facts about Pashtun culture. Keep in mind though that it is not a teach yourself book. It does contain exercises but not the results, so without a teacher you won't know if your answers are correct or not. Finally I feel the layout of the book could be better, sometimes you spend quite a lot of time looking for simple rules of grammar. I guess what is really needed is some kind of book which summarizes all the grammar rules so you don't have to swing out the huge book just to make sure you got the past tense right.

Anyway, you can also buy an audio CD alongside it which will help with pronunciation and an additional "Progressing in Pashto" book which should help you, well, progress in Pashto. Honestly I haven't used it much though. I can highly recommend the Pashto Phrasebook they also sell on their site though. The best Pashto phrasebook I've come across hands down.

3. The Modern Pushtu Instructor by Qazi Rahimullah Khan
This book is kind of old (first published 1938) and I have to admit I haven't used it much. It does go through the Pashto grammar pretty systematically though and also contains exercises. However, it is not as detailed as the above books. It should be pretty easy to get hold of in Pakistan and India I think. My copy, for example, was published in New Delhi. I'm sure you or your friend in Pekhawar can get hold of it. I'm sorry I can't give you much information on it but i honestly haven't used it much. Umm...the cover has a nice design?

4. A manual of Pushtu
Never used this book, but was told by a friend that it has an emphasis on military application. Again, an old book from 1922, but hey, it's free.

There are more books available, but these seem to be the major ones. Check out this page which contains a few more in addition to the ones I've mentioned.

[Mohsinkhan]

Walaikum assalaam, Mohsinkhan. I can't recall any Urdu books (though I'm sure they are available) but know of a couple of English ones. None of them are "teach yourself" books though.

1. CAL Materials
These books are now free and available to everyone. Written by Habibullah Tegey and Barbara Robson they are quite detailed and bring you from a beginning level to intermediate and further. There are a couple of problems though; first of all I have been unable to locate the language tapes that goes with the first two books (Beginning Pashto and Intermediate Pashto). The tapescripts are available, but without the tapes pronunciation is pretty much left to your imagination. Audio for the Pashto Conversation book is available though. Second, the some of the pages are not the best quality which can give problems when reading the Pashto script.
I've uploaded the books here:

Beginning Pashto
Intermediate Pashto
Pashto Conversation
Pashto Reader
Pashto-English Glossary for the CAL Pashto Materials

This YouTube user also has quite a few videos going through the materials.

2. Speaking Afghan Pashto by Randall Olson.
This book is not free, you'll have to order it from Interlit Foundation. However, I can highly recommend it. It goes through all the grammar of Pashto and contains both transliteration and Pashto script. The quality of the book is great and it contains many interesting facts about Pashtun culture. Keep in mind though that it is not a teach yourself book. It does contain exercises but not the results, so without a teacher you won't know if your answers are correct or not. Finally I feel the layout of the book could be better, sometimes you spend quite a lot of time looking for simple rules of grammar. I guess what is really needed is some kind of book which summarizes all the grammar rules so you don't have to swing out the huge book just to make sure you got the past tense right.

Anyway, you can also buy an audio CD alongside it which will help with pronunciation and an additional "Progressing in Pashto" book which should help you, well, progress in Pashto. Honestly I haven't used it much though. I can highly recommend the Pashto Phrasebook they also sell on their site though. The best Pashto phrasebook I've come across hands down.

3. The Modern Pushtu Instructor by Qazi Rahimullah Khan
This book is kind of old (first published 1938) and I have to admit I haven't used it much. It does go through the Pashto grammar pretty systematically though and also contains exercises. However, it is not as detailed as the above books. It should be pretty easy to get hold of in Pakistan and India I think. My copy, for example, was published in New Delhi. I'm sure you or your friend in Pekhawar can get hold of it. I'm sorry I can't give you much information on it but i honestly haven't used it much. Umm...the cover has a nice design?

4. A manual of Pushtu
Never used this book, but was told by a friend that it has an emphasis on military application. Again, an old book from 1922, but hey, it's free.

There are more books available, but these seem to be the major ones. Check out this page which contains a few more in addition to the ones I've mentioned.

Dara Mananaa,,, Speaking Afghan Pashto by Randall Olson. is very good i think but it's too expensive YAAR.

[طالب]

lol, ask your friend, maybe he can get it in Peshawar for a cheap price. It's worth a try. I came across a guy who had an earlier edition of the book and I'm pretty sure he didn't get it from Interlit Foundation, so it should be possible to get it elsewhere. If not, just start out with the CAL materials and see how it goes. There is also a lot of material available online as Admin Khan has stated. It's all free and should be more than enough to get you going.

By the way if you come across any other books please let me know. I'm very interested in any other materials out there

[Mohsinkhan]

lol, ask your friend, maybe he can get it in Peshawar for a cheap price. It's worth a try. I came across a guy who had an earlier edition of the book and I'm pretty sure he didn't get it from Interlit Foundation, so it should be possible to get it elsewhere. If not, just start out with the CAL materials and see how it goes. There is also a lot of material available online as Admin Khan has stated. It's all free and should be more than enough to get you going.

By the way if you come across any other books please let me know. I'm very interested in any other materials out there

Ok, Thanks Buddy. By the way I know basic Pashto very good but specially I want to improve my grammar. Before somedays I met to an Afghan Student who studies in my city (Ahmedabad) he told me that "Nice to meet you brother, that you are born in India but speak good Pashto but you should improve your grammar". That guy was from Kabul.

[طالب]

Aw man, I almost forgot; Habibullah has also written "A Reference Grammar of Pashto". I've uploaded it for you here, you should definitely take a look at it.

We also have a social group for students of Pashto on this site, you should take a look and join if you feel like it.

[stephanie]

I want to learn this language so much. Is it even feasible to learn here, really?

[Dreamer]

I want to learn this language so much. Is it even feasible to learn here, really?

Rosetta stone... it really works

[Mohsinkhan]

Aw man, I almost forgot; Habibullah has also written "A Reference Grammar of Pashto". I've uploaded it for you here, you should definitely take a look at it.

We also have a social group for students of Pashto on this site, you should take a look and join if you feel like it.

Ok.. Dera mananaa.

[طالب]

I want to learn this language so much. Is it even feasible to learn here, really?

Well, it certainly is feasible to learn the language however you shouldn't limit yourself to this place here.

The materials available for learning Pashto are not as numerous as say the ones available for Spanish, but they are there and all you need is to pick them up and start learning. You could grab one of the books I've listed or, better yet, use the Pimsleur course in Pashto which is available for free online (it was posted in one of the other threads in this forum). The Pimsleur course should start you out with some basics and is probably more fun than sitting down with a book.

Just make a plan and get going. You don't have to spend hours each day, just 30 min. You could for example decide that you will do one Pimsleur lesson a day. As long as you do something every day you will progress. If there is something you don't understand, ask in this forum.

Again, don't limit yourself, combine the resources available to fit your needs.

You can use flashcards to increase your vocabulary. Every time you come across a new word in Pashto, write the Pashto word on one side and the English translation on the other. Put them in a pile and practice them regularly. To avoid fiddling around with paper flashcards, use a program instead. It will save you a lot of time and you can even use it on your smartphone.

What you shouldn't do is use Rosetta Stone...it really is an expensive waste of time and it gets really boring really fast. IMHO

Of course nothing beats being in an immersive environment...being forced to speak the language is quite possibly the fastest way of learning it. Unfortunately the current situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan is not the most suitable for travelling.

[Badlun]

Please click here and share your questions and comments.

http://www.pashtunforums.com/pashto-classes-55/pashto-basic-course-discussion-topic-1301/

Here you will find pretty enough details on Pashto grammar, vocabulary and sentences structure.

[Bengal_Tiger]

starey mashey Stephanie?

Learn Pashto , The Basics Lesson 01 - YouTube

Pashto: Conv 1 - YouTube