Language Information
Dari is an Indo-Iranian language spoken natively by roughly 50% of the population in Afghanistan and is one of the two official languages of the country (the other being Pashto); it is also spoken in some parts of eastern Iran. In Afghanistan, Dari has served as the lingua franca for many years, and is the main language of communication between people in most Afghan cities.
Dari is also called Eastern Persian, Afghan Persian, or Dari Persian, and shares many similarities with the Persian Farsi spoken in Iran.
While Dari is not currently offered at Indiana University, Persian is available at the introductory through advanced levels by the Department of Central Eurasian Studies.
Persian is also offered during the summer through the Language Workshop.
More information about Dari, as well as additional language resources, as available through the Center for Languages of the Central Asian Region.