First Albanian-Iranian handbook published

TIRANA, August 1 – The first handbook on the learning of Albanian language has been published in Iran as a step toward enhancing cultural ties between Iran and Albania. The handbook has been compiled by Vahid Parast Tash with the assistance of the Institute for Contemporary Balkan Studies. The author, who also wrote a book on Kosovo and is known for his support to Kosovo’s independence and its recognition by Arab countries, has employed simple techniques for Iranians to learn Albanian.
“The Albanian language belongs to the Indo-European family and is spoken in Albania and Kosovo but massively used also in other countries. Currently, more than 10 million people around the world speak this language. Although Albanians are mainly concentrated in the Balkans, there are Albanian-speakers in the US, Australia, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and other European countries where they live as a decent and valuable minority. The Albanian language is composed of two main dialects, the northern Geg and southern Tosk. The Geg dialect composes the standard Albanian language while the Albanian alphabet is composed of Latin letters,” says the preface to the book.
“The cultural and linguistic similarities between the Albanian and Iranian people such as the presence of scholar and national poet Naim Frasheri who has written in Persian show the deep cultural connections between Albanians and Iranians. The presence of many Persian words in the Albanian language and the existence of many Persian books and writings in the Albanian archives and libraries, show the presence of the Persian culture, language and literature in the history of this European people,” says the author.
The handbook of Albanian language has been written in three parts. The first part contains 110 lessons on the Albanian language along with the Alphabet and its pronunciation. The second part of the book contains 450 common words in the Persian and Albanian languages while the third part contains a dictionary which travelers to Iran and Albania can use.