Short answer: there is no single best option. A free preschool app such as Gorbeh suits vocabulary and play; a community school such as the MTO Persian School suits ages 6 to 16 who need structured reading and writing; a one-to-one tutor suits a child who needs conversation at their own pace; bilingual picture books suit bedtime with a parent who reads Persian; and a relative's recorded voice suits keeping the language emotionally close. Most families combine two or three.
Disclosure: this is written by Azizan, a family storytelling app that is on this list, so read its entry with the same scepticism as any maker's description of its own product. Every other entry was checked on 20 October 2026 against the provider's own page, linked below.
The list
Gorbeh – Farsi for kids (iOS, free, "Made for Ages 0–5", age rating 4+; seller: The British Institute of Persian Studies with Persian Language Online). Games and songs with Gorbeh the Cat: numbers, colours, food, vehicles, weather, animals; no Persian reading needed. Good for preschool vocabulary and play; not for reading or writing. iPhone/iPad only — I found no Android version. Checked 2026-10-20: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/id6742160627
MTO Persian School — a children's programme for ages 6 to 16, "18 centers across Europe, the US, Canada, and Australia", plus online classes "from anywhere in the world". Good for structured reading and writing and for having classmates; not for under-6s. Checked 2026-10-20: https://mtopersianschool.com/en
One-to-one online tutors — Preply's "Persian (Farsi) tutors for kids" page listed 116 tutors on 2026-10-20, with trial lessons and prices shown per tutor (the page quotes lessons "from $3" and an average around $17 per hour; individual cards ranged $6–$30 for 50 minutes). Quality varies tutor by tutor, so take a trial lesson first. Checked 2026-10-20: https://preply.com/en/online/tutors-farsi-for-children
Bilingual picture books — for example Reza Nazari's "Shahnameh Stories for Kids in Farsi and English" series, with side-by-side text; retailers list them for roughly ages 3 to 8. Good for shared bedtime reading with a parent who reads Persian. (Retailer pages were checked on 2026-10-13; the bookshop page could not be reopened on 2026-10-20, so treat the age range as the retailer's claim.) https://bookshop.org/a/13627/9781637196908
Azizan (this is us). Illustrated Persian children's stories that a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle reads aloud on video, one page at a time; the child replays the recording from their own shelf. Real family voices, never a synthetic voice. It is not a language course (no alphabet or grammar lessons). Today: a growing library of Persian stories (new ones added every day), Persian only, a web app plus an Android build, not yet in the app stores, free to start. https://azizan.app/en/apps-to-teach-persian-to-kids/
How to choose
- Under 5: start with sound, not letters — songs, a play app, a relative's recorded voice.
- 6 to 12 and ready to read: a class or tutor, plus bedtime stories at home.
- Nobody at home speaks Persian daily: regular input from people who do, even by recording, is the strongest lever.
What I could not verify
I found no independent study comparing these options, so "good for" reflects what each provider says it does, not measured outcomes. Prices and availability change. If your product is described wrongly here, say so and it will be corrected.
One thing to do today: if a grandparent or aunt speaks Persian to your child, ask them to record one story page: https://azizan.app/en/how-to-record-a-bedtime-story-video-for-grandchildren/
Originally published at https://azizan.app/en/apps-to-teach-persian-to-kids/
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