This textbook is designed to be used as part of a classroom setting instruction. Learning to speak a new language requires continual practice, interaction, and feedback. If you are taking this course, your instructor will provide you with additional assignments and external resources.
Of course, you can also use the textbook on your own -- as a reference, to learn about Pashto language and culture, and to pick up some useful words and phrases.
The textbook is divided into five chapters with lessons that build upon the skills and knowledge learned in the previous chapters. Most lessons begin with a short cultural lesson, which you'll be asked to read in class and absorb in order to fully understand the context of this language.
It is conveniently divided into short sections, each on a single topic, and each followed by a homework assignment focused on that topic. The homework sets were designed with the intention that all or most of the exercises will be assigned. Many of the homework exercises involve reading and writing Pashto text as well as memorizing important phrases.
This textbook is primarily designed for students at the novice level, which begins with the basics of the Pashto Alphabet. It consists of material for classroom activities, group work, writing and audio exercises as well as cultural lessons in the beginning of each chapter.
At the end of the textbook you will find a glossary composed of all the lessons in the textbook. Should you have any doubt with a meaning of a word, feel free to flip to the back and look up its correct definition. The glossary is alphabetized from Pashto to English as well as English to Pashto, to make it easier for the user to utilize effectively.
Also, this textbook is accompanied by an audio CD for students to have the opportunity to get acquainted with the features of both dialects (i.e. Easten & Southern) and be able to adapt to the dialect spoken locally.