Is Kurdish hard to learn? An honest answer
Kurdish is easier to start than many people think, and a few parts take patience. Here is what is easy, what takes time and how your background changes the answer.
Is Kurdish hard to learn? The honest answer: it is easier to start than most people expect, and a few parts take real patience. How hard it feels depends on your dialect and the languages you already speak. Every Kurdish example here comes from the ZimanGo lessons.
Kurdish has two big written standards: Kurmancî (Kurmanji, Northern Kurdish) in Latin letters and Soranî (Sorani, Central Kurdish) in an Arabic-based script. They are easy and hard in different places.
What makes Kurdish easier than you think
Kurmancî uses a Latin alphabet of 31 letters: the 26 letters of English plus ç, ê, î, ş and û. It was designed to give each sound its own letter, so once you know the letters you can read most new words aloud.
Many everyday words are short, often just one syllable:
| Kurmancî | Soranî | English |
|---|---|---|
| Av | ئاو | Water |
| Nan | نان | Bread |
| Mal | ماڵ | House |
| Çav | چاو | Eye |
| Şev | شەو | Night |
| Dest | دەست | Hand |
Kurdish is an Indo-European language from the Iranian branch: a close relative of Persian and a distant cousin of English and German. Some very old words still look alike:
| Kurmancî | Soranî | English |
|---|---|---|
| Nav | ناو | Name |
| Bira | برا | Brother |
| Du | دوو | Two |
| Nû | نوێ | New |
| Derî | دەرگا | Door |
| Stêr | ئەستێرە | Star |
Kurdish also shares many words with its neighbours, so Turkish, Persian and Arabic speakers will spot familiar ones early.
What takes time in Kurmancî
The biggest new idea for many learners is gender. Every Kurmancî noun is masculine or feminine, and often you cannot guess which, so you learn the gender with the word. You hear it in the ending that links a noun to the next word: -ê for masculine, -a for feminine.
| Kurmancî | Soranî | English |
|---|---|---|
| Ev bavê min e | ئەمە باوکمە | This is my father |
| Ev dayika min e | ئەمە دایکمە | This is my mother |
Kurmancî nouns can also change their form. After li (in), bajar (city) becomes bajêr, as in Ez li bajêr dixebitim (I work in the city).
The past tense of verbs like eat, see or write is what many learners find hardest. In the present, “I” is ez. In the past, with these verbs, “I” becomes min. Linguists call this an ergative pattern. With verbs like be or go, ez stays as it is.
| Kurmancî | Soranî | English |
|---|---|---|
| Ez ji bo taştê nan dixwim | بۆ نانی بەیانی نان دەخۆم | I eat bread for breakfast |
| Erê, min nan û çay xwar | بەڵێ، نان و چام خوارد | Yes, I ate bread and tea |
| Dema ez biçûk bûm | کاتێک منداڵ بووم | When I was little |
A few sounds are new for English speakers: x is the ch in Scottish “loch”, and q is a k made further back in the throat. Also keep e and ê, and i and î, apart: they are different sounds.
Instead of learning dayik (mother) on its own, learn Ev dayika min e. The -a reminds you that the word is feminine, and you get a sentence you can use.
What takes time in Soranî
Soranî’s first hurdle is the script. It runs from right to left, and most letters join the next one and change shape depending on where they sit in the word. Readers of Arabic or Persian script have a head start.
Arabic usually leaves short vowels out; Soranî writes its vowels as letters, except one short i sound. It also adds letters for Kurdish sounds, such as the heavy L in سڵاو (hello).
The second hurdle is endings. In Soranî, “I am”, “my” and even “the” are endings, not separate words:
| Kurmancî | Soranî | English |
|---|---|---|
| Ez xwendekar im | قوتابیم | I am a student |
| Ez mamoste me | مامۆستام | I am a teacher |
| Mamosteya min Leyla ye | مامۆستاکەم لەیلایە | My teacher is Leyla |
In مامۆستاکەم mamostakem, three pieces sit in one word: teacher, the ending for “the” (-eke, shortened to -ke after a vowel) and -m for “my”.
In the past tense, these endings move. Look back at the past-tense table in the Kurmancî section: in “I eat bread for breakfast” the -m for “I” sits on the verb, but in “Yes, I ate bread and tea” it attaches to the word for tea: چام çam.
The good news: standard Soranî has no grammatical gender, so there is one big topic less to learn than in Kurmancî.
Many dialects, fewer resources
Kurdish is not one single standard. Besides Kurmancî and Soranî there is Southern Kurdish, and many Kurds also speak Zazakî (Kirmanckî) or Hewramî (Gorani). Kurmancî and Soranî differ in script, grammar and many words, so choose one to start. Our guide to Kurmancî vs Soranî helps you decide.
Within each dialect, people also speak a little differently from region to region. If a relative says a word differently from your lessons, that is normal for a language spoken across several countries.
The other honest challenge is material. Kurdish has far fewer textbooks, dictionaries and subtitled films than Spanish or German, and language-technology researchers call it a less-resourced language. Finding things to read and hear at your level takes more effort.
How hard is Kurdish for you?
The languages you already know change the answer more than anything else.
If you speak English
The Kurmancî letters feel familiar, and old shared words such as nav (name) and bira (brother) help you along. New for you are noun genders, the ergative past and the word order. Kurdish usually puts the verb at the end, so Ez li bajêr dixebitim is literally “I in the city work”.
If you speak German
German speakers have an advantage in Kurmancî: nouns with gender are nothing new, and neither are changes after a word like “in”. German changes the article in “in der Stadt”; Kurmancî changes the noun in li bajêr. Some words even look related, such as tu and “du” (you). The ergative past is new, though.
If you speak Turkish
Turkish speakers get several gifts: the verb comes at the end, the letters c, ç and ş are read much as in Turkish, and many words are familiar, often because both languages took them from Arabic or Persian:
| Kurmancî | Soranî | English |
|---|---|---|
| Ders | وانە | Lesson |
| Saet | کاتژمێر | Hour |
| Hesab | حیساب | Account |
| Çay | چا | Tea |
Watch out, though. In Kurmancî, î is the Turkish i, while plain i is closer to Turkish ı. And dil is a false friend: it means “heart” in Kurdish, not “language”. Gender and the ergative past are new, because Turkish has neither: the two languages belong to different families.
If you speak Persian or Arabic
Persian is a close relative, so many basic words are almost the same: heft (seven), deh (ten), dest (hand) and şev (night) all have Persian twins. Readers of either script know most Soranî letters already, and Arabic speakers will recognise borrowed words such as saet (hour), but the grammar works very differently from Arabic.
If you grew up hearing Kurdish
Heritage speakers often have the best start: you may already know the sounds and many words. The work is usually reading, writing and words beyond family life. Our tips for heritage speakers show how to build on what you have.
How long does it take to learn Kurdish?
There is no honest single number: it depends on your dialect, your other languages and how often you practise. One useful comparison comes from the school that trains American diplomats. It puts Kurdish in its group of “hard languages” for English speakers, with Turkish, Persian, Greek and Russian: harder than Spanish or French, easier than Arabic, Chinese or Japanese.
Its students study full time and plan about 44 weeks to reach a professional level in these languages. Most people learn next to work, school or family, so treat this as a comparison, not a timetable.
What you can count on is progress in stages. Greetings and everyday phrases come first. Reading comes early in Kurmancî; in Soranî the script takes longer. Easy conversation comes with steady practice, and fast speech and literature take longer still, as in any language.
How to make Kurdish easier
- Pick one dialect. Choose the one your family or friends speak, and add the other later if you want to.
- Learn the alphabet first. It is the quickest win, and it makes every later lesson easier.
- Learn whole phrases. Phrases carry the gender and endings for you. When you are ready, our Kurdish grammar basics explain them.
- Practise a little every day. Short, regular sessions are easier to keep up. See how to learn with ten minutes a day.
- Speak early. Say phrases out loud and use them with Kurdish speakers.
One phrase from the idioms lessons fits every learner:
Hêdî hêdî diçim هێواش هێواش دەچم hêwaş hêwaş deçim Slowly, slowly I go
ZimanGo teaches both Kurmancî and Soranî, starting with the alphabet in Latin and Arabic script, with speaking practice that uses our own Kurdish speech recognition.
Questions people ask
Is Kurdish hard to learn for English speakers?
The best-known ranking for English speakers, from the school that trains American diplomats, puts it in its “hard languages” group: harder than Spanish or French, easier than Arabic or Chinese. The Latin letters of Kurmancî make the start easy, while noun genders and the past tense take longer.
How long does it take to learn Kurdish?
It depends on your dialect, your other languages and how often you practise. Greetings and simple phrases come early, and everyday conversation needs steady practice. Full-time courses for diplomats plan about 44 weeks to reach a professional level.
Is Kurmanji or Sorani easier?
Kurmancî is usually easier to read, because it uses Latin letters with regular spelling. Standard Soranî has no grammatical gender, but it uses an Arabic-based script and many endings. The easiest one to learn is the one spoken by the people around you.
Is Kurdish similar to Turkish?
Not in origin: Kurdish is an Indo-European language related to Persian, and Turkish belongs to a different family. They do share many borrowed words, such as ders (lesson) and çay (tea), and both put the verb at the end of the sentence.
