Persian, known to its native Iranian speakers as Farsi, is the official language of modern day Iran, parts of Afghanistan and the central Asian republic of Tajikistan.

Persian is one of the most important members of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family of languages. It is distantly related to Latin, Greek, the Romance, Slavic and Teutonic languages, and English. Kurdish, Baluchi, Pashto and Ossetic are the other modern Iranian languages.

Sizeable minority populations in other Middle Eastern countries namely, Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates, also speak Persian, as do large communities in Europe, Turkey, Australia, the USA and Canada.

There are over 110 million Persian speakers across the world. Persian is a beautiful language with a long and rich history.

We don't know how familiar you are with the Duolingo education application. During these years, the Duolingo team has made a lot of efforts and attention to improve the educational and methods of learning. They increased the number of languages and  greatly expanded language learning and created an equal space for education. What they are doing is admirable.

We occasionally visit the language list of this application so that maybe we can find the Persian language. Many languages have been added, languages with more limited speakers. But not Persian. We even wrote to them several times and later we realised that many people like us had the same request. But none of these requests have ever been answered.

It is important for us. Our language must not be disappeared. It shouldn't be silent. the language of millions of people who have already lost their solidarity and unity as a result of wrong political decisions. It is important to us what connects us. Our language is our lost identity.

The world knows a little about Persian speakers.  By looking at the headlines of the world's major news agencies, you will understand what words are tied to Persian speakers and how these words have shaped the fate of our era. If we leave out a limited number of western historians and researchers, unpleasant words represent the majority of us.

Duolingo application has  over five hundred million users from all over the world who learn different languages ​​for free. Yes, it is important that we can learn other languages ​​more easily, but it is more important that other people of the world have the right to choose the Persian language equally. Language is the way of understanding & communication. Language is the secret of connecting hearts. The Persian language will save us and reflect us. The good and the bad, The Truth.

We are collecting signatures for this matter. Join if you want. Sign it Wherever you are, whatever ethnicity you are, and if you are in love with Persian like us. Let's keep it alive.

We as native Persian speakers kindly ask Duolingo to add Persian and we are eager for contribution and its development. We are sure that Duo, Bea, Junior, Eddy, Lin, Vikram, Zari, Lily, Oscar, and Lucy are agreeing with us.

Source of content: Soas University of London, Department of the Languages and Cultures of the Near and Middle East & lots of blogs & posts by people demanding Farsi at Duolingo

* Picture : A portrait in Traditional Persian Miniature Paintings