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Persian Courses

Our Persian program is small and we do not offer Persian courses regularly (If you are looking to fulfill the FLPR with course work, sign up for any of our other languages we teach).  We generally offer first-year and second-year Persian courses every other year.

Academic Year 2018-2019: First-year Persian / Second-year Persian
Academic Year 2019-2020: Second-year Persian
Academic Year 2020-2021: First-year Persian
Academic Year 2021-2022: Second-year Persian
Academic-Year 2022-2023: No Persian scheduled

PERSIAN 111-1/2/3 Elementary Persian

This introductory Persian three-quarter sequence aims to produce conversational speakers after a single year of study. Emphasis is placed on the modern Tehrani dialect of Persian, but students learn to read, write, and speak more formal Persian as well. The Perso-Arabic alphabet is used from the beginning. In the first quarter students work on pronunciation, become familiar with the script, and internalize introductions and polite phrases. The second quarter introduces new tenses and moods for more complicated language tasks. By the end of the third quarter students will be able to use all common grammatical structures to converse comfortably on a variety of everyday topics. The class uses a communicative approach, meaning that group work and language production are emphasized in class. Students are expected to memorize vocabulary and grammar structures at home, and come to class prepared to use those language patterns in communicative situations. Persian is used in class whenever possible, and by the third quarter becomes the primary language of instruction.

Textbook
Atwood and Shahsavari, Persian of Iran Today, Books 1 and 2. Yousef and Torabi, Basic Persian. Other materials provided by instructor.

Prerequisite for Persian 111-1: none
Prerequisite for Persian 111-2: Persian 111-1
Prerequisite for Persian 111-3: Persian 111-2

PERSIAN 121-1/2/3 Intermediate Persian

This intermediate Persian three-quarter sequence reviews and practices the grammar introduced in first-year Persian through an array of intermediate cultural texts and literary excerpts. The class uses a communicative approach, meaning that group work and language production are emphasized in class. Students are expected to memorize vocabulary and grammar structures at home, and come to class prepared to use those language patterns in communicative situations. Reading, speaking and writing will be emphasized; each week will involve some combination of written responses, formal presentations, and informal discussion in response to provided materials. By the end of the course students will be comfortable producing language in a variety of registers and modes on familiar topics.

Textbook
Saeed Yousef and Hayedeh Torabi, Intermediate Persian: A Grammar and Workbook; a suitable Persian-English dictionary, such as that of Aryanpur-Kashani. Other materials provided by instructor.

Prerequisite for Persian 121-1: Persian 111-3
Prerequisite for Persian 121-2: Persian 121-1
Prerequisite for Persian 121-3: Persian 121-2