Persian Language is the mother tongue of more than 150 million people in the Middle East. Persian is spoken today primarily in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, with populations of speakers in the Persian Gulf Region and Central Asia. Historically, it was widely understood from the Mediterranean to India, and has a rich historical and cultural legacy.

This course assumes no previous knowledge of the language. It covers the Persian script, sound system and basic grammar rules. The teaching uses a new method of audio-visual and audio-lingual approach and is designed to develop the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing by the use of dialogues ,class interaction, oral and written drills. Language laboratory work may be incorporated into the course. On completion of the course, students will have acquired a spoken facility at a basic level in Modern Standard Persian; the ability to read and understand a range of simple Persian texts within a vocabulary range of 300-400 most commonly used words and some basic grammatical structures of Persian language and familiarity with some Persian cultural practice and tradition.

Reading Proficiency:

(1) Recognize all of the characters of the Persian/Modern Standard Arabic alphabet

(2) Demonstrate ability to read very simple connected written material in a form

equivalent to usual printing or typescript

(3) Demonstrate ability to read either representations of familiar formulaic verbal

exchanges or simple language containing only the highest frequency structural

patterns and vocabulary

(4) Demonstrate ability to read and understand known language elements that have

been recombined in new ways to achieve different meanings at a similar level of

simplicity

Speaking Proficiency:

(1) Articulate minimum courtesy requirements and maintain very simple face-to-face

conversations on familiar topics such as personal and accommodation needs,

introduction and identification of self, others, objects; exchange greetings, elicit

and provide predictable and skeletal biographical information

(2) Formulate and respond to simple questions

Writing Proficiency:

(1) Demonstrate sufficient control of the writing system to meet limited survival

needs and limited social demands

(2) Create sentences and short paragraphs related to most survival needs such as food, lodging, transportation, immediate surroundings, and some situations including limited social demands

(3) Express fairly accurate present and future time

(4) Identify and use some past verb forms

(5) Relate personal history, discuss topics such as daily life, preferences, and very

familiar material

(6) Demonstrate good control of elementary vocabulary and some control of basic

syntactic patterns

(7) Use a dictionary to advantage to express simple ideas

(8) Write simple letters, summaries of biographical data, and work experiences with fair accuracy

Listening Proficiency:

(1) Demonstrate sufficient comprehension to understand utterances about basic

survival needs and minimum courtesy and travel requirements in areas of

immediate need or on very familiar topics.

(2) Understand simple questions and answers, simple statements and very simple

face-to-face conversations in a standard dialect.

(3) Comprehend conversation about basic needs such as: meals, lodging,

transportation, time and simple directions.

(4) Demonstrate comprehension of main ideas.

Weekly assignments (10%), quizzes (10%), attendance (10%), class performance (10%), mid-semester test (written 20%), final exam (oral 10% and written 30%).

Four hours of lectures per week (may include language laboratory sessions).

Study materials to be provided by lecturer.