Persian Language (Farsi) is the mother tongue of more than 150 million people in the Middle East and Central Asia, spoken today primarily in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, with speakers in a number of other countries in the region. Persian was widely understood from the Mediterranean to India, and has a rich historical and cultural legacy, and includes the work of Ferdousi, Khayyam, Saadi, Rumi and Hafiz.  Persian literature influenced the works of European writers such as Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Lamartine, Maeterlinck, Goethe and F. Scott Fitzgerald, as well as  many Arabic, Turkish and Urdu writings, and many Persian words are retained in those language.

Learning outcomes

Students will acquire limited skills and knowledge to:

• write texts in Farsi in the appropriate genre, with correct grammatical structures and thematic vocabulary relevant to the level of the student;
• read, comprehend and infer authors’ meanings in newspapers, magazines, and simple texts written in Farsi;
• engage with authentic media such as Persian news, movies or music;
• communicate verbally at a basic level  in a variety of settings with proficient Farsi speakers;
• identify and differentiate aspects and issues of the cultures and societies associated with the Farsi language.