FIRST-YEAR PERSIAN I      Fall 2005

This page contains archived class material for past courses in the Persian Studies Program at the University of Texas at Austin.

These are provided for historic interest and no longer reflect current courses or teaching methods in use at UT.

If you are interested in current courses taught in the UT Persian program, please visit the department site.
  Daily 9am-10am




Description: This is a language competency-based course designed for beginning students of Persian. Students are introduced to basic patterns of Persian in simple sentences. While emphasis in this course is on conversation skills, students also learn the Perso-Arabic script and develop reading and writing skills. Daily homework assignments are corrected and discussed with students. Reading materials from the assigned texts are used to improve students' reading comprehension and to build vocabulary. Audio recordings of all dialogues and reading materials are made available through the Language Laboratory and the course website. Students regularly watch feature films and are encouraged to make use of internet-based language tools.  The students learn to type Persian and post to a course weblog.   At the end of the semester, students are expected to be able to reach the level of listening, reading, speaking, and writing skills established in the University Standard Exit Criteria approved for first-year Persian by the American Association of Teachers of Persian.

Requirements: Exams, daily assignments, class participation. Five absences (without documented need) will result in the lowering of the course grade one letter.  In order to not disrupt the class, students must arrive on time,  remain the entire class period and participate actively.  Daily assignments are to be written in your own handwriting.  Only those assignments which are specifically designed to teach Persian word-processing may be typed.

Prerequisites: None. Everyone is welcome.  Please see the instructor to make sure this is the class for you.  For students with previous exposure to Persian, a placement may be administered in lieu of PRS 506.

Texts: M. R. Ghanoonparvar and F. Givehchian, Persian for Beginners; photocopied materials; and electronic and web-based materials.
So that we may integrate web-based resources into the curriculum students will need to become familiar with computer technology.  The best support for Persian is currently WinXP with Internet Explorer 6.  The computers in the Middle Eastern Languages Language Lab in the basement of the FLAWN Academic Center (which also houses the UGL Undergraduate Library)  have been equipped to handle your Persian typing and browsing needs.  The lab is open Mon-Fri 9-5.  Mac, Linux and other Windows users may find this facility more convenient however, by no means will you be required to make any switches from your favorite setup.  All technology-based instruction will be conducted in a friendly, supportive and non-stressful manner.

Optional Software Available at the Campus Computer Store in FAC with UT ID:

Windows:
Windows XP (recommended):  $12.00
Microsoft Office 2003: $12.00

Mac:
Mac OS X v10.4 "Tiger" $72.00

Grading: Four exams, 60%; daily assignments, 20%; class participation, 20%.

This page contains archived class pages for past courses in the Persian Studies Program at the University of Texas at Austin. These are provided for historic interest and no longer reflect teaching methods in use at UT. If you are interested in current courses taught in the UT Persian program, please visit the department site.


Class Overview and Text-Based Syllabus:

Week 1, Aug 31-Sept 2 Lesson 1 and Alphabet instruction
Week  2, Sep 6-9 Lessons   2, 3 and Alphabet instruction
Week  3, Sep  12-16  Lessons   4, 5, 6
Sep 16 REVIEW TEST 1
Week  4, Sep 19-23  Lessons 7, 8, 9
Week  5, Sep 26-30 Lessons   10, 11, 12
Week  6, Oct 3-Oct 7 Lessons   13, 14, 15
 Oct 6                                 REVIEW TEST 2
Week  7, Oct  10-14 Lessons 16, 17, 18
Week  8, Oct 17-21 Lessons   19, 20, 21
Week  9, Oct 24-28 Lessons   22, 23, 24
Week 10, Oct 31-Nov 4 Lessons   25, 26, 27
 Nov 4                                   REVIEW TEST 3
Week 11, Nov  7-11 Lessons 28, 29, 30
Week 12, Nov 14-18 Lessons   31, 32, 33
Week 13, Nov 21-23 Lessons   34, 35, 36
Week 14, Nov 28-Dec 2 Lessons  37, 38, 39
Week 15, Dec 5-9 Lessons   40, 41, 42
Dec 9                              REVIEW


Breakdown by Day:
Week Day Date Assignment
1 1 Aug 31 Copy the alphabet; CA#1
  2 Sept 1 Copy the alphabet; CA#2
  3 Sept 2 Copy Lesson 1 (p. 1); CA#3
2 4 Sept 6 Copy Lesson 1 (p. 2); CA#4
  5 Sept 7 Copy Lesson 2 (p. 3); CA#5
  6 Sept 8 Copy Lesson 2 (p. 4); CA#6
  7 Sept 9 Copy Lesson 3 (pp. 5, 6)
3 8 Sept 12 Copy Lesson 4
  9 Sept 13 Copy Lesson 5
  10 Sept 14  CA#7
  11 Sept 15 Copy Lesson 6
  12 Sept 16 TEST 1
4 13 Sept 19 Copy Lesson 7: pdf  jpeg
  14 Sept 20 Copy Lesson 8: pdf
  15 Sept 21 Copy Lesson 9: pdf
  16 Sept 22 CA#8
  17 Sept 23 Answer in Persian (p. 18)
5 18 Sept 26 Answer questions (Lesson 10, p. 20); CA9
  19 Sept 27 Dialogue assignment; CA10
  20 Sept 28 Complete blanks (p. 22)
  21 Sept 29 CA11
  22 Sept 30 Answer questions (p. 24)
6 23 Oct 3 Write conjugations (p. 26); CA12
  24 Oct 4 Memorize conjugations (p. 26); CA13
  25 Oct 5 Fill in blanks (p. 28)
  26 Oct 6 TEST 2;  CA14
  27 Oct 7 Learning to tell time
7 28 Oct 10 Answer questions (p. 31); CA15
  29 Oct 11 Answer questions 1-10 (p. 34); CA16
  30 Oct 12 Answer questions 11-20 (p. 34); CA17
  31 Oct 13 Dialogue; CA18
  32 Oct 14 Dialogue
8 33 Oct 17 Answer questions (p. 38); CA19
  34 Oct 18 Learn Persian calendar; CA20
  35 Oct 19 Complete sentences (p. 40); CA21
  36 Oct 20 Practice reading Lesson 21
  37 Oct 21 Answer questions (pp. 41-42)
9 38 Oct 24 Complete sentences (p. 44); CA22
  39 Oct 25 Answer questions (pp. 45-46)
  40 Oct 26 Translate reading (Lesson 23)
  41 Oct 27 To be assigned; CA23
  42 Oct 28  
10 43 Oct 31 Answer questions (p. 49 & 50); CA24
  44 Nov 1 Practice conjugations (Lesson 26); CA25
  45 Nov 2 To be assigned
  46 Nov 3 TEST 3
  47 Nov 4 Answer questions (pp. 53-54)
11 48 Nov 7 Practice imperative (p. 56); CA26
  49 Nov 8 Directions to library (draft)
  50 Nov 9 Directions to library; CA27
  51 Nov 10 Fill in blanks
  52 Nov 11 Answer questions (pp. 61-62)
12 53 Nov 14 Write out numbers (p. 64); CA28
  54 Nov 15 Questions (pp. 65-66); CA29
  55 Nov 16 Write sentences with words (p. 66)
  56 Nov 17 Fill in the blanks (p. 68); CA30
  57 Nov 18 Memorize dialogue (Lesson 35)
13 58 Nov 21 CA31
  59 Nov 22 CA32
  60 Nov 23 CA33
14 61 Nov 28 Fill in blanks (p. 72)
  62 Nov 28 To be assigned
  63 Nov 28 Practice Lesson 36 (tenses)
  64 Nov 28 Answer questions (Lesson 37)
  65 Nov 28 Prepare vocabulary: dream (p. 74)
15 66 Dec 5 Telling a dream; CA34
  67 Dec 6 Answer questions (p. 80)
  68 Dec 7 Answer questions (p. 83-84); CA35
  69 Dec 8 Study for test; CA35
  70 Dec 9 Review


                       
This page contains archived class material for past courses in the Persian Studies Program at the University of Texas at Austin.

These are provided for historic interest and no longer reflect current courses or teaching methods in use at UT.

If you are interested in current courses taught in the UT Persian program, please visit the department site.