Syllabus
Elementary Persian I: PERS 1001 (4 hours)
Fall 2009
Instructor: Mr. Parviz Hussaini, Religion Dept., UGA
Class Hours: MW 1:25-2:15 and TuTh 12:30-1:20, Jurnalism Room: 510
Email: parviz@uga.edu Phone:
Office: Peabody Hall Room: 22
Office hours: By appointment: Email me and make one.
Course Description:
This is an elementary level course stressing oral fluency, written expression, and reading comprehension. The objectives of the course are to help students to accomplish the following objectives:
1- Read texts of elementary level difficulty.
2- Communicate and converse in Farsi on a variety of topics and to understand spoken Farsi in everyday situations.
3- Write elementary narrative style paragraphs coherently and with reasonable accuracy.
4- Develop cultural awareness through additional readings and class discussions.
Course Requirements and Attendance:
Students will be taught through the use of vocabulary in simulated settings and situations through repetition drills, frequent use of vocabulary, acting, and reading loud. This will be augmented by the reading and grammatical analysis of various texts. Students are required and encouraged to speak Farsi in class discussion. There will be a brief vocabulary quiz on Monday of each week (no more than ten words each), a lesson quiz (15-20 minutes), each Thursday when there is not a midterm exam, three midterms, and one final exam. The new lesson and the vocabulary for the coming week's lesson will be introduced each Thursday.
Your text has an accompanying CD; so you will be assigned homework from it. You must work extensively with it in order to learn how to speak and understand spoken Farsi.
Studying, Self-testing, and Flashcards:
Researchers in higher education agree that for students to learn, they need to study at least two hours outside of class for every one hour of class per week. This is particularly true if you want to learn a language. Since you have four hours of class per week, you should therefore plan to study outside of class at least 8 hours each week for this class.
For language learning, self-testing is a must. For this, flashcards for vocabulary and points of grammar are a useful method. In addition, ideally you should get a study partner with whom you can practice speaking.
Attendance and Participation:
All students are expected to attend each class and to focus on the course in class (not on things extraneous to the course). Class attendance is absolutely necessary.
Students will be allowed 4 absences for any reason, including sports and other school or personal events. Such excuses (illness, family problems, etc.) are to be e-mailed to the instructor, but it is completely at his disposal to accept them or not. After the 4 absences, each absence will result in 1% reduction of the final grade.
Please note that no make-up quizzes or tests will be given without a physicianÕs or deanÕs excuse. Late assignments will also result in a 1% reduction of your final grade for this course. The final exam is scheduled for Wed, Dec. 16, 12:00 – 3:00 pm. This cannot be changed unless you have a total of three exams on that day.
Absolutely no cell phones (or other communication devices) are to be used in class, as these are highly disruptive. This includes silently checking your messages or sending text messages! If you violate this policy, you will be counted as absent for that day without notice. No exceptions!
While Learning Farsi,
1. DonÕt be afraid of making mistakes. It is impossible to learn a language without making them and being corrected.
2. Use what you learn as soon as you have a chance.
3. Review previous lessons frequently, and make your own vocabulary notebook which will help you control your learning.
4. Participate in group repetition in class. It may seem mechanical, but it helps to build the skills needed for individual speech.
5. Open your mind to the different and to the new. Not only Farsi, but every language has its own mentality, and comparing it to English will not help. Also try to avoid any prejudices and preconceptions.
6. Do not let any interruption break the continuity of your involvement with the Farsi language.
7. Remember this may lead to an interesting career opportunity one dayÉ
8. Enjoy yourself!
For useful websites see the following:
Readings:
Modern Persian Spoken and Written: An Elementary Text. V. 1, Available at UGA Bookstore
Additional materials will be distributed to the students throughout the session as necessary.
For practice and reference for writing the alphabet use:
http://gheyaspour.tripod.com/farhang/index.html click on Alefba; and
http://www.easypersian.com/farsi/lesson_1.htm for lessons on the vowels
http://www.easypersian.com/persian/New/Farsi_writing.htm (do lessons one-ten)
Evaluation:
Class Participation and attendance 8%
Weekly Vocabulary quizzes (9@ 2% each) each Monday 18%
Homework (including flashcards) and writing assignments 8%
Lesson Quizzes (10@ 3% each) each Thursday 30%
Midterms (3@ 7% each) 21%
Final Exam 15%
(The final is cumulative and is based on the lessons, including vocabulary, and class materials; we will review for the final exam during the last week of class.)
Grading: 90-100 = A, 80-89 = B, 70-79 = C, 60-69 = D, and less than 60 = F
Week 1 August 17-20
Conversation: Introductions: Greeting and cultural Expressions p-8
Cultural materials: greeting p-8
Focus: First 1/4 of the alphabet.
Week 2 August 24-27
Class expressions p-10
Simple greeting p-11
Exercise p-12
Focus: second 1/4 of the alphabet.
Week 3: August 31- Sept 3
Listening a dialogue p-12
Vocabulary p-13
Question intonation p-15
Focus: third 1//4 of the alphabet.
Week 4 Monday Sept. 7 Labor Day holiday; classes Sept. 8-10
Last ¼ of the alphabet. Test 1: Continue lesson 1
Week 5- Sept. 14-17,
Review alphabet, Finish lesson 1.
Week 6- Sept. 21-24, Week 7- Sept. 28-Oct. 1
Lesson 2 page: 37. Work on present tense
Week 8 Oct. 5-8, Test 2. Week 9 – Oct. 12-15
Lesson 3 page: 66.
Week 10 – Oct. 19-22, Week 11 – Oct 26-Nov 5,
Lesson 4parge:113
Week 12 Nov. 9-12, Test 3. Week 13 – Nov. 16- 19
Lesson 5 page: 161
Week 14 -- Nov. 23-27 Thanksgiving Break, no class
Week 15 – Nov. 30- Dec. 3
Review
Week 16 - Dec. 7 Monday last day of class
Review
Final exam: Wed. Dec. 16, 12:00 – 3:00 pm
Note: If any difficulties arise, please do not hesitate to speak with the instructor. If that does not solve your difficulty, please consult the Critical Languages FLTA supervisor, Dr. Godlas, godlas@uga.edu (Associate Professor, Religion Dept.; and Director, Virtual Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of the Islamic World)
Honesty Policy: The UGA Academic Honesty Policy will be followed. In other words, all academic work must meet the standards contained in "A Culture of Honesty." Students are responsible for informing themselves about those standards before performing any academic work. The link to more detailed information about academic honesty can be found at http://www.uga.edu/ovpi/honesty/acadhon.htm
Changes to this Syllabus: The instructor reserves the right to make any changes to this syllabus. The course syllabus is a general plan for the course; deviations announced to the class by the instructor may be necessary. Changes will be posted on WebCT.