Persian language courses at the University of Göttingen

“He who does not know foreign languages does not know anything about his own.”

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Maxims and Reflections 91

There are several reasons why one should learn foreign languages. On the one hand, you can broaden your horizons and get to know new worlds by learning languages. On the other hand, you can gain skills that are beneficial for further careers or social contacts.

Persian is a language in the Indo-European language family. It is one of the oldest languages in this language family and also has many existing manuscripts and a long literary tradition. Therefore, learning Persian plays an important role in learning other Indo-European languages and your understanding of them. This applies regardless of whether you are studying Iranian studies or not.

The Department of Iranian Studies at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen offers a great opportunity to learn Persian. In addition to the occasional seminars on Middle Persian, Persian is offered every semester at different levels.

In module B.Ira.101, participants learn Persian for six hours per week. The course starts with the alphabet and is suitable for beginners. At the end of this language course, students will be able to make small talk, read and write, talk about their weekend, discuss the weather, and also express their wishes and plans for the future.

In the B.Ira.102 course, participants learn how to express unfulfillable wishes, express their feelings appropriately, and set conditions. They also practice discussing and reasoning at an easy level.

You can also write short texts in which you describe, for example, why you like to travel or share a recipe for a dish. After completing this course, students will reach level B1.

B.Ira.106 or Persian III will take place entirely in Persian, as participants should now be able to understand and express themselves in Persian. They will be taught how to write and understand official letters in Persian. Participants will also learn how to read contemporary Persian literature and will be able to work with, read, and understand original material and literature. They will learn both spoken and colloquial expressions. After completing this language course, you will be able to discuss, weigh up pros and cons, and make arguments in Persian.

In B.Ira.108, students will be able to analyze sentences grammatically, read and fully understand parts of newspapers, and listen to and mostly understand news. Furthermore, they will also learn historical grammar and how to read classical Persian. At the end of this course, students will be able to read and understand classical Persian to some degree. They can express themselves very well in Persian, talk about various topics, and discuss them. They can also write short texts on different topics. After this course, students will reach language level B2.

These four courses, which take place for six hours a week over two years, are not all we offer in the area of Persian. Anyone who wants to can take further courses afterwards.

We also offer a language course on Iranian media for example. Those who want to learn more can participate in this two-hour course every week. There, current news from the Iranian media is read, listened to, discussed, and written about. At the end of this course, students have to give a presentation in Persian about a news item and also submit the written version in Persian.

Apart from this, there is also a two-hour language course on contemporary Persian literature once a week. In this course, we either read a novel or six short stories together in Persian. At the end of this language course, students are expected to write about this novel in Persian. They should also be able to express their opinions and write about reading challenges.

In addition to all this, there is also a language course for technical language in Persian. The aim is to learn and translate various technical languages. For example, you can correctly translate Persian economic texts into German or vice versa.

You now have an overview of the Persian language courses at the Department of Iranian Studies at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen. If you have questions, don't hesitate to get in touch with us.