Welcome to A2 with me, Sepideh Koohkan, your teacher at Persiancampus.
If you are here, it means either you are able to read and write Persian alphabet and simple Persian texts, or you have passed our A1 course on Persiancampus. Either of two, for this course, you need to be an upper elementary Persian learner or pre-intermediate level.
In A1 course, we have passed a book of 17 chapters, called First Step, published by Sa’adi Foundation. It took us 4 courses (A1-1, A1-2, A1-3, and A1-4) to cover the book.

Persian A2 in Persiancampus

In this course, we cover another book by Sa’adi Foundation ‘Mina’. Mina is a book series for upper-elementary to advanced students from version 1 to 3. To start making professional conversations and learning more Persian grammar, we apply Mina 1. The book includes eight chapters. Each chapter has 10 pages, covering exercises on conversation, grammar, reading comprehension, listening, writing exercises, and practical Persian notes and practices.
The A2 course will be subcategorized into 4 levels: A2-1, A2-2, A2-3, and A2-4. In each sub-course, we will cover two units, 20 pages. Since your level is getting more serious and you need to learn more details about whatever you see in the book, we will move slowly, explain cultural, practical, and linguistic notes, and then move on to the next stage. So, no rush. Move with me patiently and practice spoken Persian with Mina 1.
However, we will also use another source of Sa’adi Foundation and our complementary: Frame. Frame is a book that I will teach completely here on Persiancampus, however, to make the most out of it for the time being, I teach you the units that go with each unit of Mina one. Each term, in addition to 2 units of Mina 1, we will also cover one Unit of the book Frame. To overall number of units to be covered in each term then would be 3 units.

A2-1 in Persiancampus

We start our journey with A2-1. In this course, we cover Units one and two of Mina 1. Unit one is ‘What’s your name’, where you practice starting a conversation in new environments in Spoken Persian. You learn how to ask and answer about nationalities as well. The structure of changing a country name to nationality and languages will be taught here. I also teach you how to talk about your age in different formats: spoken friendly, and formal Persian.
Grammatically, we learn subject pronouns, the conjugation of the verb ‘to be’ بودن in Persian language, affirmative, negative, and interrogative forms.
To continue, phonetically and phonologically we learn how to change a simple affirmative sentence to an interrogative form using the appropriate intonation: Rising.
In the reading section, we learn how to delicately describe people, talk about their nationalities, the languages they speak, and many other information.
Every chapter starts with a conversation. We practice every type of skill and exercise using the listening files. I want to make sure you have access to a suitable comprehensive input. The more you listen, the better you understand people and the more you speak Persian language.
We continue the lesson by practicing the conversations. Then we move on to a grammar section in which we discover the rules of grammar and practice them in written and spoken form. We make the grammar even more practical by using it in the context: conversations and listening.
The lesson will continue with vocabulary. We learn new words about the topic of the lesson and master them in conversations and listening.
After each section, there would be a grammar lesson. Again you will discover the grammar and use it in suitable contexts.
The lessons will continue with reading and reading comprehension. You read and listen to some Persian texts, and check your understanding by answering some questions. And again that would be the grammar to discover and practice in the following exercises.
The final page of each unit is a practice of whatever you have learned in the unit.
The topic of unit two is ‘How are you’. Here you learn how to start knowing a person professionally, by asking about their jobs, their workplace, etc. Grammatically you learn the spoken form of using ‘to be’ verb in more complicated structures. The chapter continues with vocabulary, grammar, reading, grammar, and practical exercises.
As a revision, we use the first chapter of the book Frame. Which covers nationality, languages, and jobs in more complex contexts.

Notes:

Make sure you watch all the videos. Follow the instructions, and steps, and do as the instructor asks you. Wherever you are asked to pause, do the same. If you have to do the exercises, record your voice, do the writing, or any other homework, do the same and send it to me through the email of Persian campus: persiancampus@gmail.com.
Make sure you make the most out of each course. If you have questions at the end of the chapters, don’t hesitate to ask me. I will be here for you, side by side, to make sure you are changing into a perfect Persian speaker.

1: To buy and download the book follow this link.
2: The difference between Persian and Farsi is a matter of terminology and usage. Persian is the name of the language that in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and some other regions. Farsi is the native name of the language in Iran, and it is also used by some speakers to distinguish it from other varieties of Persian. However, in English, Persian is the preferred term to refer to the language as a whole, while Farsi is sometimes used to refer specifically to the Iranian variety.

Persian or Farsi?

Persian is an Indo-European language that has a long and rich history and culture. It has three main dialects: Western Persian (Farsi), Eastern Persian (Dari), and Tajiki. These dialects are mutually intelligible, but they have some differences in pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, and writing system. Farsi uses the Arabic script, Dari uses a modified version of the Arabic script, and Tajiki uses the Cyrillic script.

Farsi is the official language of Iran and one of the official languages of Afghanistan (along with Dari). It is spoken by about 70 million people in Iran and 15 million people in Afghanistan. Farsi has many loanwords from Arabic, Turkish, French, and English. Regional languages such as Kurdish, Balochi, Turkmen, and Gilaki also has influenced Farsi.

So, if someone asks you if you are learning Persian or Farsi, let them know that they are equal. But if you want to be specific, tell them I am learning Farsi, the spoken language of people of Iran, however by learning that I will be able to understand Afghani and Tajik as well.
Good luck with the journey
Your teacher
Sepideh Koohkan