High workload, and very unclear on how to get an A in the course. I would not recommend it for someone just wanting to learn Persian as the class will take a significant amount of your time. Lectures are 3 days a week and attendance is mandatory. The tests I found to be very difficult, especially for students with no experience reading and writing Persian. The class is 90% reading and writing. Do not recommend taking.

From someone who spoke some farsi but couldn't read or write if my life depended on it this class was kind of hard. One day we were learning the letters, the next we were writing and the next we were reading her handwriting. It accelerated very quickly. The class is so small, you can't not show up and she checks in to see your progress which is nice since she cares but also forces you to keep up to par. This is not a class to take for the GPA boost. You need to put in the effort to complete HW with carefulness and ask for help when needed whether that be from the professor or the TA. The book is crucial since much the HW is done through there. i chose not to take 20B with her since 20A caused me a bit too much added stress and anxiety on top of my other classes and a good amount of busy work. Overall she's a very sweet person and cares about all her students.

For me (considering my background), it was a very easy class. The professor teaches the alphabet for 5 weeks and then jumps straight into writing paragraphs and reading her handwriting (not print), so it's alot for some to catch up with. Also close to no grammar is taught so you need to actually know how to speak Farsi to be able to do the assignments. There's one midterm, one quiz, and a two-part final (one written and an oral exam). The tests are very easy but you do need to review the textbook material for the T/F questions. There's one project, a presentation of an interview with a relative who lived in Iran. That has to be done entirely in Persian but the slides' subtexts can be in English. There's also close to no homework for 5 weeks and then she starts handing out a bunch of worksheets every week. She's in general nice, but she does have ticks where she gets incredibly judgemental/ yells at people who talk too much. I spent every class working on my other classes and was polite enough to her: she liked me. Attendance is mandatory and she lets people re-do or make up assignments if needed. She's very lenient on tardiness mostly because she's 10-20 minutes late to every class and will not notice. The atmosphere of the class is mostly nice, I went in expecting absolutely nothing and actually made pretty nice friends, mostly because we spend 6 hours a week with 20-ish other students. Oh and if you can't make it to one session you can just show up at her other one that day (morning/afternoon class).

Mrs. Hagigi is an excellent teacher. If you can speak farsi (or at least understand it), then you are pretty much set. You basically learn the alphabet, and how to form words. Around week 9, there is a presentation regarding you interviewing one of your parents. You have to show your showcase your interview to the class and explain your interview speaking farsi. Outside of that project, all you have is a midterm, and final (both easy, she tells you exactly what is on it).

If you are thinking about Iranian 10A and 20A, I would recommend this series. Best part is that Mrs. Hagigi lets you come to either the morning class or the afternoon class!

Easy! Awesome Teacher! Learn Farsi!

I have all the Thackston answers if you want to buy them. Save yourself hours!
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