So I was born in california but my parents were born in Iran and we spoke farsi in the home growing up, so I would say my Farsi is very fluent. I had never taken any classes in reading or writing in farsi ever. For context, I took this class pass/no pass since I had already taken AP Spanish in high school and fulfilled my language credit, so I was just taking this class for fun.

However, about this class, Dr. Shayani does not record lectures or post slides. In fact, everything that you're tested on in the lecture is basically what comes out of his mouth and then writes on the blackboard. It is very difficult to take notes since it's all in a language you're illiterate in, and there aren't any slides to reference. On top of all that, the class is 3 times a week, 2 hours, at 8am only, making it pretty tough.

I thought the class was pretty interesting, but I was taking Ochem and upper division psych classes and realized that taking it pass/no pass kind of saved my life. But other than that, Dr. Shayani is a great guy and he's really funny and cares about each and every one of his students.

The best ostad

Super nice guy, definitely take a class with him you'll learn so much.