By the end of the semester students will have reached beginning proficiency in Persian, which means they will be able to recognize and read the Persian alphabet; initiate and maintain predictable face-to-face rudimentary conversations and satisfy limited social demand; create sentences related to some survival needs, personal history, daily life, etc.; read simple material such as announcements of public events, simple prose containing biographical information or narration of events, and straightforward newspaper headlines; understand short conversations about all survival needs and limited so