Testimonial by Matilda Kirk

I spent 5 weeks on the upper elementary Persian course, and it was immensely helpful for my learning. The daily instruction, mostly delivered completely in Persian, gave me no choice but to improve rapidly in my ability to speak and understand the language. Our teacher, Mahboubeh, was very patient with us, but also challenged us with daily homework, weekly exams, and specifically targeting our weak spots so that we could best improve. The work was very collaborative and encouraged my peers and I to get together every afternoon to work on our Persian. Yerevan has so many cafes and coffee shops that are perfect for facilitating this. Everything is open late, and I spent many hours in lovely art cafes doing my homework and learning a little Armenian on the side. At first glance, there weren’t many opportunities to practice Persian with anyone except my teacher and fellow students, but in fact Yerevan has many Persian restaurants, whose waiters were extremely friendly and eager to speak to us in Persian, and there was a film festival with lots of Iranian cinema, which was very exciting. In regard to exploring Yerevan and its surrounding area, ASPIRANTUM did an incredible job at taking us on trips and providing some of the most extravagant banquets I have ever seen. We got to visit many of Armenia’s beautiful old monasteries and churches, and, on my favorite trip, we visited Yazidi shepherds, who were very welcoming, giving us bread and cheese and letting us try to milk their sheep. Unfortunately, I did not manage to milk it successfully, but the experience was wonderful nevertheless! I am very grateful to Mahboubeh, Khachik, and the rest of the staff of ASPIRANTUM, for giving me a truly unique and unforgettable experience.