Testimonial by Nikki Ball-Toughill

Teacher, Federal Way Public Schools, Seattle, USA

10 weeks (or 5-9 weeks) 2025 Persian Language Summer School

I learned so much in the elementary Persian summer school class. I came in more of a “beginner” than anyone else, but I felt very supported by Mahboobe and Hasmik! I was able to participate in all parts of the class- reading, writing, speaking, and listening. I came in not able to read in Persian and left feeling like I had grown so much in decoding. In addition, the teachers differentiated some of the work for me to meet me at my skill level. It can be easy to feel lost when you are learning, but they gave me manageable tasks with the support I needed to be successful. 

As a teacher myself, I will borrow some of Mahboobe's great strategies for making learning interesting and authentic. 

The field trips were great, and I felt so welcomed and supported right away! I loved the dinners and getting to explore Armenia this way. The location for this program is great. Highly recommended! 

Interested? Check Upcoming Persian Language Courses!


Our Persian language courses are open to anyone with upper elementary or intermediate knowledge of the Persian language. The lectures are organized with the academic interests of our participants in mind. Students as well as researchers working in Iranian Studies and relevant fields will benefit the most from our courses.

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Other Testimonials.

Danly Nguyen

BA student, Leiden University, Netherlands

“The first week was overwhelming because you are just thrown into the Persian, but I quickly became used to it. I think it is the best way to learn Persian! Coming to Armenia to study Persian was definitely a great decision, and I would do it again.”

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Matti Veldhuis

MPhil Student, Islamic Studies and History, University of Oxford, UK

“While in Armenia, I was met with the opportunity to focus solely on my language studies rather than attempting to juggle both Persian and other academic work. Learning a new language takes an incredible amount of time, and ASPIRANTUM is a great way to increase the necessary number of hours to further one’s mileage down the road—whether that road is Persian, Russian, or Armenian.”

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Merel van Gulik

MA student, Education, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

“All in all, it’s an intensive course: by revising and doing homework after each class the amount of knowledge that I gained is much more than I could have imagined. Besides the classes, Aspirantum also organizes many extracurricular activities, from cultural trips to political encounters to lots of food. One recommendation: never assume the dinners are just one course! There is always more :)”

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