Persian Language Related Courses Taught In 300 Universities Abroad

Tehran, Aug 2, IRNA – International Affairs deputy of Saˈadi Foundation said here Friday that courses related to the Persian language are now taught in 300 different universities around the globe. ˈPersian language and literature major is offered in 160 universities abroad, while courses related to the Persian language, such as orientology, studies of Islam and studies of Iran are taught in 140 other universities around the world,ˈ Seyyed Mohammad-Reza Darbandi told the IRNA Arts and Culture Desk. He further elaborated that in 15 thousand students in 15 Egyptian universities, 4,000 students in 11 Pakistani universities, 5,000 students in five Syrian universities, 25,000 students in 30 Indian universities, 200 students in six Italian universities, and 150 students in five German universities are studying the Persian language and literature major today. Darbandi said that introduction of the Persian language as an optional 2nd language in the high schools of the Asian and European countries is one of the ways for promotion of expanding the Persian language and literature in the world. The International Affairs deputy of Saˈadi Foundation reiterated that presently the high school students in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and Turkmenistan Central Asian republics can choose from among the Persian, Arabic, German and Hebrew languages as their 2nd language. Darbandi added that the Saˈadi Foundation is engaged in negotiations with the education ministries of other countries, too, to convince the concerned officials there to offer the Persian language to their high schools students as an optional 2nd language. Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages and the only South-Western Iranian language. It is primarily spoken in Iran (Persia), and as a different dialect in Afghanistan (officially known as Dari since 1958 for political reasons), and Tajikistan (officially known as Tajiki Persian since the Soviet era for political reasons), and some other regions which historically came under Persian influence. The Persian language is classified as a continuation of Middle Persian, the official religious and literary language of Sassanid Persia, itself a continuation of Old Persian, the language of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Persian is a pluricentric language and its grammar is similar to that of many contemporary European languages. Persian is also so called due to its origin from the capital of the Achaemenid empire, Persis (Fars or Pars) hence the name Persian (Farsi or Parsi). There are approximately 110 million Persian speakers worldwide, with the language holding official status in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. For centuries Persian has also been a prestigious cultural language in other regions of Western Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia by the various empires based in the regions./end