The Undergraduate Persian Farsi school teaches language by employing highly educated native speakers as instructors. In addition to the first class international staff, DLIFLC supplements the unique learning experience at the Institute with state-of-the-art technology such as interactive whiteboards called SmartBoards ™, Tablet PCs, and iPods™. The school uses DLIFLC’s instructor/student ratio of two instructors to six students.

DLIFLC further enhances the learning environment with experiential learning from two to five days at a time off campus. The students are completely immersed in the target language and Persian culture as they carry out real-life situation scenarios which range from negotiations at a border crossing, haggling at an open market for goods, to making hotel reservations over the telephone. To enhance this experience the faculty and staff dress in traditional garb, prepare and cook Persian dishes, and, most importantly, only speak in the target language.


A key component of DLIFLC’s success in teaching foreign language so effectively is the highly educated faculty who are motivated to teach their language and culture to American students. The instructors, 98 percent of whom are native speakers of the language they teach, take great pride in preparing students each year to perform during DLIFLC’s annual open house in May called Language Day. Students are taught how to sing, dance, and perform skits in the target language for stage performances that last from 10:00 am to 3 pm. Over 2,500 visitors come to the event from all over Northern California.