Discovering the language
Persian is a language spoken by 120,000,000 speakers around the world today. As the official language of Iran, it is also spoken in Afghanistan and Tajikistan. There are also Persian-speaking populations in the various republics of Central Asia, which adds to an already large and active diaspora in the USA, Canada, Europe, etc.
It is therefore appropriate to teach this language language in Iranian Persian, which is its majority standard form and yet also do introductions to other forms of speech, in particular Dari Persian.
Studying Persian at Inalco
Along with Arabic and Turkish, Persian was one of the founding languages at the time of the creation of the teaching of "oriental languages" over 200 years ago.
The teaching of Persian at Inalco also makes for a large place for literature, both classical and modern, as well as civilization (ancient and modern) lessons.
