Who We Are

Shohreh Terman

From tutoring cousins and neighborhood kids in Shiraz, to teaching Foreign Diplomats in Tehran, Paris and San Francisco, she has been a teacher all her life. Naturally she would go on to make her life’s passion her life’s work. Shohreh Terman founded French Farsi Without Tears over thirty years ago with the aspiration to be able to get people as excited about learning languages as she was to teach them. Over time, Shohreh’s classroom began to grow—as well as people’s interest in learning Persian (Farsi). The demand for her Farsi classes were so high, that Shohreh found herself teaching mainly Farsi, which she currently does to this day.

It would be an understatement to say that she has succeeded, thirty years and hundreds of students later, Farsi Without Tears continues to be the most enjoyable and effective way to learn Farsi in the Bay Area.

Born and raised in Iran, Shohreh continued her education in France. From France, she relocated to California where she currently teaches French and Farsi and participates in local cultural activities.

Among her credentials are degrees from Melli University in Tehran, and a Masters in Teaching from the University of Paris, Sorbonne. Other credentials cover various teaching formations and mentor programs earned in the United States, in addition to participation in nationally recognized teaching conferences in the United States and France.

Shohreh offers private and group French and Farsi classes, and intensive weekend workshops in both languages. She has a unique style in teaching and uses a total immersion method which she has perfected over her thirty plus years of teaching languages. Her classes emphasize conversational skills as well as reading and writing. Her students have ranged from businessmen and women, diplomats and non-Farsi speaking spouses and children of Iranians, to name a few.

Shohreh has two sons, Arian and Ardalan, and currently resides in the East Bay with her family.

Shala Kashfi

Shala Kashfi began teaching Farsi as a second language in her native Iran more than 35 years ago. At that time she joined a team of professors to develop a system to teach Farsi to members of the diplomatic corps, business executives, and other dignitaries who lived in Iran.

Being a firm believer in total immersion and the importance of simplicity in teaching, her unique teaching style has been enhanced through the incorporation of Persian culture in the curriculum.
With this background, upon her arrival in the United States, it was a natural progression for her to begin her long tenure as a senior instructor with the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California.

Her work there was especially rewarding as she incorporated the arts of Persian cooking and Persian Dance in designing courses of study. In addition to her duties as an instructor, Shala was in charge of curriculum development and teaching via satellite. Moreover, her success in certified language proficiency evaluation and testing provided high-value tangible benefits for the Institute.

In 2006, Shala retired from her full-time career at the Defense Language Institute in order to dedicate more time to completing her textbook of basic Farsi grammar. Shala actively continues to support the Institute as an independent contractor.

Shala lives on the Monterey Peninsula, has two daughters, and is always delighted speaking Farsi with her three grandchildren.