Education and Leadership › Women’s Academy › Language Courses › Advanced Writing & Rhetoric in National Languages › Course Materials
Writing clearly, correctly and persuasively in the national languages is a key skill for work in the media, administration and research. This course teaches the principles of writing, editing, essay writing, formal letters, reports and speech writing in Farsi-e-Dari and Pashto.
Course page on the learning platform
Course details
| Level | Intermediate to advanced |
| Estimated duration | 20 hours of study and practice |
| Prerequisites | Fluent reading and writing in Farsi-e-Dari or Pashto |
| Language of instruction | Farsi-e-Dari (with key terms in English) |
| Cost | Free |
| Assessment | A quiz after each section and a final exam; pass mark 70%; certificate after approval by the Academy |
After this course you will be able to
- Write clear, coherent and error-free texts with correct punctuation
- Write argumentative and expository essays with a sound structure
- Prepare formal administrative letters and reports
- Edit your own texts and those of others
- Write and deliver a persuasive speech
Course outline
- Clear sentence construction
- Punctuation and the half-space (zero-width non-joiner)
- Avoiding redundancy
- The expository essay
- The argumentative essay
- Quotations and sources
- Formal letters
- Reports
- Meeting minutes
- Language editing
- Structural editing
- Feedback
- Writing a speech
- Rhetoric and impact
- Delivery
Week-by-week learning path
With about 30 to 45 minutes of study and practice a day, you will complete this course in 6 weeks:
| Week | Topic | Weekly outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Principles of writing | Lessons, practical exercises and a short section quiz |
| Week 2 | Essays | Lessons, practical exercises and a short section quiz |
| Week 3 | Administrative writing | Lessons, practical exercises and a short section quiz |
| Week 4 | Editing | Lessons, practical exercises and a short section quiz |
| Week 5 | Public speaking | Lessons, practical exercises and a short section quiz |
| Week 6 | Final project and final exam | Completed project and a score of 70% or higher |
Final project
“Writing portfolio”: an 800-word argumentative essay, a formal letter, a short report and the text of a five-minute speech, each with versions before and after editing.
Project assessment criteria:
- Accuracy of language and punctuation
- Structure and coherence
- Strength of argument
- Quality of editing
Key course terms
Cohesion
Punctuation
Editing
Argumentative essay
Official letter
Rhetoric
Redundancy
Source
Assessment and certificate
- After each section: a short quiz (70% recommended before moving on)
- Practical exercises in each lesson are for learning; send your questions via the Questions section.
- End of course: final exam (pass mark 70%) and submission of the final project
- Digital certificate after review and approval by the Academy: Request a certificate
Teaching method
Each lesson includes learning objectives, explanations with real examples and images, key terms in Dari and English, common mistakes, practical exercises, a self-test and a summary. In every lesson you can put questions to the teacher using the Questions button. The courses are impartial, free and open to all young people.
Get ready now
- Reread a short text of your own and find three mistakes
- Read a good article in a reputable publication and note down its structure
- Review the rules for the half-space and punctuation
Free and reliable resources
These resources have been selected by the Academy team, and most of them are in English (Chrome’s Translate option can translate them if needed). Large files (books, exercise files, videos) will be placed in the Academy’s official Google Drive folder when the course goes live and linked from this page.
- Darakht-e Danesh Library, free educational resources in Dari, Pashto and English
- OpenLearn – The Open University, hundreds of free short courses with a certificate of participation
Help and questions
Questions about this course: [email protected] · All courses: Online Learning Centre · Active course: Computer and Internet Basics
Women’s Academy, Afghanistan Youth Parliament · Free and open to all young people