Learn Persian With Chai And Conversation

In this Persian / Farsi lesson, we go over vocabulary needed to talk about the home. In Persian, house is called 'khooné' (in written Persian, it's khāné). Different rooms in the house include:  room - otāgh bedroom - otāgh khāb bathroom - dast shoowee or toowālet dining room - āshpaz khooné living room - sālon.  We also go over vocabulary for common parts of a house, like doors, windows, ceilings and floors, and furniture and popular items inside each of these rooms of the house.

Tehran Von Ghasri is a half African American, half Iranian comedian who reads and speaks Farsi fluently. Originally, I wanted to interview Tehran to ask him about being raised in a half Iranian family and how his father managed to keep him interested in the Persian language and culture. However, our interview took place a couple weeks after the Black Lives Matter movement erupted in the United States and all over the world following the death of Geroge Floyd. I had a lot of questions about his unique perspective of being half black and half Iranian, and particularly about the role of Iranian Americans in this movement. I learned so much from our conversation and hope that you will too.

In this lesson, Leyla and her husband Chris go over how to talk about emotions in the Persian language. This lesson is part of the vocabulary sprint series, so they go over several vocabulary words around the theme of feelings and emotions. In Farsi, emotions are called ehsāsat. We learn a few of the common emotions, such as being happy, sad, calm, depressed, nervous, etc. In addition, we learn the word hāl, which means something along the lines of 'being.' So when we ask 'hālet chetoré', which means 'How are you?', you are asking something along the lines of 'How is your state of being.'

This Raising Neem-Roonis interview features Shabnam Rezaei, cofounder of Big Bad Boo, an animation studio featuring cartoons with multicultural themes and diverse languages. Shabnam is the mother of two Neem-Rooni daughters, and the only one of our interviewees that managed to keep her children speaking fluent Persian despite growing up in New York City and having a non-Iranian father. Listen to find ot how she did it!

In this conversation with Adib Khorram, young adult fiction writer, we get to hear about the experiences of growing up as a neem-Rooni. Adib was raised in Kansas City, Missouri by an Iranian father and American mother. He didn't grow up speaking the language, but grew up infused in the culture, which he learned to appreciate after going off to college. He had some great insight and wisdom to share about passing on Iranian language and culture to the next generation.

In this Raising Neem-Roonis interview, we talk to the most well known Iranian-American comedian, Maz Jobrani. Maz is the father of two half Iranian, half Indian children, ages 9 and 11. He gives advice for those with young children, and shares experiences of people he's met at comedy shows that successfully have held on to their Persian language skills. He also talks about the importance of culture when raising children, and gives advice on how to attract trolls on Twitter.

In this vocabulary sprint lesson, Leyla and her husband Chris go over Persian/ Farsi vocabulary associated with food. Food is an important topic of conversation in Persian culture, as Iranians have a rich history of gathering and celebrating food. In this lesson, we go over different important dishes in Persian culture, such as ghormé sabzi, fesenjoon, and kabob. In addition, we learn the words for different mealtimes. These are:  Breakfast - sobhāné Lunch - nāhar Afternoon snack - asrooné Dinner - shām  In addition, we talk about drinks, and different parts of a meal such as appetizers and desserts. There are so many topics to cover about Persian food, so in this lesson, we try to get you started with a good selection of vocabulary.

In this second Raising Neem-Roonis interview, we talk to Arash Karami, contributor to Al-Monitor and commentator on Iranian politics. We talk about the challenges of passing on the Persian language and culture to the next generation. You can find Arash on Twitter at @thekarami, where he consistently posts about current Iranian politics, and plenty of dad jokes as well. For more interviews, and lesson on conversational Persian, check out our website at www.chaiandconversation.com

Raising Neem-Roonis is our podcast series about the joys and challenges of raising half Iranian children, specifically when it comes to passing along language and culture. Our first interview the series is with actress turned cookbook author Naz Deravian, author of the fantastic cookbook Bottom of the Pot. In addition to her fantastic recipes, her book is full of anecdotes and examples of incorporating her American husband and Neem-Rooni children into the Persian cooking process. After being enamored with her writing style and recipes for over a year, I had so many questions for her about her views on the role of culture in her family.

In this Persian/ Farsi lesson, Leyla and her husband Chris go over different vocabulary associated with the topic of transportation, which we are referring to as 'coming and going'- raft ō āmad. We discuss different modes of transportation including:  Bicycle - docharkhé Car - māsheen Bus - otoboos Taxi - tāxee Metro - metrõ Airplane - havāpaymā Motorcycle - motorcyclet We also go over the vocabulary for walking and getting around in general. This lesson is part of our Persian/ Farsi vocabulary sprint series, so we focus on transportation as a theme and learn as many words around the topic as we can.

In this Persian (Farsi) lesson, we go over common vocabulary words for the time and date. This includes the words for the seasons, and the words for the days of the week. The days of the week in Persian are:      Monday doshambé دوشَنبه Tuesday seshambé سِهشَنبه Wednesday chārshambé  چِهار شَنبِه Thursday panjshambé پَنج شَنبِه Friday jom'é  جُمعِه Saturday shambé  شَنبِه Sunday yekshambé یِک شَنبِه

 In this lesson, we go over the following lines of the poem:   chon āghebaté kāré jahān neestee hastچون عاقِبَتِ کارِ جَهان نیستی اَستSince the end of the affairs of the world is nothingness engār ké neestee, chō hastee, khosh bāshاِنگار کِه نیستی، چو هَستی خوش باشsuppose that you are not,  but while you are, be happyAfter you've listened to this lesson, we would love to see videos of you reciting this poem in a beautiful location- please send your videos to leyla@chaiandconversation.com Andak Andak, a poem by Rumi, and song by Shahram Nazeri, is a wonderful one to listen to about the concept of hastee and neestee. 

In this second part of the Persian language/Farsi lesson on Khayām's Khosh Bash we go over the following section of the poem, along with all the vocabulary and phrases associated with the words learned: خیام اگر ز باده مستی خوش باشبا ماهرخی اگر نشستی خوش باش khayām, agar zé bādé mastee, khosh bāshbā māh rokhee agar neshastee, khosh bāsh  Edward Fitzgerald translation: Khayyam, if you are drunk with wine, be happy.If you have sat with a beloved who has a face like the moon, be happy.

In this Persian (Farsi) lesson, we go over the most common colors in the Persian language, as well as some incidental vocabulary associated with the colors. This is a vocabulary sprint, meaning you can listen to it no matter what level you are in the Persian language. These lessons are meant to provide you with a group of common vocabulary quickly. The most common colors in the Persian language include:  brown ghahveyee قَهوِه ای  red   ghermez sorkh قِرمِز سُرخ  yellow zard  زَرد  green sabz سَبز  purple banafsh  بَنَفش  white sefeed  سِفید  black seeyāh meshkee سیاه مِشکی  gold talā طَلایی  orange nāranjee  نارَنجی  gray khākestaree  خاکِستَری  pink sooratee  صورَتی  silver noghreyee  نُقرِه ای

This is a vocabulary sprint, which means you can listen to the lesson no matter where you are in the learning process. It's just a way to get a number of vocabulary words in your tool belt.In this Persian/Farsi lesson, we learn the words for different animals. We'll first go over animals covered in the book 'Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See, which you can see translated into Persian in this blog post. We then go over a series of other animals, and other words and phrases associated with animals. Enjoy!

In this lesson, we introduce one of the greats of Persian Sufi poetry, Omar Khayyam. Khayyam was a 12th century poet and a true renaissance man- in addition to being one of the most well known Iranian poets, he was also a famed mathematician and astronomer. This shouldn't be surprising, however, as these disciplines greatly informed one another.This poem, which we are calling khosh bāsh, or 'be glad', is one of my favorites, and something I consider a sort of mantra in life. In it, he reminds us that life is fleeting, that we all will eventually die, and therefore, now that we are here, we should be glad.

In this last part of our series on Forough Farrokhzad, we learn the final part of the selection of the poem we've been learning. In addition, we learn about three birds that feature prominently in the poem that play a large part in the symbolic structure of the poem. These birds are the crow (kalāgh), the eagle (oghāb), and the mythical Iranian bird, the seemorgh (seemorgh). As Forough Farrokhzad explores her relationship and the role society and nature play in her relationship, she evokes these different birds. Each bird plays a pivotal role in her understanding of her relationship and of her self.

In this fourth part of the Persian language/Farsi lesson on Forough Farrokhzad's Fathé Bāgh, or Conquestion of the Garden, we go over the following section of the poem, along with all the vocabulary and phrases associated with the words learned: و صمیمیت تن هامان، در طراریو درخشیدن عریانیمانمثل فلس ماهی‌ها در آبسخن از زندگی نقره‌ای آوازیستکه، سحر گاهان فوارهٔ کوچک میخواند va sameemeeyaté tan hāman, dar tarāreeva derakhsheedané oryāneemānmeslé falsé māheehā dar ābsokhan az zendegeeyé noghreyeeyé āvāzeestke séhar gāhān favareyé koochak meekhānad and the intimacy of our bodies,and the glow of our nakedness like fish scales in the water.I am talking about the silvery life of a songwhich a small fountain sings at dawn.  

This lesson covers a section of the poem Conquest of the Garden, or Fathé Bāgh, by Forough Farrokhzad. This portion of the poem is:همه میترسندهمه میترسند، اما من و توبه چراغ و آب و آینه پیوستیمو نترسیدیم hamé meetarsandhamé meetarsandamā man o tōbé cherāgh o āb o āyeené payvasteemva natarseedeem Everyone is afraideveryone is afraid, but you and Ijoined with the lampand water and mirror and we were not afraid. The Youtube video which claims to be Forough Farrokhzad reading the poem is linked here.In this section of the poem, Forough brings up an important custom in Iranian weddings.