Learn Persian With Chai And Conversation

 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.

This lesson is an introduction to one of Iran's most lauded modern poets, Forough Farrokhzad. An extremely influential voice in a time of great change in Iran, she wrote about the nature of being an artist and an independent woman in a society that often did not make these pursuits easy. Here we learn more details about this extraordinary woman's life, and analyze one of my favorite poems of hers, Conquest of the Garden (fathé bāgh) with musician Fared Shafinury.

In the first part of our detailed study of Rumi's poem Rooz ō shab, we cover the first two lines, which are:dar havāyat bee gharāram rooz ō shabsar ze pāyat bar nadāram rooz ō shabWe go over the vocabulary and phrases in this segment of the poem, and also learn some concepts that are related to the words we are learning. We also learn about the Sufi concept, dar havāyat, of the intimacy of breath.

In this lesson, we learn Rumi's poem Rooz ō shab. In this poem, the words rooz, day and shab, night, are repeated like a mantra. Even though Rumi was a 13th century Persian poet, his poems remain extremely relevant and relatable today. So, don't be intimidated by the unfamiliar sounding language. Over the next few weeks, we will dissect the words and phrases used in this poem until it sounds like ordinary language to you. This poem is so beautiful, it might make you fall out of your chair.Unfortunately, there's not an easy version of Lotfi's interpretation of this poem to link to- however, if you check out this video at minute 19:00, you can hear it in all its glory. He starts by singing the poem, and eventually gets lost in the zekr, rooz ō shab, rooz ō shab, rooz ō shab.

In this final part of our Sohrab Sepehri dar golestāné series we cover the rest of the vocabulary covered in the poem. After this lesson, you will be able to understand the entirety of the selection of the poem we heard. 

In this lesson, we continue the study of Sohrab Sepehri's dar golestāné by learning more about the words and phrases in the middle section of our selection.

In this introductory lesson to Sohrab Sepehri's beautiful poem dar golestāné, we're joined by musician Fared Shafinury to talk about the general theme and meaning behind this poem. 

In the last lesson of this series, we talk about the importance of poetry in Persian culture, and talk about why we're learning this magical language in the first place. To find out more about Persian miniatures, check out the wikipedia page!

In this lesson, we learn the langauge associated with one of the most important parts of Persian culture- food. We learn vocabulary for different Persian dishes, how to consume Persian food, and how to talk about it afterwards. This lesson might make you hungry, somake sure to have at least a little something to eat before listening to it! Also, here are some links to some of our favorite Perisan recipes and food blogs:  Najmieh Batmanglij's recipes are amazing Turmeric and Saffron is one of the best Persian food recipe blogs, with recipes for some of the foods we mentioned in the podcas Ariana Bundy has amazing videos with lots of delicious Persian recipes