Learn Persian with Chai and Conversation

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 - sobhānéLunch - nāharAfternoon snack - asroonéDinner - 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 - docharkhéCar - māsheenBus - otoboosTaxi - tāxee Metro - metrõAirplane - havāpaymāMotorcycle - motorcycletWe 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 دوشَنبهTuesday seshambé سِهشَنبهWednesday chārshambé  چِهار شَنبِهThursday panjshambé پَنج شَنبِهFriday jom'é  جُمعِهSaturday shambé  شَنبِهSunday yekshambé یِک شَنبِه