In this lesson, we go over one of Rumi's most famous poems, beshnō een nay, which means ‘listen to the reed flute,' with our friend Muhammad Ali of Persian Poetics . We go over the essence and meaning behind the poem, and analyze it line by line using Muhammad Ali's English translation. Beshnō een nay is the first poem in Rumi's Masnavi, and is a common poem for Iranians to have memorized. The major theme of the poem is that of separation, either from a specific place or from the divine, and the...
Jun 09, 2021•47 min•Ep. 103
Kaveh Hoda is a physician, musician and host of the medical podcast House of Pod in San Francisco. His expertise is in gastroenterology, hepatology and, according to him, making fun of medical grifters. He cohosts the humor adjacent medical podcast, the House of Pod, which is how I first learned of him. Along with his cohost Lizzie, he explores topics related to the medicine, which, as we touch on in the interview, is really a microcosm for society at large. Medicine is something that affects al...
Apr 07, 2021•25 min•Ep. 102
My name is Leyla Shams, host of the Learn Persian with Chai and Conversation podcast. Today’s interview is with Mohammad Ali, better known as Persian poetics on both Instagram and twitter. He went viral just a few months ago on a twitter thread where he talked about the bestselling poetry book in the English language, a translation of Rumi’s poems by Coleman Barks. In the thread, he went through a details look at Coleman Bark’s translations, and revealed that Barks doesn’t even know the Persian ...
Mar 24, 2021•35 min•Ep. 101
In this Persian (Farsi) lesson, we go over vocabulary associated with the most important Persian holiday, Nowruz. We'll learn about the haft seen table, and the items associated with the haft seen table. In addition, we'll learn a few different ways to wish people a happy Nowruz holiday, including 'aidé shomā mobārak' and 'nowruz mobārak'. Also, check out our Complete Guide to Living Your Best Nowruz for day to day instructions on how to have the best Nowruz ever!...
Mar 14, 2021•18 min•Ep. 100
In this lesson, we continue our study of Ahmad Shamlou's poem, Rāz. We learn the words and phrases in the second half of the poem.
Mar 08, 2021•14 min•Ep. 99
In this lesson, we go over the first half of Ahmad Shamlou's poem, Rāz.
Feb 24, 2021•15 min•Ep. 98
In this lesson, we introduce the iconic Iranian poet Ahmad Shamlou, and talk about his poem ‘Raz’ or راز, meaning ‘the secret’. Shamlou was born in 1925 in Rasht, and he died in 2000, after a few years of health problems. He went through a few revolutions, he was put in jail and he was a journalist for a while. He wrote about politics and was part of the Toudeh party. And so he did live through a lot of turmoil in Islamic Republic, and he stayed in Iran- he didn't leave, like so many others. For...
Feb 10, 2021•34 min•Ep. 97
John Ghazvinian joins us to talk about his new book, America and Iran: A History, 1720 to the Present, a comprehensive new survey of the bilateral relationship, based on years of archival research in both Iran and the United States, which he has been working on since 2008. For the past many decades, the relationship between the United States and Iran has been very hostile and toxic, defined by coups, hostage crises, inflammatory slogans, devastating sanctions. But it hasn’t always been this way,...
Jan 26, 2021•25 min•Ep. 96
Yara Elmjouie is a Webby Award-wnning, James Beard-nominated video producer, journalist, and host at AJ+. He's also a great voice in the Iranian American community, creating engaging videos explaining current conditions in Iran, and documenting the experiences of Iranian Americans. He was born in Los Gatos, California, but grew up visiting Iran often. By the time he got to high school and college, he had an insatiable thirst for deep diving into his language and culture. He currently lives in Ne...
Dec 08, 2020•37 min•Ep. 95
Azadeh Shams is a toy designer living in Milan, Italy. She specializes in creating toys for children bilingual in both Persian and English. She has also become an internationally known expert on raising bilingual children, frequently appearing on the massively popular Man o To network. I became familiar with her work on Instagram, where she frequently posts videos on how to raise bilingual children, and often teaches by providing scenarios and offering multiple choice answers of how to deal with...
Oct 21, 2020•30 min•Ep. 94
In this Persian (Farsi) lesson, we learn the common terms for body. The word for 'body' in Persian is badan . In this unit of Chai and Conversation, we are learning several vocabulary words related to a certain theme at once. Listen to the lesson for many different words associated with bodies. Many common words we cover in the lesson are in the list below.Also, here is the Head, Shoulder's Knees and Toes rendition we referenced in the lesson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6vQHIW4-qE. This is...
Oct 01, 2020•18 min•Ep. 93
This Persian (Farsi) lesson is all about the wonderful words of sports- or varzesh in Persian. Varzesh literally means physical exercise, but it's the word used for sports as well. Many of the words for different sports in the Persian language come directly from the western word, but some of them are different. The most common sport in Iran (and in many, many parts of the world) is soccer, which in Persian is footbāl . The sport we know of as 'football' in the United States is called footbāl āmr...
Jun 27, 2020•9 min•Ep. 92
In this Persian (Farsi) lesson, we learn the common terms for members of a family. Family in Persian is khānevādé . In this unit of Chai and Conversation, we are learning several vocabulary words related to a certain theme at once. Listen to the lesson for many different words associated with families. Listen to the lesson for many words related to this topic.
Jun 26, 2020•13 min•Ep. 91
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....
Jun 25, 2020•12 min•Ep. 90
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 u...
Jun 17, 2020•56 min•Ep. 89
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' , whi...
Jun 01, 2020•18 min•Ep. 88
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!
May 27, 2020•33 min•Ep. 87
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.
May 19, 2020•22 min•Ep. 86
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.
May 05, 2020•22 min•Ep. 85
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 Dinne...
May 01, 2020•20 min•Ep. 84
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...
Apr 28, 2020•24 min•Ep. 83
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 en...
Apr 07, 2020•32 min•Ep. 82
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 s...
Apr 01, 2020•15 min•Ep. 81
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...
Mar 01, 2020•12 min•Ep. 80
In this lesson, we go over the following lines of the poem: chon āghebaté kāré jahān neestee hast چون عاقِبَتِ کارِ جَهان نیستی اَست Since the end of the affairs of the world is nothingness engār ké neestee, chō hastee, khosh bāsh اِنگار کِه نیستی، چو هَستی خوش باش suppose that you are not, but while you are, be happy After 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 ...
Feb 11, 2019•12 min•Ep. 79
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....
Feb 04, 2019•11 min•Ep. 78
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 purp...
Feb 01, 2019•13 min•Ep. 77
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 an...
Jan 01, 2019•18 min•Ep. 76
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...
Dec 10, 2018•16 min•Ep. 75
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...
Nov 06, 2018•14 min•Ep. 74
