A Dialogue between Leyla and Her Aunt Farnoosh

Matt: Hello everyone!

​Leyla: Welcome back to Learn Persian with Chai and Conversation. My name is Leyla

Matt: And I'm Matt

​Leyla: This week is the last lesson in our Dallas conversations series. In this lesson, we listen as I speak to yet another family member, my khālé Farnoosh in Dallas.

Matt: As you know, you can listen to all of our previous lessons and access bonus materials on our website at www.chaiandconversation.com, with chai spelled CHAI.

​Leyla: If you're having a difficult time following along with the conversations, you will be able to read along with them, and listen to them line by line in the bonus materials.

Matt: In addition, if you haven't done so already, join the conversation on facebook at www.facebook.com/learnpersian. There you can get updates on what we're doing, and get to know fellow Persian language learners.

​Leyla: But enough of that for now, Matt are you ready to begin learning?

Matt: Ready!

​Leyla: Great, then let's begin to Learn Persian with Chai and Conversation.

​Leyla: So we have gone through several family members at this point, and today we will continue with one last one, and that is my aunt, khālé Farnoosh. So khālé means she is on which side of my family Matt?

Matt: It means she's on your mom's side. She's your mom's sister.

​Leyla: Exactly. If she was on my father's side, what would I call her?

Matt: Ameh

​Leyla: Exactly. So khālé Farnoosh is my youngest Aunt, and when I visited Dallas last, she happened to be off partying in Cancun. Well not exactly- she was there on a family vacation with her husband and daughter. I didn't get to see her, but she called while I was there to say hello. Let's listen to the conversation we had.

Alo?

salām Leylā jan!

salām khālé Farnoosh! Az kojā zang meezaneen?

Az Cancun. To chetor-ee?

khoob-am, khaylee mamnoon- shomā chetor-een? Daryoosh, Sara khoob hastan?

Hameh khoob-an! salām ham meeresoonan!

salāmat bāshan! Dar Cancun kosh migzareh?

Areh azizam, jaat khaylee khaaliyeh!

Jaayeh shomā ham eenjā khaylee khaaliyeh. Albateh boodan dar Cancun beeshtar kayf dareh.

Areh khob. Meedoonee keh delemoon barāt khaylee tang shodeh, valee vaghean mosāferat lāzem dashteem.

Baleh, meedoonam. Vakhti bargashteed, man ham meeyām dāllās va hamdigar ro meebeeneem.

Areh! Ya ma meeyaym Austin.

Aha, een ham fekreh khoobeeyeh!

Khob, beh omeedeh deedār, behtareh man barayeh shenā bargardam!

Khosh begzareh, shenā dar ogheeyanoos khaylee kayf dareh.

khaylee! Khob khodāhāfez azizam. Beh hameh salām beresoon

Hatman! merci keh zang zadeen!

​Leyla: All right, so that was the full conversation with my aunt. As we've done in all the previous lessons, we're going to relisten to this lesson piece by piece, and then in bigger chunks until we understand the full thing. The first couple of lines are a piece of cake. I'm going ask you Matt, what do Iranians say when they answer the phone?

Matt: Alo

​Leyla: Exactly- and we got this word from the same word in French. Alo. Let's listen to two lines of the conversation after the initial hello.

salām khālé Farnoosh! Az kojā zang meezaneen?

Az Cancun. To chetor-ee?

​Leyla: Ok, so first I ask the question, az kojā zang meezaneen. In order to understand this question, we need to know that the infinitive of to make a call is zang zadan

Matt: Zang zadan

​Leyla: Now, as we've said before, Persian has a lot of compound verbs, which are two words put together and conjugated. The word zang means ring. Zang

Matt: Zang

​Leyla: Now the second word in this compound verb is zadan which is actually to hit. Zadan

Matt: Zadan

​Leyla: So this doesn't quite translate into English, but basically, to make a call in Persian is actually to hit a call. Zang zadan

Matt: Zang zadan

​Leyla: So zang meezaneen is the second person informal conjugation of to call. Zang meezaneen

Matt: Zang meezaneen

​Leyla: So then what does the full sentence mean. Az kojā zang meezaneen

Matt: From where do you call?

​Leyla: Exactly, so where are you calling from. Az kojā zang meezaneen?

Matt: Az kojā zang meezaneen?

​Leyla: And she answers

Matt: Az Cancun.

​Leyla: So she's calling from Cancun. Next two sentences.

khoob-am, khaylee mamnoon- shomā chetor-een? Daryoosh, Sara khoob hastan?

Hameh khoob-an! salām ham meeresoonan!

​Leyla: So, in Persian culture, you never get to the heart of the conversation from the very beginning- you have to exchange a few pleasantries before getting into any conversation. You always have to start off asking how the other person is doing, and then inquiring after the health of others around them. So in this case, I asked about her husband and daughter. After asking shomā chetor-een, I immediately asked Daryoosh, Sara khoob hastan? And she replied:

Hameh khoob-an! salām ham meeresoonan!

​Leyla: So first she said 'hameh khooban'. Hameh means everyone. So everyone is doing well. Hameh khoob-an

Matt: Hameh khoob-an.

​Leyla: And also she said salām ham meeresoonan. salām meeresoonan is a very common phrase in Persian conversation. It means 'they say hello'. It's a polite thing to say when someone has asked about another person. So how are they? They're well, they send their regards to you as well. salām meeresoonan

Matt: salām meeresoonan.

​Leyla: I replied 'salamat bashan'. This is a common reply to salām meeresoonan, and it means 'may they be healthy.' So in other words, my aunt said 'they send their regards to you', and I replied 'may they be healthy' as a way of sending my own regards back to them. So 'salamat bashan'

Matt: salāmat bāshan

Leyla: So let's go over this exchange of pleasantries again, because you will hear it often in conversation. So I'll say salām meeresoonan and you say salāmat bāshan

​Leyla: salām meeresoonan

Matt: salāmat bāshan

​Leyla: Exactly- that's exactly how it goes. Let's listen to my aunt and I say it one more time.

Hameh khoob-an! salām ham meeresoonan!

salāmat bāshan!

​Leyla: So next I ask 'dar cancun khosh migzareh?' We've covered this type of sentence before- can you remember what it means?

Matt: Are you having fun in Cancun?

Exactly, so dar cancun khosh meegzareh?

Matt: Dar cancun ham khosh meegzareh?

​Leyla: To which she replied:

Areh azizam, jaat khaylee khaaliyeh!

​Leyla: Jaat khaaliyeh is an expression we learned earlier. Do you remember what it means?

Matt: It means you are missed

​Leyla: Exactly, or more literally, it means 'your place is emtpy'. Jaat khaaliyeh

Matt: Jaat khaaliyeh

​Leyla: Ok, the next two sentences are a bit long so we'll listen to them one by one. First

Jaayeh shomā ham eenjā khaylee khaaliyeh. Albateh boodan dar Cancun beeshtar kayf dareh.

​Leyla: First sentence, jaayeh shomā ham eenjā khaylee khaaliyeh. What does this means Matt?

Matt: It means you're missed here very much too

​Leyla: Exactly, perfect Jaayeh shomā ham eenjā khaylee khaaliyeh

Matt: Jaayeh shomā ham eenjā khaylee khaaliyeh

​Leyla: Next sentence, albateh boodan dar cancun beeshtar kayf dareh. This sentence we will have to break down. We covered the word 'albateh' before- it means of course. Albateh

Matt: Albateh

​Leyla: And the word 'kayf' means pleasure. Kayf

Matt: Kayf

​Leyla: So I say 'albateh boodan dar cancun' So 'of course, being in Cancun. Albateh boodan dar cancun

Matt: Albateh boodan dar cancun

​Leyla: 'beeshtar kayf dareh.' Beeshtar means 'more'. So beeshtar kayf dareh means has more pleasure. Beeshtar kayf dareh

Matt: Beeshtar kayf dareh.

​Leyla: So put together, albateh boodan dar cancun beeshtar kayf dareh. So to translate, this means 'of course, being in Cancun is more fun'. You're literally saying 'being in Cancun has more pleasure' of course, but it translates differently in English. So again, albateh boodan dar cancun

Matt: Albateh boodan dar canucn

​Leyla: Beeshtar kayf dareh

Matt: Beeshtar kayf dareh

​Leyla: Albateh boodan dar cancun beeshtar kayf dareh.

Matt: Albateh boodan dar cancun beesthar kayf dareh.

So next sentence, my aunt's reply:

Areh khob. Meedoonee keh delemoon barāt khaylee tang shodeh, valee vaghean mosāferat lāzem dashteem.

​Leyla: Again, let's break down this sentence. We've covered the phrase 'delam barāt tang shode'. It means I miss you. So delemoon barāt khaylee tang shodeh. We've really missed you. Delemoon barāt khaylee tang shodeh

Matt: Delemoon barāt khaylee tang shodeh

​Leyla: So meedooneh keh delemoon barāt khaylee tang shodeh. This means 'you know that we really miss you'. Meedoonee keh delemoon barāt khaylee tang shodeh

Matt: Meedoonee keh delemoon barāt khaylee tang shodeh

​Leyla: And 'vali vaghean mosāferat lāzem dashteem'. This sentence probably has a lot of unfamiliar words. Vaghan means really

Matt: Vaghan

​Leyla: Or truthfully. Vaghean

Matt: Vaghean

​Leyla: mosāferat is the word for vacation. mosāferat

Matt: mosāferat

​Leyla: Finally, the infinitive for to need is lāzem dāshtan

Matt: lāzem dāshtan

​Leyla: This literally means 'to have a need' So lāzem dashteem is we needed. lāzem dashteem

Matt: lāzem dashteem

​Leyla: So put together, valee vagehan mosāferat lāzem dashteem. So 'but we really needed a vacation.' valee vaghean mosāferat lāzem dashteem

Matt:valee vāgh'an mosāferat lāzem dashteem.

​Leyla: Let's listen to the full sentence one more time:

Areh khob. Meedoonee keh delemoon barāt khaylee tang shodeh, valee vaghean mosāferat lāzem dashteem.

So you know that we really miss you, but we truly needed a vacation.

​Leyla: Ok, so at this point, halfway through the conversation, let's go ahead and listen to the entire conversation one more time.

Alo?

salām Leylā jan!

salām khālé Farnoosh! Az kojā zang meezaneen?

Az Cancun. To chetor-ee?

khoob-am, khaylee mamnoon- shomā chetor-een? Daryoosh, Sara khoob hastan?

Hameh khoob-an! salām ham meeresoonan!

salāmat bāshan! Dar Cancun kosh migzareh?

Areh azizam, jaat khaylee khaaliyeh!

Jaayeh shomā ham eenjā khaylee khaaliyeh. Albateh boodan dar Cancun beeshtar kayf dareh.

Areh khob. Meedoonee keh delemoon barāt khaylee tang shodeh, valee vaghean mosāferat lāzem dashteem.

​Leyla: Ok, so far so good?

Matt:Yes!

​Leyla: Ok, great. Let's listen to the next two sentences.

Baleh, meedoonam. Vakhti bargashteed, man ham meeyām dāllās va hamdigar ro meebeeneem.

Areh! Ya ma meeyaym Austin.

​Leyla: So I say 'baleh meedoonam'. What does this mean Matt?

Matt:It means yes, I know

​Leyla: Baleh meedoonam

Matt:Baleh meedoonam.

​Leyla: Next sentence is a bit longer. I say

Vakhti bargashteed, man ham meeyām dāllās va hamdigar ro meebeeneem.

​Leyla: Vakhti bargashteen, that means 'when you return' Vakhti bargahteen

Matt:Vakhti bargashteen

​Leyla: Man ham meeyām Dallas- you should know what this means Matt

Matt:I will also come to Dallas

​Leyla: Exactly man ham meeyām dāllās

Matt:Man ham meeyām dāllās

​Leyla: Va hamdigar ro meebeeneem. So the word hamdigar means each other. Hamdigar

Matt:Hamdigar

​Leyla: In conversation this often sounds like 'hamdigeh

Matt:Hamdigeh

​Leyla: But in this case we run it together with the direct object marker ro. Hamdigaro

Matt:Hamdigaro

​Leyla: So va hamdigaro meebeeneem. And we'll see each other. Hamdigaro meebeeneem

Matt:Hamdigaro meebeeneem.

​Leyla: So let's listen to the full sentence again:

Baleh, meedoonam. Vakhti bargashteed, man ham meeyām dāllās va hamdigar ro meebeeneem.

Ok, next, my aunt replies:

Areh! Ya ma meeyaym Austin.

​Leyla: Easy enough- ya is the word for or. Ya

Matt:Ya

​Leyla: This is a basic word, and I don't think we've heard it before! So seeya ya sefeed? White or black? Bala ya payeen? Up or down? It's a very useful word. So ya ma meeyaym Austin- or we'll come to Austin. Ya ma meeyaym Austin

Matt:Ya ma meeyaym Austin.

​Leyla: Ok, next two sentences:

Aha, een ham fekreh khoobeeyeh!

Khob, beh omeedeh deedār, behtareh man barayeh shenā bargardam!

​Leyla: So first, I answer: een ham fekreh khoobeyeh. The word fekr means thought, or in this context, idea. So I'm saying 'that's also a good idea. Een ham fekreh khoobeyeh

Matt:Een ham fekreh khoobeyeh.

Next, my aunt answers:

Khob, beh omeedeh deedār, behtareh man barayeh shenā bargardam!

​Leyla: Of course we know what beh omeedeh deedār means- Matt?

Matt:It means I hope to see you again

​Leyla: Exactly Beh omeedeh deedār

Matt:Beh omeedeh deedār.

​Leyla: Then she says 'behtareh man barayeh shenā bargardam.' Behtareh means it is better. Behtareh

Matt:Behtareh

​Leyla: Do you remember what shenā means? We covered it many moons ago when learning verbs

Matt:It means to swim

​Leyla: Exactly, perfect. So behtareh man barayeh shenā bargardam means basically I better get back to swimming. Behtareh man barayeh shenā bargardam

Matt:Behtareh man barayeh shenā bargardam.

Which is exactly what you do in Cancun- you go swimming! So next two sentences:

Khosh begzareh, shenā dar ogheeyanoos khaylee kayf dareh.

khaylee! Khob khodāhāfez azizam. Beh hameh salām beresoon

​Leyla: So first, khosh begzareh is also a common phrase meaning 'have fun'. Khosh begzareh

Matt:Khosh begzareh

​Leyla: There's a word we don't know in the next sentence, and that is ogheeyanoos. It sounds sort of familiar to its English equivalent, and that is 'ocean'

Ogheeyanoos

Matt:Ogheeyanoos

​Leyla: So shenā dar ogheeyanoos

Matt:shenā dar ogheeyanoos

​Leyla: Meaning swimming in the ocean. khaylee kayf dareh

Matt: khaylee kayf dareh

​Leyla: We've learned the word kayf before- it means pleasure or fun. So basically this sentence means 'swimming in the ocean is very pleasurable.' shenā dar ogheeyanoos khaylee kayf dareh

Matt:shenā dar ogheeyanoos khaylee kayf dareh

Ok great. So my aunt replied:

khaylee! Khob khodāhāfez azizam. Beh hameh salām beresoon

​Leyla: So again, we have the phrase beh hameh salām beresoon

Matt:Beh hameh salām beresoon.

​Leyla: We learned this at the beginning of the pogram, what does it mean Matt?

Matt:It means say hello to everyone

​Leyla: Exactly, so it's not just used at the beginning of a phone conversation, it's used at the end too. So beh hameh salām beresoon

Matt:Beh hameh salām beresoon.

​Leyla: There's only one sentence left in this dialogue, and that's my reply, which is 'hatman! merci keh zang zadeen'. Again, what does hatman mean?

Matt:Definitely

​Leyla: Right. Hatman

Matt:Hatman

​Leyla: And merci keh zang zadeen. Thank you for calling. merci keh zang zadeen

Matt:merci keh zang zadeen.

And that concludes the conversation. Let's listen to the entire thing one more time.

Alo?

salām Leylā jan!

salām khālé Farnoosh! Az kojā zang meezaneen?

Az Cancun. To chetor-ee?

khoob-am, khaylee mamnoon- shomā chetor-een? Daryoosh, Sara khoob hastan?

Hameh khoob-an! salām ham meeresoonan!

salāmat bāshan! Dar Cancun kosh migzareh?

Areh azizam, jaat khaylee khaaliyeh!

Jaayeh shomā ham eenjā khaylee khaaliyeh. Albateh boodan dar Cancun beeshtar kayf dareh.

Areh khob. Meedoonee keh delemoon barāt khaylee tang shodeh, valee vaghean mosāferat lāzem dashteem.

Baleh, meedoonam. Vakhti bargashteed, man ham meeyām dāllās va hamdigar ro meebeeneem.

Areh! Ya ma meeyaym Austin.

Aha, een ham fekreh khoobeeyeh!

Khob, beh omeedeh deedār, behtareh man barayeh shenā bargardam!

Khosh begzareh, shenā dar ogheeyanoos khaylee kayf dareh.

khaylee! Khob khodāhāfez azizam. Beh hameh salām beresoon

Hatman! merci keh zang zadeen!

Leyla: And with that, we come to the end of lesson 36.