Speak / Lesson 34
A Dialogue between Leyla and Her Dear Grandmother
Lesson 34 features a dialogue in Persian between Leyla and her grandmother.
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Download lesson MP3GREETINGS:
hello
سَلام
how are you?
چِطوری؟
Note: In Persian, as in many other languages, there is a formal and an informal way of speaking. We will be covering this in more detail in later lessons. For now, however, chetor-ee is the informal way of asking someone how they are, so it should only be used with people that you are familiar with. hālé shomā chetor-é is the formal expression for ‘how are you.’
Spelling note: In written Persian, words are not capitalized. For this reason, we do not capitalize Persian words written in phonetic English in the guides.
ANSWERS:
I’m well
خوبَم
Pronunciation tip: kh is one of two unique sounds in the Persian language that is not used in the English language. It should be repeated daily until mastered, as it is essential to successfully speak Persian. Listen to the podcast for more information on how to make the sound.
| Persian | English |
|---|---|
| salām | hello |
| chetor-ee | how are you? |
| khoobam | I’m well |
| merci | thank you |
| khayli | very |
| khayli khoobam | I’m very well |
| khoob neestam | I’m not well |
| man | me/I |
| bad neestam | I’m not bad |
| ālee | great |
| chetor-een? | how are you? (formal) |
| hālé shomā chetor-é? | how are you? (formal) |
| hālet chetor-é? | how are you? (informal) |
| khoob-ee? | are you well? (informal) |
| mamnoonam | thank you |
| chetor peesh meeré? | how’s it going? |
| ché khabar? | what’s the news? (what’s up?) |
| testeeeee |
Matt: Hello everyone and welcome to Learn Persian with Chai and Conversation.
Leyla: This week, in lesson 34, we continue with more conversations in Dallas. This time, it's a dialogue between my grandmother and I. If you recall in the last dialogue, my mother said that we would be having dinner with my grandmother that night. This conversation picks up during that night at dinner. Let's get right to it.
Leyla, azizam, barat khoreshe ghorme sabzi dorost kardam.
Bah bah bah, meedoneen keh man khoreshe ghorme sabzi khayli doost daram!
Albateh keh meedoonam.
Khayli vakhteh keh ghorme sabzi nakhordam barayeh eenkeh dar Austin restooraneh Irani nadareem.
Aslan nadareen?
Cherah, yekee do-ta dareem, vali faghat kabab daran.
Khob, kabab ham doost daree.
Dorosteh, doost daram, vali ghormeh sabzeeyeh shoma behtare!
Khob, befarma bokhor, sard nasheh.
Bah bah bah, ajab khoreshee!!
Noosheh jan
Khayli khoshmazast!! Va ajab tadeegee!
Khayli ham khoob nashodeh
Cherah maman joon, vaghean aali shodeh!
Azeezam, noosheedanee chee meekhoree?
Ab lotfan.
Befarma. Noosheh jan.
Leyla: This is a bit of a shorter dialogue than the ones we've had before, and the vocabulary should be a bit easier for you to understand. Again, the point of these dialogues is for you to hear the words you learned in previous lessons mixed with a few new words so that you can practice understanding different vocabulary you know in different contexts. Hopefully, this one is a short and simple treat for you. As always, let's go through it a couple lines at a time.
Leyla, azizam, barat khoreshe ghorme sabzi dorost kardam.
Bah bah bah, meedoneen keh man khoreshe ghorme sabzi khayli doost daram!
Leyla: Ok, so let's repeat the first part.
Leyla, azizam, barat khoreshe ghorme sabzi dorost kardam.
Leyla: Ok, so this is a pretty easy sentence, and you probably understand the general idea of what it means. It means 'Leyla, my dear, I've made ghormeh sabzi for you'. Ghormeh sabzi as you remember is a very popular Persian dish. However, you might not have heard the word 'barat' before. It means for. Barat
Matt: Barat
Leyla: So, this is actually the conversational version of for you, to an informal you. In written Persian, this is barayeh to
Matt: Barayeh to
Leyla: So barat is the conversational shortening of this phrase. Barayeh means for, and of course to is the informal you. So combined together, it becomes barat
Matt: Barat
Leyla: So let's go over all the conjugations of this. For me is baram
Matt: Baram
Leyla: For you, informal, again is barat
Matt: Barat
Leyla: For him or her is barash
Matt: Barash
Leyla: For us is baramoon
Matt: Baramoon
Leyla: For you formal is baratoon
Matt: Baratoon
Leyla: And for them is barashoon
Matt: Barashoon
Leyla: So again, going back to the original sentence, it's barat khoreshe ghorme sabzi dorost kardam. Let's repeat that together. Barat khoreshe ghorme sabzi dorost kardam.
Matt: Barat khoresheh ghorme sabzi dorost kardam.
Leyla: So because my grandmother is talking to me, her granddaughter, she is using the informal you to say she made me khoreshe ghorme sabzi. If I was going to say the same thing to her, I would use the formal you and say 'baratoon khoresheh ghorme sabzi dorost kardam.
Matt: Baratoon khoresheh ghorme sabzi dorost kardam.
Leyla: Ok, then I replied:
Bah bah bah, meedoneen keh man khoreshe ghorme sabzi khayli doost daram!
Leyla: So first 'bah bah' is the Persian equivalent of the sound 'mmmm' in English. As in responding to delicious food. I won't make you repeat that Matt. So then I said 'meedooneen keh man khoreshe ghorme sabzi khayli doost daram.' What does meedooneen mean?
Matt: You know
Leyla: Exactly, so this full sentence should be very easy. It's you know that I like khoreshe ghormeh sabzi very much. Let's go ahead and repeat the whole thing. We'll break it into two party. Meedooneen keh man
Matt: Meedooneen keh man
Leyla: Khoreshe ghormeh sabzi khayli doost daram
Matt: Khoreshe ghorme sabzi khayli doost daram
Leyla: Now all together- meedooneen keh man khoresheh ghormeh sabzi khayli doost daram.
Matt: Meedooneen keh man khoresheh ghormeh sabzi khayli doost daram.
Leyla: Ok next two sentences.
Albateh keh meedoonam.
Khayli vakhteh keh ghorme sabzi nakhordam barayeh eenkeh dar Austin restooraneh Irani nadareem.
Leyla: Ok, so first my grandmother replied
Matt: Albateh keh meedoonam.
Leyla: So albateh means 'of course'. Albateh
Matt: Albateh.
Leyla: So she's saying 'of course I know.' Albateh keh meedoonam
Matt: Albateh keh meedoonam.
Leyla: So then I say
Matt: Khayli vakhteh keh ghorme sabzi nakhordam barayeh eenkeh dar Austin restooraneh Irani nadareem.
Leyla: So let's break this down. Khayli vakhteh
Matt: Khayli vakhteh
Leyla: Means it's been a long time. Vakht means time and khayli means a lot. Khayli vakhteh
Matt: Khayli vakhteh
Leyla: Khayli vakhteh keh ghorme sabzi nakhordam.
Matt: Khayli vakhteh keh ghorme sabzi nakhordam.
Leyla: It's a long time that I haven't eaten ghorme sabzi. Barayeh eenkeh dar Austin restooraneh Irani nadareem. Can you tell me what this means?
Matt: It means 'because in Austin, we don't have an Iranian restaurant.'
Leyla: Exactly. So 'khayli vakhteh keh ghorme sabzi nakhordam barayeh eenkeh dar Austin restooraneh Irani nadareem'. So this means I haven't eaten ghormeh sabzi in a long time because in Austin we don't have an Iranian restaurant. I guess I'm giving away more information than I should about my frequency of cooking. Ok, let's move on to the next two sentences-
Aslan nadareen?
Cherah, yekee do-ta dareem, vali faghat kabab daran.
Leyla: The word aslan means 'at all'. So you don't have any at all? Aslan nadareen?
Matt: Aslan nadareen?
Leyla: And then
Matt: Cherah, yekee do-ta dareem, vali faghat kabab daran.
Leyla: So cherah means yes, but it's usually in response to a negative question. So in this example, you're saying 'you don't have any at all? And the answer is 'well yes'. So you'd use cherah. Cherah
Matt: Cherah
Leyla: Then, yekee do ta dareem
Matt: Yekee do ta dareem
Leyla: This means we have one or two. Vali faghat kabab daran
Matt: Vali faghat kabab daran
Leyla: Faghat means only. Faghat
Matt: Faghat
Leyla: So they only have kabob. Vali faghat kabab daran
Matt: Vali faghat kabab daran.
Leyla: Let's pause here and go over these new vocabulary fillers we've learned so far. First was albateh
Matt: Albateh
Leyla: And this means of course. Albateh
Matt: Albateh
Leyla: Then we learned chera
Matt: Chera
Leyla: And this means yes, in response to a negative question. Chera
Matt: Chera
Leyla: And finally we learned faghat
Matt: Faghat
Leyla: Meaning 'only'. Faghat
Matt: Faghat
Leyla: Let's pause at this point to listen to the entire dialogue up to this point
Leyla, azizam, barat khoreshe ghorme sabzi dorost kardam.
Bah bah bah, meedoneen keh man khoreshe ghorme sabzi khayli doost daram!
Albateh keh meedoonam.
Khayli vakhteh keh ghorme sabzi nakhordam barayeh eenkeh dar Austin restooraneh Irani nadareem.
Aslan nadareen?
Cherah, yekee do-ta dareem, vali faghat kabab daran.
Leyla: Ok, moving on to the next two sentences:
Khob, kabab ham doost daree.
Dorosteh, doost daram, vali ghormeh sabzeeyeh shoma behtare!
Leyla: Ok, this should be very simple for you to understand. So first 'khob, kabob ham doost daree'.
Matt: 'khob, kabob ham doost daree'
Leyla: Khob is another conversational filler meaning 'well'. Khob
Matt: Khob
Leyla: Khob kabob ham doost daree
Matt: Khob kabob ham doost daree
Leyla: Meaning
Matt: 'well, you like kabob too
Leyla: Right. And I reply 'dorosteh, doost daram.' Dorosteh means 'it's right' or 'it's true'. So dorosteh, doost daram
Matt: Dorosteh, doost daram
Leyla: Meaning
Matt: It's true, I do like
Leyla: Vali ghormeh sabzeeyeh shoma behtareh
Matt: Vali ghormeh sabzeeyeh shoma behtareh
Leyla: Meaning
Matt: But your ghormeh sabzee is better
Leyla: Exactly, Ok, next two sentences
Khob, befarma bokhor, sard nasheh.
Bah bah bah, ajab khoreshee!!
Leyla: We covered the phrase 'befarma bokhor' way back in unit 2. It means something along the lines of 'please come eat'. Befarma bokhor
Matt: Befarma bokhor.
Leyla: And ta sard nasheh means 'so it doesn't become cold
Matt: Ta Sard nasheh
Leyla: Ta is similar to until. So come eat before it gets cold. 'befarma bokhor ta sard nasheh.
Matt: Befarma bokhor ta sard nasheh.
Leyla: And I said
Matt: ajab khoreshee!!
Leyla: This is an expression which basically means 'what an amazing stew!' Ajab khoreshee
Matt: Ajab khoreshee
Leyla: Ok, next two sentences
Noosheh jan
Khayli khoshmazast!! Va ajab tadeegee!
Leyla: Noosheh jan is another extremely important expression when it comes to eating. It basically means 'bon appetit'. Noosheh jan
Matt: Noosheh jan
Leyla: So my grandmother is basically giving me permission to eat at this point. After I take a bite I say
Matt: Khayli khoshmazast!! Va ajab tadeegee!
Leyla: We've covered khoshmaze before. It means good tasting. Khoshmazeh
Matt: Khoshmazeh
Leyla: And khayli khoshmazast then means it's very delicious! Khayli khosmazast
Matt: Khayli khoshmazast
Leyla: And if you've eaten with Iranians before, you should know what tadeeg is. It literally means the bottom of the pot, and it is the slightly burned and deliciously crispy part of the rice. It's truly an art to get tadeeg right and Iranians take it very seriously. The word ajab means 'what' So what amazing tadeege! Is what that sentence basically means 'ajab tadeegee!'
Matt: Ajab tadeegee!
Leyla: What is not the best translation of that word actually- it doesn't have a direct translation. When used alone, for instance, it could give a sense of surprise or wonder. You have to say it like 'ajab!'
Matt: Ajab!
Leyla: Exactly. Ok, then my grandmother says
Matt: Khayli ham khoob nashodeh
Leyla: Now, this is completely just a form of tarof. As you know, in Iranian culture you are supposed to be humble about everything you do, including when you make food. So my grandmother is saying 'it didn't turn out that well', just as a form of showing that she is humble about her cooking. Khayli ham khoob nashodeh
Matt: Khayli ham khoob nashodeh
Leyla: You should know never to fall for this trick. She doesn't mean it, no matter how much she insists it's not very good, you just assure her it is. I, of course, don't have this problem because my grandmother is a great cook. Either way though, my response would be the same, and that is to assure her the food is amazing. Which is exactly what I do
Matt: Cherah maman joon, vaghean aali shodeh!
Leyla: There's the word cherah again- again, in this context, my grandmother presented me with a negative sentence- it didn't turn out well. And I am giving her a positive 'yes' response in return. So chera maman joon, vaghean aali shodeh
Matt: Chera maman joon, vaghean aali shodeh
Leyla: Vaghean is another one of those words that you'll hear a lot in conversation, and it means 'really'. So it's really delicious 'vaghean aali shoden'
Matt: Vaghean aali shodeh.
Leyla: Let's listen to the end of the conversation
Azeezam, noosheedanee chee meekhoree?
Ab lotfan.
Befarma. Noosheh jan.
Leyla: So, we covered the first sentence in unit 2. Let's listen to it again
Matt: Azeezam, noosheedanee chee meekhoree?
Leyla: So what does this mean?
Matt: It means what would you like to drink
Leyla: Exactly. And she threw an azeezam, or a my dear in there. So azeezam, noosheedanee chee meekhoree
Matt: Azeezam, noosheedanee chee meekhoree
Leyla: Meaning my dear, what would you like to drink.
I reply ab lotfan
Matt: Ab lotfan
Leyla: Water please. And finally, my grandmother replies 'befarma noosheh jan.' Noosheh jan again, and in this context, rather than bon appetite, it means 'please enjoy. So befarma, noosheh jan
Matt: Befarma noosheh jan,
Leyla: Meaning, here you go, please enjoy.
Ok, let's listen to the entire conversation one more time.
Leyla, azizam, barat khoreshe ghorme sabzi dorost kardam.
Bah bah bah, meedoneen keh man khoreshe ghorme sabzi khayli doost daram!
Albateh keh meedoonam.
Khayli vakhteh keh ghorme sabzi nakhordam barayeh eenkeh dar Austin restooraneh Irani nadareem.
Aslan nadareen?
Cherah, yekee do-ta dareem, vali faghat kabab daran.
Khob, kabab ham doost daree.
Dorosteh, doost daram, vali ghormeh sabzeeyeh shoma behtare!
Khob, befarma bokhor, sard nasheh.
Bah bah bah, ajab khoreshee!!
Noosheh jan
Khayli khoshmazast!! Va ajab tadeegee!
Khayli ham khoob nashodeh
Cherah maman joon, vaghean aali shodeh!
Azeezam, noosheedanee chee meekhoree?
Ab lotfan.
Befarma. Noosheh jan.
Leyla: And that brings us to the end of lesson 34.
Matt: As always, thanks so much for joining us.
Leyla: You can find all of our previous bonus materials, as well as all other useful information on our website at www.chaiandconversation.com, with CHAI spelled CHAI.
Matt: And with that, khodahafez from Matt.
Leyla: And beh omeedeh deedar, from Leyla.