A Dialogue between Leyla and Her Uncle Ahmad

Leyla: Hello and welcome to Learn Persian with Chai and Conversation. I’m Leyla.

Matt: And I’m Matt.

Leyla: Here with another installment in our Dallas conversations series. There are only two more lessons in this series, in which I have conversations with various family members who are native speakers of the Persian language.

Matt: As always, bonus materials and our previous lessons will be found on our website at www.chaiandconversation.com.

Leyla: There are also exciting changes on the way for the website, which we will be announcing shortly. Matt, are you ready to begin learning?

Matt: Ready!

Leyla: Great, then let’s begin to Learn Persian with Chai and Conversation!

Leyla: So, as we said, this is another episode of the Dallas conversations series of Chai and Conversation. In this lesson, we listen to a dialogue I have with my dear uncle Ahmad, or as I call him, dāyeejoon ahmad. dāyeejoon literally means ‘dear uncle’, and it’s a common name to call your oldest uncle. dāyeejoon.

Matt: dāyeejoon.

Leyla: This extends to other aunts and uncles too. We covered this way back in Unit 1, but let’s go over the terms for ‘aunt’ and ‘uncle’ again as a refresher. Again, in Iranian culture, family is extremely important. This is perhaps most evident in the very specific terms we have for each different family member. So what is dāyee, Matt?

Matt: It’s your uncle on your mother’s side, I believe.

Leyla: That’s exactly right. So what about your uncle on your father’s side?

Matt: amoo.

Leyla: Great. So if we want to use this term of respect, we can call him amoo joon.

Matt: amoo joon.

Leyla: Again, you generally reserve this term for your oldest uncle. What about your aunt on your mothers side?

Matt: khālé.

Leyla: Exactly, khālé. And what if you want to use a slightly more polite version of that?

Matt: khālé joon.

Leyla: Great, khālé joon. And lastly, ‘aunt on your father’s side’.

Matt: amé.

Leyla: Yes, amé. So how about ‘dear aunt on your father’s side’?

Matt: amé joon.

Leyla: Exactly, perfect! So let’s return back to dāyeejoon ahmad, and listen to our conversation. As a bit of background, my uncle owns a large piece of land in a small town in East Texas. He’s owned it for about 10 years now, and being an extremely industrious engineer, he’s developed this land himself by adding trails, ponds, and even a house he built himself over the years. We often visit this place with the entire family, and spend weekends fishing, riding around in 4-wheelers, looking at stars and birds and other very Texas-­‐y activities. We call this place zameen, which simply means ‘land’. zameen.

Matt: zameen.

Leyla: Okay, so now, let’s listen to the conversation I had with my uncle when we visited zameen on my last trip to Dallas. In addition to having been a long time since I’d been there, it was also the first time I got to see the house he’d built. Let’s listen.

salām dāyeejoon ahmad!

salām leylā joon! khosh āmadee!

khayli mamnoon az da'vatetoon! cheghadr eenjā ghashangé!

doost dāree khoona-rō bebeenee?

hatman, bebeeneem.

befarmā een taraf. khob, een sālon-é.

khayli bozorg-é!

balé, een ham āshpazkhoonast.

ālee-yé!

een khooné sheesh otāgh khāb dāré.

chand tā?

sheesh tā!

khayli zeeyādé.

balé, khob meedoonee, fāmeelemoon khayli bozorg-é.

dorost-é.

bereem beeroon?

bāshé, bereem... ajab zeeb-āst!

balé, haftād ō panj hectār zameen dāreem. derakht zeeyād dāreem, va dō tā daryācheyé koochooloo ham dāreem!

deegé chee dāreen?

deegé tractor dāreem, bulldozer dāreem. albaté, tractoremoon kharābé. panchar shodé.

āhā. khob, hayvoonāt chetor?

eenjā hayvoonāté vahshee zeeyād dāreem. bobcat dāreem, coyote dāreem, āhoo dāreem. hamé cheez dāreem.

parandé chetor?

balé! hamé joor parandeyee ham dāreem. een yekee-rō bebeen, cheghadr ghashangé. ābeeyé, roshané. behesh meegan ‘Eastern Bluebird’.

Leyla: Okay, like we do every time, we’re going to take this dialogue two sentences at a time. Beginning with the first two:

salām dāyeejoon ahmad!

salām leylā joon! khosh āmadee!

So I enter and say ‘salām dāyeejoon ahmad’. We learned the term dāyeejoon. What does it mean, Matt?

Matt: ‘Dear uncle’

Leyla: Right, so ‘hello, dear uncle Ahmad.’ salām dāyeejoon ahmad.

Matt: salām dāyeejoon ahmad.

Leyla: And he replied:

salām leylā joon! khosh āmadee!

The phrase khosh āmadee is ‘welcome’. khosh āmadee.

Matt: khosh āmadee.

Leyla: So he’s welcoming me to his home. khosh āmadee.

Matt: khosh āmadee.

Leyla: Great. Next two sentences:

khayli mamnoon az da'vatetoon! cheghad eenjā ghashangé!

So first, I say, “khayli mamnoon az da'vatetoon!” da'vat means ‘invitation’. da'vat.

Matt: da'vat.

Leyla: So da’vatetoon means ‘your invitation’. So ‘thanks for your invitation’. khayli mamnoon az da'vatetoon!

Matt: khayli mamnoon az da'vatetoon!

Leyla: So da'vat is one of those tricky words that has a stop in the middle of the sentence. da'vat.

Matt: da'vat.

Leyla: So, again, khayli mamnoon az da’vatetoon!

Matt: khayli mamnoon az da'vatetoon!

Leyla: And then I said, “cheghad eenjā ghashangé!’ We learned the word cheghad before. It doesn’t have a direct English translation, but it means something like ‘how much’. cheghad.

Matt: cheghad.

Leyla: So this word is written cheghadr, but in casual conversation, the r gets dropped when you're speaking quickly, so cheghad. So, again, cheghad eenjā ghashangé!

Matt: cheghad eenjā ghashangé!

Leyla: So my full response again:

khayli mamnoon az da'vatetoon! cheghad eenjā ghashangé!

Let’s repeat each sentence one more time. khayli mamnoon az da'vatetoon!

Matt: khayli mamnoon az da'vatetoon!

Leyla: cheghad eenjā ghashangé!

Matt: cheghad eenjā ghashangé!

Leyla: Okay, great. Moving on, my uncle says:

doost dāree khoona-rō bebeenee?

hatman, bebeeneem.

Leyla: So the word bebeenee is a bit tricky to explain. We learned the word bebeen in an earlier lesson. It’s the imperative form of ‘to see’. So when you say bebeen, you are saying ‘look!’ in a commanding way. bebeenee is a proposal or suggestion. The phrase ‘doost dāree khoona-rō bebeenee?’ is a gentle proposal. It means ‘would you like to see the house?’. doost dāree khoona-rō bebeenee?

Matt: doost dāree khoona-rō bebeenee?

Leyla: Or he could have said khoona-rō bebeeneem? This would mean ‘shall we see the house?'. Or I could have said khoona-rō bebeenam? This would mean ‘shall I see the house?’. Instead, he proposed, “doost dāree khoona-rō bebeenee?” meaning ‘would you like to see the house?’. So let’s repeat it one more time. doost dāree khoona-rō bebeenee?

Matt: doost dāree khoona-rō bebeenee?

Leyla: Okay, let’s move on to the next two sentences.

hatman, bebeeneem.

befarmā een taraf.

So following the last explanation, you should know what my reply meant. hatman, bebeeneem. hatman means ‘certainly.’ hatman.

Matt: hatman.

Leyla: And what does bebeeneem mean?

Matt: ‘Let’s see’.

Leyla: Exactly, again, it’s in the imperative form, or the form of a proposal. bebeeneem, ‘let’s see’. bebeeneem.

Matt: bebeeneem.

Leyla: Put together, hatman, bebeeneem.

Matt: hatman, bebeeneem.

Leyla: Meaning ‘certainly, let us see’. So he said:

befarmā een taraf.

We’ve learned the word befarmā several times. It’s a polite symbol meaning something like ‘go ahead’. befarmā.

Matt: befarmā.

Leyla: een taraf means ‘this way’. So ‘go ahead this way’. befarmā een taraf.

Matt: befarmā een taraf.

Leyla: So, supposedly, in this dialogue, I follow him this way. And he says:

khob, een sālon-é.

sālon is another word we got from the French. This means ‘living room’. sālon.

Matt: sālon.

Leyla: So, khob, een sālon-é.

Matt: khob, een sālon-é.

Leyla: So ‘okay, this is the living room’. Moving on to the next two sentences:

khayli bozorg-é!

balé, een ham āshpazkhoonast.

This reply should be very simple for you. I said, “khayli bozorg-é!” What does this mean, Matt?

Matt: ‘It’s very big!’

Leyla: That’s right. khayli bozorg-é! 

Matt: khayli bozorg-é! 

Leyla: My uncle replied:

balé, een ham āshpazkhoonast.

Now, we’ve learned āshpazee before. It means ‘to cook’. So āshpazkhooné means ‘kitchen’. āshpazkhooné.

Matt: āshpazkhooné.

Leyla: And like a lot of Iranian words, it's a combination of two different words. You know the word khooné means ‘home’ and āshpaz is a 'cook'. So, put together, āshpazkhooné.

Matt: āshpazkhooné.

Leyla: So he says, “een ham āshpazkhoonast,” meaning ‘and this is the kitchen’. een ham āshpazkhoonast.

Matt: een ham āshpazkhoonast.

Leyla: So, I say, “ālee-yé!” which we’ve heard so many times before. My uncle replies by saying:

een khooné sheesh otāgh khāb dāré.

chand tā?

The word otāgh simply means ‘room’. otāgh.

Matt: otāgh.

Leyla: And khāb means ‘sleep’. So a ‘sleep room’, ‘bedroom’. otāgh khāb.

Matt: otāgh khāb.

Leyla: So een khooné sheesh otāgh khāb dāré means…?

Matt: ‘This room has 6 bedrooms’.

Leyla: That’s right. een khooné sheesh otāgh khāb dāré.

Matt: een khooné sheesh otāgh khāb dāré.

Leyla: Perfect. Next two sentences:

chand tā?

sheesh tā!

So this is a common exchange we learned before. chand tā means ‘how many’. chand tā?

Matt: chand tā?

Leyla: And he says, “sheesh tā!”

Matt: sheesh tā!

Leyla: He could have just said “sheesh,” but he included the tā in there. tā doesn’t have a direct translation in English but just means something like ‘unit’. So again, chand tā?

Matt: chand tā?

Leyla: sheesh tā!

Matt: sheesh tā!

Leyla: Next two sentences:

khayli zeeyādé.

balé, khob meedoonee, fāmeelemoon khayli bozorg-é.

So I said, “khayli zeeyādé.” zeeyād means ‘a lot’, so basically, ‘that’s a lot’. khayli zeeyādé.

Matt: khayli zeeyādé.

Leyla: This may sound like a redundant sentence in English, but it works in Persian. You could also just say zeeyādé, and that works too. But 6 bedrooms is a lot a lot, so I say khayli zeeyādé.

Matt: khayli zeeyādé.

Leyla: To which he replies:

balé, khob meedoonee, fāmeelemoon khayli bozorg-é.

So first, meedoonee means ‘you know’. meedoonee.

Matt: meedoonee.

Leyla: What does the word “fāmeel” mean?

Matt: ‘Family’.

Leyla: Yes, and they’re very similar words in English and in Persian. So fāmeelemoon khayli bozorg-é means:

Matt: ‘Our family is very big’.

Leyla: That’s right. fāmeelemoon khayli bozorg-é.

Matt: fāmeelemoon khayli bozorg-é.

Leyla: And the full sentence is “balé, khob meedoonee, fāmeelemoon khayli bozorg-é.”

Matt: balé, khob meedoonee, fāmeelemoon khayli bozorg-é.

Leyla: Great, and my reply is “dorost-é,” or ‘that’s right’. dorost-é.

Matt: dorost-é.

Leyla: Or ‘that’s right'. Okay, very good. At this point, as we always do, let’s listen to the entire conversation up to this point again.

salām dāyeejoon ahmad!

salām leylā joon! khosh āmadee!

khayli mamnoon az da'vatetoon! cheghadr eenjā ghashangé!

doost dāree khoona-rō bebeenee?

hatman, bebeeneem.

befarmā een taraf. khob, een sālon-é.

khayli bozorg-é!

balé, een ham āshpazkhoonast.

ālee-yé!

een khooné sheesh otāgh khāb dāré.

chand tā?

sheesh tā!

khayli zeeyādé.

balé, khob meedoonee, fāmeelemoon khayli bozorg-é.

At this point, let’s go over a few of the new words and phrases we learned in this first part. First, ‘dear uncle’, dāyeejoon.

Matt: dāyeejoon.

Leyla: Next, ‘welcome’, or khosh āmadee.

Matt: khosh āmadee.

Leyla: Next, ‘thank you for your invitation’, or khayli mamnoon az da'vatetoon.

Matt: khayli mamnoon az da'vatetoon.

Leyla: Next, the words for different rooms in the house. ‘Living room’ is sālon.

Matt: sālon.

Leyla: ‘Kitchen’ is āshpazkhooné.

Matt: āshpazkhooné.

Leyla: And ‘bedroom’ is otāgh khāb.

Matt: otāgh khāb.

Leyla: Great. Now, moving on to the next two sentences of the dialogue:

bereem beeroon?

bāshé, bereem...

So again, the word bereem, what does this mean again?

Matt: Let’s go

Leyla: It does mean ‘let’s go’, but since, in this sentence, it’s part of a question, it’s better translated as ‘shall we go?’. ‘Outside’ is beeroon.

Matt: beeroon.

Leyla: So bereem beeroon? is shall we go outside? bereem beeroon?

Matt: bereem beeroon?

Leyla: So if he says it as a sentence, it would be ‘let’s go outside’. bereem beeroon.

Matt: bereem beeroon.

Leyla: So that way it’s a imperative, declarative sentence. In a question form, it’s a proposal. bereem beeroon?

Matt: bereem beeroon?

Leyla: And I reply, “bāshé, bereem...”

Matt: bāshé, bereem...

Leyla: Meaning ‘yes, let’s go’, so it’s declarative. bāshé, bereem...

Matt: bāshé, bereem...

Leyla: All right. Next two sentences:

ajab zeeb-āst!

balé, haftād ō panj hectār zameen dāreem. derakht zeeyād dāreem, va dō tā daryāchéyé koochooloo ham dāreem!

Ok, so first I say, “ajab zeeb-āst!” ajab is a word that can be translated as ‘how’, or, in this context, ‘how beautiful it is!’. ajab zeeb-āst!

Matt: ajab zeeb-āst!

Leyla: And a lot of times, you can hear the word ajab alone in a sentence, and that just means something like ‘wow’, so you can say, “ajab!”

Matt: ajab!

Leyla: And that would just mean ‘wow!’. Now, my uncle gave a long reply, so let’s listen to it again, and break it apart.

balé, haftād ō panj hectār zameen dāreem.

So first, he says, “balé, haftād ō panj hectār zameen dāreem.” Hopefully, you’ve been reviewing your numbers a lot and remember what haftād ō panj is.

Matt: I think it’s 75?

Leyla: That’s right. hectār is the Persian word for ‘acre’, so haftād ō panj hectār zameen dāreem. We went over the word zameen in the beginning of the lesson -­‐ what does it mean?

Matt: 'Land'.

Leyla: Right, so ‘we have 75 acres of land’. haftād ō panj hectār zameen dāreem.

Matt: haftād ō panj hectār zameen dāreem.

Leyla: haftād ō panj.

Matt: haftād ō panj.

Leyla: hectār zameen dāreem.

Matt: hectār zameen dāreem.

Leyla: Great. So then my uncle goes on to list other things about his land. The next sentence he says is:

derakht zeeyād dāreem.

The word derakht means ‘tree’. derakht.

Matt: derakht.

Leyla: So derakht zeeyād dāreem.

Matt: derakht zeeyād dāreem.

Leyla: ‘We have a lot of trees.’ Which is true, his land has a lot of trees. Next:

daryācheyé koochooloo ham dāreem!

So when he first purchased the land, my uncle bought bulldozers and tractors, and used them to create a clearing in the land and dig out a pond. ‘Pond’ is daryāché.

Matt: daryāché.

Leyla: And koochooloo means ‘little’. So daryācheyé koochooloo.

Matt: daryācheyé koochooloo.

Leyla: This means ‘small pond’. So dō tā daryācheyé koochooloo ham dāreem, meaning:

Matt: ‘We also have two small ponds.’

Leyla: Perfect. dō tā daryācheyé koochooloo ham dāreem. dō tā.

Matt: dō tā.

Leyla: daryācheyé koochooloo.

Matt: daryācheyé koochooloo.

Leyla: ham dāreem.

Matt: ham dāreem.

Leyla: dō tā daryācheyé koochooloo ham dāreem.

Matt: dō tā daryācheyé koochooloo ham dāreem.

Leyla: Perfect! So let’s listen to the whole description again:

balé, haftād ō panj hectār zameen dāreem. derakht zeeyād dāreem, va dō tā daryāchéyé koochooloo ham dāreem!

Leyla: Ok, next sentences:

deegé chee dāreen?

deegé tractor dāreem, bulldozer dāreem. albaté, tractoremoon kharābé. panchar shodé.

So I started off by asking, “deegé chee dāreen?” This means ‘what else do you have?’ deegé chee dāreen?

Matt: deegé chee dāreen?

Leyla: Now, before we re-­‐listen to this next sentence, let me explain that my uncle has been in the United States since the mid-70’s, before the Revolution. Many young people, mostly young men, came to the US to get an education, and after the Revolution, they ended up staying. So he’s lived in the US longer than he’s lived in Iran. For this reason, he does tend to use a lot of English words when he speaks Persian. But again, language is all about communication, so as long as I can understand what he’s saying, he’s done his job right. So he said:

deegé tractor dāreem, bulldozer dāreem. albaté, tractoremoon kharābé. panchar shodé.

So, first sentence:

deegé tractor dāreem, bulldozer dāreem.

The word tractor is used in the Persian language, but bulldozer definitely isn’t. Next sentence:

albaté, tractoremoon kharābé. panchar shodé.

albaté is a great conversational filler word to learn. It means ‘although’ or ‘except’. albaté.

Matt: albaté.

Leyla: And kharāb means ‘broken’. So tractoremoon kharābé. ‘Our tractor is broken.’ tractoremoon kharābé.

Matt: tractoremoon kharābé.

Leyla: tractoremoon kharābé.

Matt: tractoremoon kharābé.

Leyla: He explains why it’s broken by saying, “panchar shodé.” This means ‘it has a flat tire’. panchar shodé.

Matt: panchar shodé.

Leyla: So let’s listen to this segment again:

deegé chee dāreen?

deegé tractor dāreem, bulldozer dāreem. albaté, tractoremoon kharābé. panchar shodé.

Okay, moving on to the next two sentences:

āhā. khob, hayvoonāt chetor?

eenjā hayvoonāté vahshee zeeyād dāreem. bobcat dāreem, coyote dāreem, āhoo dāreem. hamé cheez dāreem.

So, continuing with the conversation of what my uncle has on his land, I say, “khob, hayvoonāt chetor?” hayvoonāt means ‘animals'. hayvoonāt.

Matt: hayvoonāt.

Leyla: So “hayvoonāt chetor?” means ‘how about animals?’. hayvoonāt chetor?

Matt: hayvoonāt chetor?

Leyla: My uncle replies:

eenjā hayvoonāté vahshee zeeyād dāreem. bobcat dāreem, coyote dāreem, āhoo dāreem. hamé cheez dāreem.

So this is another vocabulary lesson, and another example of my uncle mixing Persian words with English words. So first, he says:

eenjā hayvoonāté vahshee zeeyād dāreem.

vahshee is a great word and means ‘wild’. vahshee.

Matt: vahshee.

Leyla: So hayvoonāté vahshee is ‘wild animals’. hayvoonāté vahshee.

Matt: hayvoonāté vahshee.

Leyla: So eenjā hayvoonāté vahshee zeeyād dāreem.

Matt: eenjā hayvoonāté vahshee zeeyād dāreem.

Leyla: So “bobcat” is an English word, as is “coyote,” but āhoo is a very Persian word and means ‘deer’. āhoo.

Matt: āhoo.

Leyla: And next, he says, “hamé cheez dāreem.”

Matt: hamé cheez dāreem.

Leyla: Meaning ‘we have everything’. hamé cheez dāreem.

Matt: hamé cheez dāreem.

Leyla: And the last two sentences of the dialogue:

parandé chetor?

balé! hamé joor parandeyee ham dāreem. een yekee-rō bebeen, cheghadr ghashangé. ābeeyé, roshané. behesh meegan ‘Eastern Bluebird’.

The word parandé means ‘bird’. parandé.

Matt: parandé.

Leyla: So parandé chetor? ‘How about birds?’ parandé chetor?

Matt: parandé chetor?

Leyla: One thing about Texas is that it’s a lovely state for bird-watching. So my uncle replies:

balé! hamé joor parandeyee ham dāreem. een yekee-rō bebeen, cheghadr ghashangé. ābeeyé, roshané. behesh meegan ‘Eastern Bluebird’.

So first, he says:

balé! hamé joor parandeyee ham dāreem.

hamé joor means ‘every kind’. joor is ‘kind’, and hamé is ‘every’, so hamé joor.

Matt: hamé joor.

Leyla: So hamé joor parandeyee ham dāreem. hamé joor.

Matt: hamé joor.

Leyla: parandeyee ham.

Matt: parandeyee ham.

Leyla: dāreem.

Matt: dāreem.

Leyla: This means ‘we also have every kind of bird’. hamé joor parandeyee ham dāreem.

Matt: hamé joor parandeyee ham dāreem.

Leyla: So there was this gorgeous little bird my uncle pointed out to me last time I was on the land. een yekee-rō bebeen means ‘look at this one’. So een yekee-rō bebeen.

Matt: een yekee-rō bebeen.

Leyla: ābee we've learned before means ‘blue’. roshan is ‘bright’. So, ‘it’s bright blue’. ābeeyé, roshané.

Matt: ābeeyé, roshané.

Leyla: behesh meegan is also another important phrase. It means ‘they call it’. behesh meegan.

Matt: behesh meegan.

Leyla: And he says the name of that particular bird, which is “Eastern Bluebird.” The picture associated with this lesson is of an Eastern Bluebird -­‐ make sure to have a look at it because it's truly beautiful! So behesh meegan ‘Eastern Bluebird’.

Matt: behesh meegan ‘Eastern Bluebird’.

Leyla: All right, let’s listen to the entire dialogue again, and hopefully, this time, you’ll understand it from start to finish.

salām dāyeejoon ahmad!

salām leylā joon! khosh āmadee!

khayli mamnoon az da'vatetoon! cheghadr eenjā ghashangé!

doost dāree khoona-rō bebeenee?

hatman, bebeeneem.

befarmā een taraf. khob, een sālon-é.

khayli bozorg-é!

balé, een ham āshpazkhoonast.

ālee-yé!

een khooné sheesh otāgh khāb dāré.

chand tā?

sheesh tā!

khayli zeeyādé.

balé, khob meedoonee, fāmeelemoon khayli bozorg-é.

dorost-é.

bereem beeroon?

bāshé, bereem... ajab zeeb-āst!

balé, haftād ō panj hectār zameen dāreem. derakht zeeyād dāreem, va dō tā daryācheyé koochooloo ham dāreem!

deegé chee dāreen?

deegé tractor dāreem, bulldozer dāreem. albaté, tractoremoon kharābé. panchar shodé.

āhā. khob, hayvoonāt chetor?

eenjā hayvoonāté vahshee zeeyād dāreem. bobcat dāreem, coyote dāreem, āhoo dāreem. hamé cheez dāreem.

parandé chetor?

balé! hamé joor parandeyee ham dāreem. een yekee-rō bebeen, cheghadr ghashangé. ābeeyé, roshané. behesh meegan ‘Eastern Bluebird’.

Wonderful! And that brings us to the end of lesson 35!

Matt: Thank you so much for listening!

Leyla: As always, you can find previous lessons and our bonus materials on the website at www.chaiandconversation.com with “chai” spelled C-H-A-I.

Matt: Until next time, khodāhāfez from Matt.

Leyla: And bé omeedé deedār from Leyla.