Speak / Lesson 37
A Dialogue in a Restaurant
Up until now, we’ve been listening to conversations between Leyla and various family members. In Lesson 37, we listen to a dialogue that takes place in a restaurant, first between a host and patrons, and then between a waitress and patrons. This should sound familiar to you, because much of this vocab was covered in unit 2. This will serve as a reminder and also present some new vocabulary for you to use when visiting a restaurant.
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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 |
Leyla: Hello, everyone ,and welcome to learn Persian with Chai and Conversation.
Matt: If you’re new to the program, please check out our previous lessons at www.chaiandconversation.com, with “chai” spelled C-H-A-I.
Leyla: For the rest of you, you know that we are now well into the dialogue series in our program. Up until now, we’ve been listening to conversations between me and various family members. Today, we’re going to change it up a bit and go through a dialogue heard at a restaurant.
Matt: This should sound familiar to you, because much of this vocab was covered in Unit 2.
Leyla: This will serve as a reminder and also present some new vocabulary for you to use when visiting a restaurant. But enough of that talking for now, Matt, are you ready to begin the lesson?
Matt: Ready!
Leyla: Great, then let’s begin to learn Persian with Chai and Conversation.
So let's just jump right into the dialogue.
bé restoorāné shāndeez khosh āmadeen!
khayli mamnoon.
chand nafar hasteen?
dō nafar.
beseeyār ālee. befarmāyeen een taraf.
salām, man neeloofar hastam. emshab az shomā pazeerāyee meekonam. noosheedanee chee mayl dāreen?
man doogh meekhām.
man ābé bedooné yakh meekhām.
chashm. alān bar meegardam.
befarmāyeen. een doogh, een āb bedooné yakh. ghazā chee mayl dāreen?
man hanooz nemeedoonam. shomā chee tarjeeh meedeen?
fesenjoonemoon ālee-yé.
pas barāmoon fesenjoon beeyāreen.
beseeyār ālee.
een ham fesenjoon. cheezé deegé-yee barātoon beeyāram?
na, khayli mamnoon, fe'lan hameen khoobé.
nooshé jān.
Leyla: So we’re going to get right on with the dialogue and listen to the first two sentences:
bé restoorāné shāndeez khosh āmadeen!
khayli mamnoon.
So first, someone who we assume to be the host says, “bé restoorāné shāndeez khosh āmadeen!” We learned the phrase khosh āmadeen before - it means something along the lines of ‘welcome’. In fact, if you break down the word “welcome," it’s two words - “well” and “come.” khosh āmadeen is literally just that - ‘well come’. khosh āmadeen.
Matt: khosh āmadeen.
Leyla: So bé restoorāné shāndeez khosh āmadeen means ‘welcome to Shandeez restaurant’. bé restoorāné shāndeez khosh āmadeen.
Matt: bé restoorāné shāndeez khosh āmadeen.
Leyla: One note here, the reason the word restoorān is possessive in this sentence is because you’re basically saying ‘the restaurant of Shandeez.’ shāndeez is the name of the restaurant. The host could have dropped the word restoorān and just said, “bé shāndeez khosh āmadeen.” That would have been fine, too. So, bé shāndeez khosh āmadeen.
Matt: bé shāndeez khosh āmadeen.
Leyla: And, of course, we have heard countless times: khayli mamnoon.
Matt: khayli mamnoon.
Leyla: Or ‘thank you very much’. Next, the host asks:
chand nafar hasteen?
dō nafar.
nafar is another word for person. nafar.
Matt: nafar.
Leyla: So chand nafar hasteen?
Matt: chand nafar hasteen?
Leyla: Meaning ‘how many are you?’. chand nafar hasteen?
Matt: chand nafar hasteen?
Leyla: Of course, since these people don’t know each other, the host is using formal speech. The reply is “dō nafar.”
Matt: dō nafar.
Leyla: And what does this mean, Matt?
Matt: It means 'two people'.
Leyla: Right. The host has one more line, so let’s listen to that by itself.
beseeyār ālee. befarmāyeen een taraf.
So, first, the phrase beseeyār ālee. ālee we’ve heard before; it means ‘great’. ālee.
Matt: ālee.
Leyla: beseeyār means ‘extremely’. beseeyār.
Matt: beseeyār.
Leyla: So ‘extremely great’ is what this host says. beseeyār ālee.
Matt: beseeyār ālee.
Leyla: beseeyār can be used with other words as well. For example, ‘very good’ would be beseeyār khoob.
Matt: beseeyār khoob.
Leyla: Or ‘extremely bad’ would be:
Matt: beseeyār bad.
Leyla: Exactly. So then the host says, “befarmāyeen een taraf.” We’ve covered this before. taraf is the word for ‘way’. So the host is saying ‘please come this way'. befarmāyeen een taraf.
Matt: befarmāyeen een taraf.
Leyla: Great, now let’s listen to the next two lines of conversation, now at the table:
salām, man neeloofar hastam. emshab az shomā pazeerāyee meekonam.
So first, we hear the lines:
salām, man neeloofar hastam.
This is very simple, and means:
Matt: ‘Hello, I am Niloufar.’
Leyla: Exactly. Then she says
emshab az shomā pazeerāyee meekonam.
So this is a bit more complicated. The word pazeerāyee is one we’ve covered before. It means ‘to serve’. pazeerāyee.
Matt: pazeerāyee.
Leyla: So she says, “az shomā pazeerāyee meekonam,” meaning ‘I will be serving you’. az shomā pazeerāyee meekonam.
Matt: az shomā pazeerāyee meekonam.
Leyla: And of course we know the word emshab. It means:
Matt: 'Tonight'.
Leyla: So all together, it’s emshab az shomā pazeerāyee meekonam.
Matt: emshab az shomā pazeerāyee meekonam.
Leyla: Then she asks:
noosheedanee chee mayl dāreen?
We’ve covered the word noosheedanee before. It means ‘drink’. noosheedanee.
Matt: noosheedanee.
Leyla: The full sentence means ‘what drink would you like?’. noosheedanee chee mayl dāreen?
Matt: noosheedanee chee mayl dāreen?
Leyla: mayl dāreen.
Matt: mayl dāreen.
Leyla: Perfect. So the reply is:
man doogh meekhām.
doogh is a very popular Persian yogurt drink. doogh.
Matt: doogh.
Leyla: So man doogh meekhām.
Matt: man doogh meekhām.
Leyla: ‘I want doogh.’
Next two sentences:
man ābé bedooné yakh meekhām.
chashm. alān bar meegardam.
So first, man āb bedooné yakh meekhām. Perhaps you’ll remember this from the previous lesson. āb bedooné yakh is ‘water without ice’, so man āb bedooné yakh meekhām, ‘I want water without ice’. man āb bedooné yakh meekhām.
Matt: man āb bedooné yakh meekhām.
Leyla: The waitress replies:
chashm. alān bar meegardam.
chashm means ‘okay.’ chashm.
Matt: chashm.
Leyla: And then she says ‘I’ll be right back’ or alān bar meegardam.
Matt: alān bar meegardam.
Leyla: So as we always do at the half point of every conversation, which we are at right now, let’s listen to the entire conversation up to this point to see how much we understand:
bé restoorāné shāndeez khosh āmadeen!
khayli mamnoon.
chand nafar hasteen?
dō nafar.
beseeyār ālee. befarmāyeen een taraf.
salām, man neeloofar hastam. emshab az shomā pazeerāyee meekonam. noosheedanee chee mayl dāreen?
man doogh meekhām.
man ābé bedooné yakh meekhām.
chashm. alān bar meegardam.
Next two sentences:
befarmāyeen. een doogh, een āb bedooné yakh. ghazā chee mayl dāreen?
So after the waitress has been gone for a minute, she comes back and says:
befarmāyeen. een doogh, een āb bedooné yakh.
befarmāyeen in this case means ‘here you go’. So befarmāyeen, een doogh, een ham āb bedooné yakh. What does all this mean, Matt?
Matt: ‘Here you go, here’s doogh and here’s water without ice.’
Leyla: Exactly, perfect. Let’s say the full thing. befarmāyeen.
Matt: befarmāyeen.
Leyla: een doogh.
Matt: een doogh.
Leyla: een ham.
Matt: een ham.
Leyla: āb bedooné yakh.
Matt: āb bedooné yakh.
Leyla: befarmāyeen, een doogh, een ham āb bedooné yakh.
Matt: befarmāyeen, een doogh, een ham āb bedooné yakh.
Leyla: Next, she says:
ghazā chee mayl dāreen?
When she wanted to ask what they wanted to drink, she asked:
noosheedanee chee mayl dāreen?
“noosheedanee chee mayl dāreen?” noosheedanee is the word for ‘drink’. So ghazā is the word for ‘food’. What does this sentence mean?
Matt: ‘What would you like to eat?’
Leyla: Exactly. ghazā chee mayl dāreen?
Matt: ghazā chee mayl dāreen?
Leyla: Next sentence:
man hanooz nemeedoonam. shomā chee tarjeeh meedeen?
So the first sentence is man hanooz nemeedoonam. nemeedoonam means ‘I don’t know’. nemeedoonam.
Matt: nemeedoonam.
Leyla: hanooz means ‘still’. hanooz.
Matt: hanooz.
Leyla: So put together, it means ‘I still don’t know’. man hanooz nemeedoonam.
Matt: man hanooz nemeedoonam.
Leyla: Next:
shomā chee tarjeeh meedeen?
tarjeeh is the word for ‘prefer’. tarjeeh dādan is the infinitive of the verb ‘to prefer’. So it’s “shomā chee tarjeeh meedeen?”
Matt: shomā chee tarjeeh meedeen?
Leyla: Meaning ‘what do you prefer?’. So she’s asking the waitress for her recommendation. Let’s listen to the next two sentences to hear the waitress's reply:
fesenjoonemoon ālee-yé.
pas barāmoon fesenjoon beeyāreen.
So the waitress says, “fesenjoonemoon ālee-yé.” fesenjoon is a very delicious Persian stew made with pomegranate paste. So fesenjoonemoon adds a possessive ending on the fesenjoon, so ‘our fesenjoon’, meaning the restaurant's fesenjoon. fesenjoonemoon ālee-yé.
Matt: fesenjoonemoon ālee-yé.
Leyla: So ‘our fesenjoon is great’. fesenjoonemoon ālee-yé.
Matt: fesenjoonemoon ālee-yé.
Leyla: So then the patron replies:
pas barāmoon fesenjoon beeyāreen.
The word barāmoon is an important one. It means ‘for us’. barāmoon.
Matt: barāmoon.
Leyla: Let’s go over the conjugations of this word, because it is an important one that you will use over and over again. ‘For me’ is barām.
Matt: barām.
Leyla: ‘For you (informal)’ is barāt.
Matt: barāt.
Leyla: ‘For him or her’ is barāsh.
Matt: barāsh.
Leyla: ‘For us’ is barāmoon.
Matt: barāmoon.
Leyla: ‘For you (formal)’ is barātoon.
Matt: barātoon.
Leyla: And ‘for them’ is barāshoon.
Matt: barāshoon.
Leyla: So then, beeyāreen is ‘bring’. barāmoon fesenjoon beeyāreen.
Matt: barāmoon fesenjoon beeyāreen.
Leyla: ‘Bring us fesenjoon.’ So what if you were just one person and you wanted to say ‘bring me fesenjoon’? You would say barām fesenjoon beeyāreen.
Matt: barām fesenjoon beeyāreen.
Leyla: Or what if you are ordering for your sister, and you want to say ‘bring her fesenjoon?’ You would say barāsh fesenjoon beeyāreen.
Matt: barāsh fesenjoon beeyāreen.
Leyla: Great! So the next two sentences of the conversation:
beseeyār ālee.
een ham fesenjoon. cheezé deegé-yee barātoon beeyāram?
So first the waitress says, “beseeyār ālee.” We covered this just a few minutes ago. Matt, do you remember what it means?
Matt: It means ‘very well.’
Leyla: Exactly. So then, supposedly, the waitress leaves and then comes back and says, “een ham fesenjoon,” meaning something along the lines of ‘and here’s fesenjoon'. een ham fesenjoon.
Matt: een ham fesenjoon.
Leyla: Finally, she says:
cheezé deegé-yee barātoon beeyāram?
deegé-yee means ‘other’. deegé-yee.
Matt: deegé-yee.
Leyla: So, cheezé deegé-yee barātoon beeyāram? ‘Should I bring you anything else?’ cheezé deegé-yee barātoon beeyāram?
Matt: cheezé deegé-yee barātoon beeyāram?
Leyla: Okay, great. Now, the last two sentences of the conversation:
na, khayli mamnoon, fe'lan hameen khoobé.
nooshé jān.
Ok, so ‘na, khayli mamnoon’ means:
Matt: ‘No, thank you.’
Leyla: Exactly. The word fe'lan we’ve learned before - it means ‘for now’. fe'lan.
Matt: fe'lan.
Leyla: So fe'lan hameen khoobé means ‘for now, this is good’. fe'lan hameen khoobé.
Matt: fe'lan hameen khoobé.
Leyla: So the whole thing together is “na, khayli mamnoon, fe'lan hameen khoobé.” So ‘no, thanks, for now, this is fine.’
And in the end, the waiter says, “nooshé jān,” which is basically like ‘bon appétit’. nooshé jān.
Matt: nooshé jān.
Leyla: And now, let's listen to the entire dialogue one last time. Hopefully, you will understand a lot more this time.
bé restoorāné shāndeez khosh āmadeen!
khayli mamnoon.
chand nafar hasteen?
dō nafar.
beseeyār ālee. befarmāyeen een taraf.
salām, man neeloofar hastam. emshab az shomā pazeerāyee meekonam. noosheedanee chee mayl dāreen?
man doogh meekhām.
man ābé bedooné yakh meekhām.
chashm. alān bar meegardam.
befarmāyeen. een doogh, een āb bedooné yakh. ghazā chee mayl dāreen?
man hanooz nemeedoonam. shomā chee tarjeeh meedeen?
fesenjoonemoon ālee-yé.
pas barāmoon fesenjoon beeyāreen.
beseeyār ālee.
een ham fesenjoon. cheezé deegé-yee barātoon beeyāram?
na, khayli mamnoon, fe'lan hameen khoobé.
nooshé jān.
And with that, we're at the end of lesson 37!
Matt: Thank you so much for listening!
Leyla: As always, our bonus materials and previous lessons can be found at www.chaiandconversation.com with “chai” spelled C-H-A-I. And for now, khodāhāfez from Leyla.
Matt: And bé omeedé deedār from Matt.