Learn Persian with Chai and Conversation

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 challenging situations.I learned an incredible amount from Azadeh- she has such a respectful approach to raising children, one that I think would lead to the kindest and most sustainable way of passing on language learning. Because in the end, language is all about love and understanding- so it makes sense to use a gentle approach in passing on a language rather than an overtly forceful one. Azadeh is also graceful in answering questions not as a person who claims to be an expert, but as someone with a particular point of view. I hope you enjoy the interview- I learned so much from her!Resource ListAzi Toys- The place to find the toys and worksheets Azadeh has put togetherAzadeh Shams Instagram Page- Where Azadeh is most active- great content for parents of bilingual childrenAzadeh Shams YouTube Page- Videos of topics for parents raising bilingual children

21 Loka 202030min

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 a delightful rendition by Aitak Ajangzad.

1 Loka 202018min

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 āmrikāyee (American football) in Persian. Listen to the full lesson in order to learn the words for many team and individual sports.

27 Kesä 20209min

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.

26 Kesä 202012min

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 - otāghbedroom - otāgh khābbathroom - dast shoowee or toowāletdining room - āshpaz khoonéliving 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.

25 Kesä 202011min

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 unique perspective of being half black and half Iranian, and particularly about the role of Iranian Americans in this movement. I learned so much from our conversation and hope that you will too.

17 Kesä 202055min

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', which means 'How are you?', you are asking something along the lines of 'How is your state of being.'

1 Kesä 202017min

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!

27 Touko 202033min