In this lesson about clips from the movie A Separation by Asghar Farahadi, we watch a conversation between Nader and Hojjat, Razieh's husband, about potential work Hojjat will be doing for Nader. We're joined in this episode by friend of the show, Yara Elmjouie.

In this special shabé shehr episode, we are joined by Alan Eyre, the first (and last) ever Persian language spokesperson for the U.S. State Department. Alan has a little book with lines of his favorite Persian poetry, and he shares one of those poems with us in this episode.

In this shabé shehr episode, we go over the poem khoshā emshō by the poet Baba Taher with special guest Yara Elmjouie. This poem is about enjoying the night, and the company of the night- it's short, simple and sweet, and reminds you to take pleasure in the joy of living.

In this lesson, we learn the langauge associated with one of the most important parts of Persian culture- food. We learn vocabulary for different Persian dishes, how to consume Persian food, and how to talk about it afterwards. This lesson might make you hungry, somake sure to have at least a little something to eat before listening to it! Also, here are some links to some of our favorite Perisan recipes and food blogs: 

• Najmieh Batmanglij's recipes are amazing
• Turmeric and Saffron is one of the best Persian food recipe blogs, with recipes for some of the foods we mentioned in the podcas
• Ariana Bundy has amazing videos with lots of delicious Persian recipes

In this lesson, we learn all the language associated with pregnancy, babies and small children.

In this lesson, we learn all the vocabulary associated with getting married in Persian! Includes the process of proposing, getting married, and language associated with the wedding ceremony. As promised, here are some links to some of our favorite Persian wedding songs! 

• Vigen, Shah Damad   vigen - shah damad original version, farsi  
• Shamaeezadeh, Ye Dokhtar Daram   Hassan Shamaeezadeh - Ye Dokhtar Daram | حسن شماعی زاده - یه دختر دارم    
• Hayedeh, Emshab Shabeh Eshgheh   Hayedeh - Shabe Eshgh (High Quality Audio)  

Lesson 56 covers language needed for talking on the phone, including etiquette used in greetings and saying goodbye on the phone.

If you’re around Iranians often, chances are you’ll be invited to their homes. Iranians love hosting, and it’s common to invite someone over as soon as you meet them. So, let’s learn some of the language and etiquette that goes along with being hosted.

In this lesson, we learn common Persian sayings that often don't make sense in English. Expressions, idioms- these are what make a language unique! We also learn some common Persian insults.

Respect is a big deal in Persian culture- respect for your family, respect for elders, among other things. We've learned about tārof- but this type of etiquette is just one aspect of showing respect for others. In this lesson, we learn other ways respect is demonstrated in the Persian culture.

In this lesson, we continue our discussion of the Persian concept of 'tārof'- we learn different situation in which 'tārof' comes into play, and how to successfully navigate through these situations. These situations include being paid a compliment, making a financial transaction at a store, interacting with guests and hosts, and much more.  

In this lesson, we talk about one of the most important concepts when it comes to learning about Persian culture- the concept of tārof. Tārof is basically the code of etiquette Iranians use in all social situations, and it's quite culturally pervasive. While western culture also has rules of engaging with others, Persians take it to a whole new level. For someone unfamiliar with the concept, sometimes the behavior of Iranians may seem a bit strange, but once these few simple rules are learned, a lot of cultural misunderstanding can be avoided.

LINKS: 

• We also explored this concept in our popular Youtube video, which you can see here.
• In addition, Leyla was interviewed for PRI's The World about the concept- check it out on their webpage.
• Or checkout her interview with the LA Times, where again she championed the cause. 

In this lesson, we watch a clip of a conversation between Nader and Razieh, who he is hoping to convince to come work for him. We are joined in the lesson by Yara Elmjouie.

In this lesson, we learn more about how to talk about daily routines, especially routines associated with waking up and going to bed.

In Lesson 49, we learn to talk about simple daily routines. These include things like eating breakfast, going to work, having meals, and resting.

In this lesson, we learn the Persian words for different types of transportation, including airplanes, cars, bicycles, and motorcyles.

In this lesson, we learn to talk about one of the most important parts of Persian culture- breakfast. We learn how to talk about breakfast- including a list of breakfast foods and important breakfast drinks.

This week, we’re continuing with our kitchen Persian vocabulary, and learning practical conversations you would have in any household. In this lesson, we learn more vocabulary for how to talk about illnesses and pain. In addition, we learn words for more parts of the body.

In this lesson, we cover a topic you will hopefully not have to use too often- the topic of not feeling too well. We'll learn how to express that you're not feeling well, how to ask others how they are feeling, and how to talk about pain that you have. Also, we will learn the Persian words for several parts of the body.  

We’re continuing on with our power series, learning a good bit of grammar and words to help fill in our vocabulary. So Lessons 21 and 22 were devoted entirely to the verbs "to be" and "to have", respectively. These are both very important verbs in the language, and both happen to have special subjunctive stems, so we are going to devote this entire lesson to their subjunctive forms. Thankfully, they’re both related!

In this lesson, we build on Lesson 42, and learn how to talk about wants. For instance, 'I want to go to the cinema.' In addition, we learn some special verbs that allow us to construct additional subjunctive sentences. These special verbs include 'must', 'might', 'it's possible', and 'it's better'.

This lesson teaches the simple subjunctive, which will allow you to take definite sentences like 'I am going to the movies tonight' to less definite ones like 'I could go to the movies tonight'.

In this lesson, we go over some 'structured infinitive sentences'. These are verb structures that include all parts you need to make a full sentence within them. The four verbs we focus on are 'I telephoned ______', 'I am happy with ______', 'I am angry with _______', and 'I am waiting for _______'.

In this new series, we watch clips chosen by Yara Elmjouie from the movie A Separation.  To WATCH this lesson (highly recommended!), check it out on our website.

In this dialogue, we ask Matt and Ladan what they've been up to the past few months. We get to hear how Matt's been doing in med school, and we also hear some really exciting information that Ladan reveals.

In this lesson, we’re going to listen to two people deciding what they’re going to do one evening. They go through a variety of options, including going to the cinema, getting Chinese food, and making food at home. Listen to find out what they ultimately decide.

This dialogue teaches you vocabulary to use in stores while buying things such as jewelry.

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.

Lesson 36 features a conversation between Leyla and her Aunt Farnoosh. Aunt Farnoosh describes her trip to Cancun.

Lesson 35 features a dialogue between Leyla and her uncle.

Lesson 34 features a dialogue in Persian (Farsi) between Leyla and her grandmother.

Lesson 33 features a dialogue in Persian (Farsi) between Leyla and her mother.  This lesson won't have a particular focus in terms of tenses. Rather, it will have general conversational vocabulary and skills that we need to learn.

Welcome to lesson 32, the second in our dialogues series. In this lesson, we'll be hearing a dialogue with an actual native speaker of the Persian language. That's right: we'll be listening to a conversation in Persian (Farsi) that Leyla had with her aunt!  Afterwards, Matt and Leyla will go over the vocabulary and phrases used in the dialogue.

Lesson 31 features a dialogue in Persian (Farsi) between Matt and Leyla. This lesson begins a very special unit of Chai and Conversation! We're going to take all the vocabulary, phrases, and grammar rules we've learned in the first three units, and combine them in short and simple dialogues.

In this lesson, we go over the last lines of the poem payāmé naseem by Hafez:

 می‌ای دارم چو جان صافی و صوفی می‌کند عیبش
may-ee dāram chō jān sāfee ō soofee meekonad aybash
خدایا هیچ عاقل را مبادا بخت بد روزی
khodāyā heech āghel rā mabādā bakht bad roozee

Lesson 30 is a review of all that we learned in Unit 3!

Lesson 29 teaches how to emphasize the present continuous tense and how to form imperative statements.

Lesson 28 teaches how to talk about habitual actions.

Lesson 27 teaches the present continuous tense.

Lesson 26 teaches prepositions.

Lesson 25 teaches compound verbs. Most compound verbs are constructed using the verbs shodan, to become, and kardan, to do. We'll conjugate these verbs, and learn how to construct compound verbs with them. We'll then conjugate those verbs in the past tense.

Lesson 24 goes over the concept of ‘ezafe,’ which will allow you to communicate many things in the Persian language, including adjectives.

Lesson 23 goes over the simple past tense, including how to talk about what you did over the last weekend.

Lesson 22 is all about the verb ‘to have,’ which will come in handy very soon in our upcoming grammar lessons.

Lesson 21 is the first lesson in Unit 3 of Chai and Conversation! In this unit, we will be going over the fundamentals of grammar of the Persian language. This entire lesson is devoted to the verb ‘to be,’ and its many different forms.

In this lesson, we go over the following lines of the poem payāmé naseem by Hafez:

جدا شد یار شیرینت کنون تنها نشین ای شمع
jodā shod yāré sheereenat konoon tanhā nesheen ay sha'am
که حکم آسمان این است اگر سازی و گر سوزی
ké hokmé āsemān een ast agar sāzee ō gar soozee

In this Persian/Farsi lesson, we learn how to talk about love and friendship. We learn common terms of endearment, how to compliment a loved one, and how to talk about your marital status. We also learn how to say 'I love you' in Farsi, which might be a bit more complicated than you would think. There's not a direct translation of 'I love you.' Rather, you could say 'I am in love with you' (man āsheghetam), or 'I like you' (doostet dāram) which often gets used in the place of 'I love you'. The most common term of endearment in the Persian language is jān or joon (either one works). This is often said after a loved one's name. For instance, if you are talking to your friend named Sarah, you could call them 'Sarah joon' to show them that you really care for them. You could also use it to call a family member. For instance, the word for maternal uncle in Persian is dāyee. Uncles are often called 'dāyee joon' meaning dear uncle.

In Lesson 18, we learn how to talk about the weather, and how to tell what time it is.