Hi there, today I have a special guest.
It's my guide to the Persian language, to Iranian history and culture, Sahra
whom I have mentioned before, and I wanted to have an interview with her
to talk about the role that she has had in my Persian language learning.
But remember, if you enjoy these, uh, videos, please subscribe, click
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So hello, Sahra.
Hi. Hello, Steve.
How are you?
I'm fine.
Thank you.
So normally when we meet, of course we speak Persian.
So it's fun for me.
It is much more relaxing to speak English.
However speaking English is not gonna improve my Farsi.
So first of all, can you tell us where you live?
What's your educational background, your professional background and so forth?
Uh, of course.
So currently I'm living in Iran, uh, in the north of Iran actually
so, yeah, but I'm from Shiraz, you know, the city, the cites, right?
Yes.
Um, so my educational background, I have a master's degree in translation studies.
And, uh, I have translated a couple of books, so I've been a
professional translator in Iran.
And yeah, it's been a pleasure to be, uh, tutoring Persian you.
okay.
So, and, and I wanted to have this conversation to talk about
how we have worked together.
First of all, today is the last day of my sort of 90-day
challenge, three months of Persian.
Uh, and we are gonna have a conversation in Persian.
First, let me make it very clear that I have focused on Persian for three months.
That doesn't mean that I started Persian three months ago.
In fact, if I look at my statistics, I first started dabbling in
Persian in, uh, June of 2018.
And then if I look at my statistics, I see that I get very active around
August of 2020, and there are sort of peaks and valleys because I have been
sort of playing with Persian at the same time that I've playing with Arabic.
Arabic. Yeah.
A little bit of Turkish.
Yeah.
And so I've had a lot of fun with it.
I haven't been focused, but for the last three months I was focused.
So what I would like to discuss with you today is first of all, Uh, the
role, I wanna talk a little bit about the role you have played and how you
have found this experience, because it's different from your background.
And then talk a little bit about how you think I have done in these three months
that I've been focused on Farsi, Farsi.
So, uh, first of all, you know, you, I think before we connected, you were
already teaching Persian, is that correct?
Uh, yes.
Yeah, I was also teaching Persian.
Yeah.
Right.
But the way we have worked together is a little bit different because you
have created so much content for LingQ starting from mini stories to getting your
friends to talk about themselves, mostly women who have, you know, a pastry shop
or, uh, interior designer or different people in different areas of activity.
And some guys as well interested in musical instruments and you get sort
of a range of Iranian, modern Iranian culture through these interviews.
And then you of course created courses on history, on, on
food, uh, and other things.
And then more recently you have found podcasts.
Yeah.
Uh, that are of interest to me.
And are at my level.
So how have you gone about like, how has...
seen from your end of it...
I'll talk about what it's been like for me, but what's what has it been like for
you at, at your end of this experience?
Yeah, so, well, uh, when, when we started actually, uh, this
journey, uh, at first I...
so after a couple of sessions, I actually realized that, yeah, you are
interested in history, in culture, in like maybe politics ifyou want.
And so we actually, uh, we were mostly focusing on the topics
that were interesting to you.
And so around these topics, you like to know about the culture.
I found some people and talked to them.
So there were so natural conversations with people.
And, uh, so you used them as your lessons and you got to know the
culture, uh, also about the food, about Persian cuisine and about many things.
We, we actually had the, uh, topics about ethnicities in Iran.
And yeah, yeah.
And many...
the history of Iran, which, uh, you were very much interested.
So it was actually very interesting.
Uh, because, uh, I was, I was always looking for the content that you enjoy
and at the same time I was learning a lot.
It was kind of reviewing everything for me too.
I remember when I was preparing the history of Iran, I went through
all this content and I made some summaries to provide them for you.
So it was very interesting to me too.
And then after that we found those YouTube channels.
Uh, yeah.
So we also use the YouTube channels, which have transcriptions and, uh, the podcasts.
Yeah, the most recently we, uh, worked on the podcast, which was
again about, uh, history and culture.
So, so my question is, first of all, the 26 episodes in the history of Iran that
you created for us at LingQ is phenomenal.
And I still go back to it because there's so many words
there that I still don't know.
And as you know, you read about history and whatever you read, you forget, and
then you go back and you read it again and slowly it becomes clearer and you
start to separate, you know, the Safavid dynasty from the Sasanian dynasty, cuz
otherwise you get them all confused.
Uh, but then more recently you have...
so first of all, I can appreciate that you did a lot of research in order to
put this together in 26 balanced episodes with circling questions and so forth.
So that was a lot of work, but I appreciated it.
But then recently you have found both podcasts and YouTube
videos with transcripts.
And that's such a tremendous service because for me to go searching the
internet, you know, Persian language podcast that have transcripts that
are on issues of, of, uh, you know, interest to me and, and where the voice
is pleasant and the sound is pleasant.
And so you do this for me, that's a tremendous service.
How do you find these resources?
Uh, so actually, as you know, it's not very easy to find the
content in person which also has the text, the transcript, right?
So, and, and also, which will interesting to you that too.
Uh, yeah, so I, I actually search some keyword for some, yeah, looked
for some keywords on the YouTube.
And then of course there are, there is one popular podcast in Iran.
So, so that, uh, fortunately we had some, uh, some of the,
their videos had transcripts.
And you remember at first, when they didn't have the, those podcasts on
YouTube, we actually, uh, uh, we were using their episodes and we talked
to them and we actually ask for permission and we use those content.
Oh yes.
B plus.
Yeah. B plus.
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
So, and then after that they put many videos on YouTube, which was very
easier for us to, to use the content, uh, about the, the podcast, the recent
podcast, academic books, actually.
Uh, it's important.
Yeah.
You couldn't find this because it's important to search
those keywords in Persian.
You know, looking for the content in Persian by a native speaker is
much easier than that for a learner.
Of course.
And, and it's a tremendous service.
I think this is the role of a language teacher is to be a guide,
a guide that not only finds...
first of all figures out what the learner's interested in and
then knows where to find it.
And, uh, and sort of introduces like the stuff you've given me
recently where they talk about, you know, National identity in Iran.
That's so interesting.
It's like I'm eavesdropping on a conversation amongst Iranians about
their own, you know, ethnic identity, uh, and number of other these
that just, it's just outstanding.
Uh, yes.
And I'm sure in other languages the same kinds of material, whether it
be in Polish or Chinese, or it's gotta exist somewhere, but it's very
hard for the learner to find these.
You come up, you go to the, the website and it's all in their
writing system and it's, it's just, you're not used to it, you know?
So you don't know where to go.
So that's a tremendous, tremendous service.
Yeah.
It's of course it's difficult for you to find those.
Yeah.
And, uh, so now what I think, what we might do is we'll speak in Persian now.
So I gotta kinda switch my brain.
And then at the end of it, maybe you can talk a little bit about how you find
that I have improved or maybe I haven't improved, uh, just in these last three
months that I have been focusing on Farsi.
Okay.
Of course.
Sure.
Yeah.
So, I mean, it's hard to, to sort of have an artificial to some extent artificial
conversation, but I have to tell you that, uh, between the material that
you have provided me, that I, I so much enjoy reading and listening to, uh,
and then twice a week conversations, I feel so much more comfortable in my
fire seat than I did three months ago.
Of course, of course.
And you're more confident when using the words oh, using the structures.
Yeah. I can feel that.
Uh, so I remember that before, uh, you were, you knew some words, but
you didn't actually use them correctly or you actually hesitated when using
them, but then gradually I realized that you are using them without
me mentioning those, uh, words.
So it means that there's something like, uh, some patterns as you always
say, uh, were formed in your brain.
And then you just realize how to use those words just by practicing.
Well, you know, it's funny, you, you, uh, start to understand
words, you still confuse words.
You tend to confuse this word with that word and you can't
really distinguish them.
And, but over time it's as if these words sort of slowly become clearer and clearer.
And at some point you're able to recall them naturally.
Whereas up to that point, you're trying to recall the word you have sort of
this vague recollection of the word, but you can't really produce it.
And the only way this starts to happen is if you have continuous
exposure to the language and, and listening, but also reading.
Reading is so important because when you're reading and I read an article
about this, when you're reading, you're actually sub vocalizing.
So that in the brain, apparently reading is closer to speaking than listening.
When you're listening, you're not producing the language in any way, but
when you're reading, because reading is something that's very recent from an
evolutionary perspective, I mean, most people never read throughout history.
People didn't read.
It's only recently that people started reading, only in the
last 200 years, and only a small percentage of people ever read.
So that it's, it's a new thing for the brain.
And the brain is actually creating the language when, when, when we're reading.
So reading is very powerful.
Uh, people don't realize it, but, but the listening is of course much easier
to do cuz I can do it whenever I want.
But well, thank you.
I, yeah, go ahead.
Yeah.
And, and I, and I know that you're recently more enjoying, more from
reading with this, uh, new feature that you're trying on your iPad.
Well, I don't wanna talk too much because we're still playing around with
different ways of doing it, but, but, uh, yeah, in recreating the sentences
that's, but that'll come, that's still a few weeks away, but ever continuing
to work on things so that, you know, that, uh, working with our interesting
content, content of interest, which I tend to do in sentence mode, cuz it's
easier to go sentence by sentence rather than of course a whole page of text.
And now I have this ability to reconstitute the sentence that I've
been studying and, and all of that is getting me into the language.
And of course our twice weekly conversations.
So it's important to have a variety of activities, but I think it's really
key to have content of interest.
And that's where I think, uh, the role of someone like you, who is a, a language
guide, more than a language teacher.
Uh, I think that's just so important.
So I thank you very much for introducing me to all these things.
It's been a pleasure and I really enjoyed that, actually my self too.
Thank you.
Okay.
And I, haven't given up, I may do Arabic for three months, but I'll
be back to Persian as well, so...
oh, okay.
I, I will keep sending you content so that, you know...
oh, please do, please do, please do.
Yeah.
Okay.
Well, thank you very much.
And I hope this was of interest to my listeners as well.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Bye-bye
bye.