My adventure in learning Persian, and why I would sacrifice myself for you.

The story starts with a woman.

A woman who was pleasing to the ears, not hard on the eyes, and nice to spend time with.

We shared a fondness for good food, and she had really nice hair.

She told me her Persian mother was coming to Calgary to visit.

Thus I hatched my secret plan to learn some Persian, so that I could astonish mother and daughter with my linguistic brilliance, and thereby seal our romantic future.

It would be perfect.

Except Covid had other plans.

(It always does).

Woman-with-really-nice-hair got sick, and her mother had to cancel her trip.

But it was too late - The die was cast, and I was hooked on Farsi.

Introducing my new friend, Farsi.

Farsi, and its variants are spoken by 110 million people worldwide. Much as the Roman Empire(s) established cultural and linguistic foundations in the West, the Persian Empire(s) similarly influenced the East. In the ancient world, Farsi was the lingua Franca from Persia to Mongolia, uniting neighboring peoples and empires. Even the Mongol empire(s) adopted it, and spread it further with conquest.

Much as Roman words like "Exit" persist in our landscape, so do Farsi words in Central Asia.

Latin is dead, and English is young, but modern Farsi has been around for about 1200 years.

Twelve. Hundred. Years.

Persian poetry from 1000 years ago is readable by modern Persians, in the same way that 400 year old Shakespeare is readable to us.

It is one of the oldest languages still in use, and the most widespread.

Farsi and variants are the official language in the nations of Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikstan, and variants of Farsi are common in most nations ending in 'stan and as far as Southern Russia.

There are words of Persian origin in English: “pyjama”, “khaki”, “kiosk”, “lilac”, “jasmine”, “jackal”, “caravan”, “bazaar”, "sugar", “checkmate”, and "Serendipity". Even the Canadianism "Toque" traces back to ancient Persian![1]

But, should we call it Farsi, or Persian?

When speaking Farsi, the name of the language is Farsi. When speaking English, the name of the language is "Persian". Both trace back to the ancient word "Pars". Both are fine and interchangeable. Mix it up as you like.

How did I study Farsi?

This journey starts in the 1990s, when I was gifted Marilyn vos Savant's book "Brain Building". Among other exercises, she recommends learning Latin as a gateway to other languages. I took this to heart, and later enrolled in some Latin courses in University.

Let's spare you the grief of learning Latin [2], and instead I'll share the key takeaway: studying Latin forces you to focus on the structure and mechanics of language - Essentially reducing language to Lego.

That being said, a new language is like a box of lego pieces without a manual. What goes where, and in what order?

Marylin's advice to learn Latin provided me an understanding of which words are important, how they fit together, and what order I want to learn them in.

My own language learning "Lego Manual": First words to learn

• Subject Pronouns: I, you, they. We, yous, they. [3]
• Basic nouns: Food, book, house, water, coffee, tea.
• Basic verbs: To be, to have, to go, to want, to eat, to like.
• Adverbs: "Not", "Very", "A little".
• Possessives: My book, John's house.
• Adjectives: Hungry, tired, happy, good.
• Questions: Who, where, when, and "how are questions structured?"
• Numbers: 1-12
• Conversationals: Hello, how are you?, I am good, thank you, yes, no, goodbye.

Knowing these words allows one to express basic concepts. By learning a few words of each grammatical type you pencil in framework that can be built out.

Three resources to learn Farsi:

To study Farsi, I relied upon the following three resources. Each provides a slightly different benefit. Together, they provided synergistic overlap.

1. The audiobook "Pimsleur's Learn Farsi":

These are typical language-learning audiobooks, broken into 30 minute lessons. They start slow, and build you up. They're conversational, straightforward, repetitive. They engage you directly by asking questions, and pausing while you respond in Persian. I listen to these when I'm driving, and on my MP3 player when swimming. Listening to the same lessons again and again helped build a basic familiarity.

2. The online site "Chai and Conversation":

Persian is full of linguistic and cultural nuances, and my many googles queries repeatedly lead me to this site. The answers there were excellent and provided exactly the contextual information I sought. Eventually I signed up for their "Summer Boot Camp". Chai and Conversation is a comprehensive online platform, with downloadable audio lessons, exercises to practice Persian writing, live practice sessions with native speakers, and many more features. There are also interactive lessons on poetry with guest speakers. Instructor Leyla Shams has built something absolutely fantastic, and it is highly recommended.

3. The book "Learn to speak Farsi in 30 days" (Reza and Somayeh Nazari):

This resource was a late arrival to my toolkit. Lessons are bite-sized, broken up into "days", and presented in the form of conversational dialogues. It contains many topic specific lists (days, numbers, etc), that make it a useful reference. One of its strengths is that the conversational examples cover many topics and feel "real". I use it primarily to review what I've learned elsewhere, and to fill in gaps.

Worth mentioning: Duolingo does not support Persian. Mango Languages does, but I've not tried. Persian is also available for Rosetta Stone, if you like that platform. There are also many videos on youtube to teach phrases and vocabulary.

Techniques and tips:

Simplify by limiting scope:

• Focus on spoken over written. Defer learning written Farsi until later.
• Ignore variations of a word. Farsi has many variations to distract you. Stick with the first one you come across, and adopt as your understanding grows.
• Ignore formal/informal tense. Be aware of the difference, but ignore for now.
• Ignore Past/present tenses. Start with present tense of verbs.

Practice fearlessly:

• Embrace making mistakes. Leyla Shams of Chai and Conversation also emphasizes this in one of her introductory lessons. You have to wobble before you walk. Every time you try, you'll intuitively get better. Native speakers will appreciate you trying, and you may even receive some helpful corrections. There is no cost to making mistakes, and each one brings you closer to the mark. Progress before perfection, right?

Learn it twice:

• When learning anything new, I complete two separate beginner level courses. Much of the material will be common to both, but there will also be differences. This confirms the knowledge I've already learned and also fills in gaps. Doing-it-twice seems inefficient, but builds a stronger foundation.

Start with simple phrases, and then progressively build:

• "Salom" (Hello)
• "Chai, lohtfan" (Tea, please)
• "Man Kanada-i hastam" (I am Canadian!)
• "Ghazoye Irani doost dari?" (Do you like Iranian food?)
• "Kotlet-e Irani doost daram" (Persian cutlets are my favorite)
• "Man mikham goosht-e khook bokhoram va berinam dar marghad-e komeini"

Practice in your own head:

• Throughout the day use the Farsi you know to have a conversation with yourself. Mentally ask yourself how you'd use Farsi in the situation you're in. Examples: "It is cold today", "Do you want to swim?", or "I like apples". Start with simple 3 word sentences if you can, and build from there. Practicing in this manner makes it relevant to your own life, and solidifies what you've learned.

Hidden pitfalls to avoid:

Unhelpful dictionaries: Many online Persian/English dictionaries can be misleading. If you look up the word "Tomorrow", you will get "????". This is NOT very helpful unless you can already read Persian script. Dictionaries that do Romanized/phonetic translations can be found but may take some digging.

Drowning in variations: There are many ways to say the same thing. Initially I was confused by the many "Variations" in how to say one thing, until I realized they were just grammatic variations of the same phrase. They are all the same. Be aware, and don't get stuck on trying to learn many forms of the same thing.

Speak as I say, but not as I write: Written Farsi works slightly different than spoken Farsi. The nuances yet elude me, but there appear to be differences in expressing ideas in writing, vs speaking. For now, just be aware that the difference exists.

Lucky breaks:

I'd always assumed Farsi was one of those unattainably different "Foreign" [4] languages. To my surprise I discovered Farsi felt rather familiar - As familiar as French, or German might seem. This is because Persian is classified as an "Indo European" language, which means it's falls into the same linguistic category as English, Spanish, Latin, German, etc. Even Hindi and Punjabi are classified as Indi-European languages! While the words and ordering may differ, they will follow familiar patterns. Farsi has been significantly influenced by Arabic, but nonetheless remains distinct as a Indo-European language.

Familiar friends in a foreign land - Cognates and loan words:

Also surprising is the number of European words that can be found in Farsi. These are not words that came *from* Farsi, but words that came *to* Farsi. Hands down, French is the single-greatest European contributor to Farsi. I'll leave the "Why" of this to the professional linguists, but speculate this has more to do with centuries of Persians being educated abroad, than it does colonization. The number of examples is staggering, but here's a few examples of European words:

• French: Merci, Chic, Restooran (Restaurant), Masheen (car)
• Latin: Qui? (who), No (Nine), Maadar (Mother).
• German: Barader (Brother)

On of the most noteworthy of these is the Farsi word "Shokolahd", aka "Chocolate" in English. The Farsi pronunciation suggests it comes from the French "Chocolate", which comes from the Spanish "Choco-la-tay", which comes from the Aztec "Chocolatl".

Imagine: This precious word has jumped multiple languages over 500 years, from Central America, to the Middle East! That's a lot of travelling.

The final assignment:

Our final assignment at Chai and Conversation was to memorize the Poem "Rooz o Shab" (Day and night) by Rumi, in the original Farsi. It was not intuitive for me, and took a lot of effort, but was rewarding in the end.

Some of my fellow students say they memorized it in "A few tries". It must have taken me a hundred, at least. That's not counting the literal headaches I got in the process. But persistence wins in the end.

For years, I've heard poetry snobs claim that "Rumi is great, but you really need to read in the original Farsi to appreciate".

Well, I can confirm that it this in fact true: There is a hypnotic rhythm to Rumi that is lost in translation.

The final exam:

After 4 months, I was finally introduced to Woman-with-really-nice-hair's family on the phone.

They greet me in English, and I answer in Farsi. They switch to Farsi, and I can keep up. Conversation is 60 seconds, and I hold my own. The topics were greetings, introductions, and food. I can hear surprised amusement at the other end. Fortunately they kept within the limits of what I've already learned, perhaps leaving the impression I know more than I do.

Fortune favors the prepared.

Final thoughts:

Learning must be done EVERY day. The journey of a thousand miles must be taken in steps, even if baby steps. Even if tired, even if one is busy. I suffer from chronic headaches (Thanks Covid!), but did what I could every could every day. Sometimes only five minutes. Sometimes one word.

If I can, you can.

Partway through my learning adventure, events came to a head in Iran. It was an odd experience to see my obscure new hobby suddenly achieve mainstream relevance. It's satisfying to follow current events and news about Iran, and be able to pick up the odd word here or there.

Is Farsi difficult? Yes and no. It's deep, but accessible.

From a distance, it looks like climbing Everest, but as you get closer, it's an inviting tropical shoreline that gently graduates into a deep ocean. There's comfortable wading space in the shallows while you work up the confidence to plunge into the depths.

And I encourage you to try.

So, am I actually fluent in Farsi? Fluent means "Flow", and my Farsi does not flow. Instead, it stumbles, falls down, and occasionally crawls, but certainly does not flow.

Nonetheless, I have a solid foundation of understanding upon which to build with further vocabulary, listening, and practice.

Persepolis, as they say, wasn't built in a day.

Merci o Felan,

Daniel.

Ps. Dear reader, are you still wondering why "I would sacrifice myself for you"? Well, truly I wouldn't. Farsi is a language of many over-the-top expressions, and this is a reference to the expression "Ghorbonet Beram". "Ghorbonet Beram" means "I'll sacrifice myself for you", but is an expression of appreciation, equally interchangeable with "I love you", "Thank you" and "Goodbye". Dear reader, thank you for the time and thought you've given to my article. Ghorbonet Beram.

Endnotes:

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toque

[2 For anyone seeking a similar "Latin Immersion" adventure, I recommend Hans Orberg's series "Lingua Latina". These immersive lessons are written completely in Latin and get progressively more difficult. You learn as you go. They are both enjoyable and rewarding.

[3] Dear English: Your personal pronouns really suck. I will be using "yous" as second person plural until you get yourself sorted out.

[4] The word "Foreign" actually derives from the Persian word "Farang" which ancient Persians used to refer to the Germans/Franks/Europeans. In a twist of Irony, Europeans are the *original* foreigners. Fans of Star Trek will recall the "Ferengi", whose name was taken from the Ethiopian word, which traces back to Persian. Next to the word "Tea", I can't think of a single word that is similar across so many languages.

Other resources: I'll add other useful resources here as I come across them:

• https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Persian/Lesson_1
• https://books.google.ca/books?id=mV5mDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

Disclaimer: "How to learn a language" is a topic that's been well covered elsewhere. It felt natural for me to dive in with my own ability and intuition, but those seeking more learned guidance on the pedagogy of language learning will want to read Tim Ferris' article "How to Learn Any Language in 3 Months". Tim is the master of learning.

Credits: Many kind people have helped me on my journey, providing encouragement, guidance, and corrections. I absolve them of all guilt, and apologize in advance for any subsequent misuse or abuse of your wonderful language. Your names are withheld to protect the innocent.