Speak Lesson 51 | Introducing 'Ta'arof'

Learn Persian with Chai and Conversation

Chai & Conversation

Iran, Conversation, Persian, Chai, Language Learning, Farsi, Courses, Education

4.9 • 548 Ratings

🗓️ 24 February 2016

⏱️ 14 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Learn Persian with Chai and Conversation, Lesson 51.
0:07.0	Hello and welcome to Learn Persian with Chaiian Conversation,
0:11.0	the podcast for anyone looking to learn conversational Persian.
0:15.0	My name is Leila and I'll be your teacher for the course.
0:18.0	And my name is Matt, and I will be learning Persian along with you.
0:22.6	Chaya Conversation will teach you conversational Persian in weekly lessons of about 15 minutes each.
0:28.6	If you know anything about Iranians, they don't do anything without first grabbing a cup of tea,
0:34.6	or as they call it, Chai.
0:36.6	So pour yourself a cup and join us in learning the Persian language.
0:49.7	Hello and welcome back to chai and conversation.
0:53.2	And welcome back to us as well, Matt. Yes, welcome. We've been on a long hiatus, probably our longest one yet. There's been a lot going on for the Chai and Conversation team. To begin with, actually, I want to introduce our newest team member, Chadwick. Salam, Chadwick. Salam! If you've emailed us lately, you might have received a reply from Chadwick. He's been working with us behind the scenes for over two years now, so we thought it was about time to introduce him on air. Chadwick, could you tell us a little bit about yourself and your role on trying conversation? Sure. I'm Chadwick. I work as a web developer here in Austin. I love working with computers, but also have a big interest in culture and languages.
1:33.7	Great. And to add to that a bit, Chadwick does a lot of the back of the house things that make trying conversation run smoothly.
1:41.2	He redeveloped our entire website, remastered the sound on all of our episodes,
1:45.8	was instrumental in a lot of new features on the podcast, among other things. So anyhow, Chadwick,
1:51.8	they've been here for a while. Welcome to the team. Happy to be here. And Matt, just a quick
1:57.5	update. You've been busy with quickly growing baby Kimia and Met School. Have I left anything else out?
2:02.6	That's about it. Those two things take up a lot of my time these days. Oh, and we also move cities and houses.
2:10.6	That's right. Matt and Laudan and Baby Kimia are now living in Dallas and just moved to a new home.
2:16.6	And you also have a new home.
2:19.1	And you also have a big update.
2:21.4	True. I got married last May.
2:26.9	I wrote several blog posts about Ronnie and Wedding, so hopefully you all had a chance to look at those.
	...

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