Learn how to catch up with old friends after you haven't seen them in a long time
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Brandon: Hello again, I’m Brandon. |
| Mohammad: And “Salam”. My name is Mohammad. |
| Brandon: Welcome back to PersianPod101.com. This is Absolute Beginner, season 1, lesson 6 - Catching Up With an Old Friend in Iran. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to say “Long time, no see” in Persian, when you’re seeing someone after a long period of time. |
| Mohammad: Our conversation takes place at a bus stop. And it’s between Arash and Jamshid, who are reuniting at the bus stop. |
| Brandon: And since these two are old friends, they’ll be useing informal Persian. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Brandon: Mohammad, “What’s new?” |
| Mohammad: Everything's just fine. |
| Brandon: (laughs) And how do you say it in Persian? |
| Mohammad: We say “ چه خبر “ (che khabar?) meaning “What’s new?” |
| Brandon: And do you use it when you meet someone after a long time, like in the conversation? |
| Mohammad: Actually, the time doesn’t really matter. It’s a phrase that's always used, regardless of when you last met. |
| Brandon: Is this phrase always used as a separate sentence? Or can it be attached to anything else? |
| Mohammad: Sometimes, after “che khabar?”, there’s another phrase like “از این طرف ها؟ “ (az in tarafhaa?) which means “What brings you this way?” It’s said as half joking and half serious. |
| Brandon: And how do you answer this question if everything is okay and fine? |
| Mohammad: We say “salamati” which means “Health and well-being”. |
| Brandon: So basically, it means “Everything is fine, but there is no news.” |
| Mohammad: Exactly. |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| Brandon: Let’s take a closer look at the usage of some of the words and phrases from this lesson. Mohammad, It’s good to see you again! |
| Mohammad: Thanks! Though I was here all along! But anyway, “ از دیدنت خوشحالم “ (az didanet khoshhaalam). |
| Brandon: It’s a little bit similar to the “Nice to meet you” expression, isn’t it? |
| Mohammad: Yes. That was “az didanet khoshhaalam.”, but this one is “az didanet khoshhaalam.”. |
| Brandon: Is the slight difference related to the last word? |
| Mohammad: Yes. “Khoshhalam” means “I’m happy”, but “khoshvaqtam” means “Having a good time” which is only used the first time you meet someone. |
| Brandon: They're really similar, so please be careful. Once again please, Mohammad. |
| Mohammad: “ از دیدنت خوشحالم “ (az didanet khoshhaalam). |
| Brandon: Our next phrase is… |
| Mohammad: “ چقدر عوض شدی “ (cheqadr avaz shodi!). |
| Brandon: It’s one of the phrases that we say after the “Long time, no see” expression, which means …? |
| Mohammad: “You’ve changed a lot.” |
| Brandon: Can we break this down? What’s the first word? |
| Mohammad: “cheqadr” meaning “How much”. But it's more than a question, here it means “Really, a lot”. Next, “avaz shodi” is the second person past tense of the verb “avaz shadan” meaning “To change”. |
| Brandon: Where is the word “You”? |
| Mohammad: It’s hidden in the tense of the verb. Or you can say it’s the “i” in “avaz shodi”. |
| Brandon: Alright listeners, please listen and repeat. |
| Mohammad: “cheqadr avaz shodi” (pause) “cheqadr avaz shodi”. |
| Brandon: Now, the last phrase we heard in the conversation, is going to be … |
| Mohammad: “ چه کارها می کنی “ (che kaarhaa mikoni?). |
| Brandon: It means “How are you spending your time?” or “What kinds of things do you do?” and can be a response to “Long time, no see”. |
| Mohammad: It can also be used in everyday conversations, and in situations other than meeting after a long time as well. |
| Brandon: If we break it down, what's the meaning of each word? |
| Mohammad: “che” means “What”, “kaarhaa” means “work”, and “mikoni” means “Are you doing?”. |
| Brandon: In other words, it’s the same as “How are you doing?”, right? Can we repeat it one more time? |
| Mohammad: “che kaarhaa mikoni?” (Pause) “che kaarhaa mikoni?” |
| Brandon: Great! Now let’s move on to the grammar. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Brandon: In this lesson, you’ll learn what to say when you meet one of your old friends after a very long time. So Mohammad, what would you say to them? |
| Mohammad: It’ll be “ خیلی وقته ندیدمت “ (Kheyli vaqte nadidamet). |
| Brandon: Which means “long time, no see” |
| Mohammad: Again, “kheyli vaqte nadidamet.” If we break it down, the first word is “kheyli,” which we already know means “very much,” or “long” in this case. The second word?“ وقت “ (vaqt) means “time”, and “e” is the verb “is”. |
| Brandon: So, it becomes, “Is a long time.” What is the last word? |
| Mohammad: “ ندیدمت “ (nadidamet), which means “Haven’t seen you.” Since it’s the main verb, it just makes sense that it’s the last part of the sentence. |
| Brandon: All together it is… |
| Mohammad: “ خیلی وقته ندیدمت “ (kheyli vaqte nadidamet), “Long time, no see.” |
| Brandon: Does anyone else use this phrase? |
| Mohammad: Of course, it’s for everyone! |
| Brandon: I mean isn’t there any exceptions for girls or boys? |
| Mohammad: There aren't any exceptions. However, there are similar phrases that may be used more by a group. For example, girls use more emotion, and boys use more humor. |
| Brandon: What’s an expression used more by girls?: |
| Mohammad: For example “delam baraat tang shode” meaning “I’ve missed you.” |
| Brandon: What does each word mean when literally translated? |
| Mohammad: “delam” is “my heart”, “baraat” is “For You”, and “tang shode” means “is narrowed”. |
| Brandon: “My heart is narrowed for you.” Oh, that’s why it means “I’ve missed you!”. And how about the humorous expression boys say? |
| Mohammad: For example, “ کجایی؟ کم پیدایی! “ (kojaayi? kam peydaayi!) is one of them, which means literally “Where are you? You’re not found!” |
| Brandon: I see. Using humor means they don’t say directly that they've missed their friend. |
| Mohammad: That’s right. But in fact, all of these expressions mean the same - “Long time, no see”. |
| Brandon: By the way, there was a review from the previous lessons in the dialog, which was the word meaning “Too”, “Also”, or “As well”. |
| Mohammad: Yes. It’s the phrase “ همینطور “ (hamintor) which means “The same way”. |
| Brandon: In this lesson, it answered the question “You’ve really changed”. |
| Mohammad: Right. “You too” is the answer here. |
| Brandon: It shows that the person represented by the pronoun also feels or looks the same way as said in the previous sentence. |
| MARKETING PIECE |
| Brandon: Listeners, ever have any Persian language or lesson-related questions? |
| Mohammad: Or maybe you have some feedback for us... |
| Brandon: Leave us a comment or ask a question on the lessons page! |
| Mohammad: It's super simple. Go to PersianPod101.com... |
| Brandon: ...click on comments, |
| Mohammad: ...enter your comment and name, |
| Brandon: ...and that's it! |
| Mohammad: Commenting is a a great way to practice writing and reading in Persian. |
| Brandon: It helps you learn faster. |
| Mohammad: And it helps us get better through your feedback. |
| Brandon: No excuses. |
| Mohammad: Go to PersianPod101.com, and comment now. |
| Brandon: NOW! |
Outro |
| Brandon: Well, that’s all for this lesson, everyone. Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time! |
| Mohammad: “Khoda Hafez.” |
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