Learn five things that will help you make the most out of your travels in Iran
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Mohammad: Hi everyone, I’m Mohammad. |
| Becky: Welcome back to PersianPod101.com.This is All-About, Lesson 6 - Can You Answer These Questions About Iran? I’m Becky! |
| Mohammad: In this lesson, we’ll do something a little different from the previous ones. |
| Becky: That’s right, we’ll have a quiz! Don’t sigh, because it’ll be fun. These questions are about some statistics on the country. Together, we’ll evaluate our knowledge of Iran.. |
| Mohammad: Yes, because learning a language can’t be separated from learning about its culture, society, fashion, arts, cuisine and so on. So are you ready Becky? |
| Becky: I think so! Listeners, I’ll try to answer myself, but you should say the answers if you know them too! |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Mohammad: Great! The first question is on geography. In which part of Iran is Tehran located? |
| Mohammad: A. The South-East |
| Mohammad: B. The North-West |
| Mohammad: C. The Northern Center |
| ------------- |
| Becky: I’ll guess C, the northern center. |
| Mohammad: That's right! Tehran is the 200 year-old capital of Iran, that by being close to Iran's central desert, has generally hot and dry weather. It's also a little humid and mild in the North, where it's surrounded by Alborz mountains. |
| Becky: Yes, and though it was a village at first, today it is one of the largest cities in Iran, and the 16th most populated city in the world. |
| Mohammad: Additionally, Tehran is a good trade center of handicrafts and souvenirs like carpets, rugs, cushions, wood works, mosaic, pottery, and glass paintings. |
| Becky: And also, it has tourist attractions like the Damavand volcano peak in the North, and the Milad and Azadi Towers. |
| Mohammad: Ok, now our next question is about food. What are the two most well-known Iranian dishes?” |
| A. Abgusht and Ghormesabzi or Meat stew and Vegetable stew. |
| B. Lubia Polo and Khoreshet Gheime Or Beans with cooked rice and Gheime stew. |
| C. Ash Reshte and Shirin Polo Or Reshte soup and Sweet cooked rice |
| Becky: I'll pick the first one - “Meat stew and Vegetable stew.” since I've heard their names more. |
| Mohammad: That’s right! What do you know about them? |
| Becky: There are TV series where these foods are very popular with families, especially the guys. |
| Mohammad: (laughs), It’s not just popular in TV land, but in reality too! Ghormesabzi is a vegetable stew that contains red beans, and is eaten with cooked rice and dried ammani lime. Abgusht or "Dizi", is another traditional dish and its name means "the juice of meat", and it’s cooked with potato and grains. |
| Becky: I've also heard that the main joy of it, is eating it with pickle, fresh greens and onion, with everyone together around a Iranian table. |
| Mohammad: That's very true! Ok, are you ready for the next question? It's about tourist destinations in Iran. What’s the most popular out of these three groups? |
| A. Tehran, Esfahan, Shiraz. |
| B. Kish, Kerman, Tabriz. |
| C. Hamedan, Qome, Kashan. |
| Becky: That's a hard one. All of them seem popular to me, and I’d like to see all of them! But I’ll choose the first group, because I’ve heard more about them. |
| Mohammad: That’s correct! You're not wrong about all of them being worth a visit. Therefore, the favorites are still, Tehran, Esfahan, and Shiraz. |
| Becky: I can see that Tehran's popularity is probably because it’s the capital. And we already know that it has towers, a bazaar, green spaces, ski resorts, cultural and art centers, museums, palaces, libraries, and many other great public attractions. |
| Mohammad: By the way, Becky, have you heard the old statement about Esfahan, our second destination? |
| Becky: Hmmm... the one that says "Half of the world: Esfahan!"? |
| Mohammad: That's the one! Esfahan is called that because it’s home to the world's most artistic architecture like: Naghshe Jahan square, Siosepol bridge, the Menar Jonban shaking minarets, and the Sheikh Lutfollah Mosque. It's also famous for delicious souvenirs like Gaz and Louz, and the sweet Esfahani dialect. |
| Becky: What about Shiraz? Is it really the city of flowers and gardens and poetry, like they say? |
| Mohammad: It really is, as you can find the tombs of famous Poets like Hafez and Saadi in Shiraz, as well as the Eram Garden, and also the ruins of historical buildings like Persepolis and Pasargadae. |
| Becky: It sounds interesting! Ok, what's the next question? |
| Mohammad: OK. Since it's going to be the last question, we've saved the trickiest for last - it’s about the economy. Iran is one of the world's largest exporters of which product? |
| A. Carpet |
| B. Oil |
| C. Caviar and Saffron |
| Becky: That's Easy, it's B. Oil! |
| Mohammad: That’s right. Oil is one of Iran's most famous products. Iran is rich in the natural resources of oil and gas under the ground and the seas. We even have a special national holiday on the Iranian calendar, dedicated to "The Nationalization of Oil". By the way, good job, Becky. It seems like you know a lot about Iran! You passed the quiz successfully, congratulations! As a reward, would you like to hear a little interesting fact about Iran's culture? |
| Becky: That would be great! |
| Mohammad: OK. Did you know that there are groups of Iranian people, named "Ashayer" and "iil" who live within a nomadic tribal structure, and spend all their lives migrating by moving to warmer places in winters and cooler places in summers? |
| Becky: Really? why do they do that? |
| Mohammad: So that they can find pastures for the domestic animals they keep, throughout the whole year. |
| Becky: Another interesting fact! Thanks for sharing this information! |
Outro |
| Becky: We’ll see you for our next lesson. Till then, bye everyone! |
| Mohammad: Bye. |
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