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Discouragement: opportunities to use it? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Darya0Khoshki Triglot Groupie United States Joined 4868 days ago 71 posts - 91 votes  Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), Arabic (Iraqi) Studies: Persian | Message 1 of 13 28 November 2011 at 9:32am | IP Logged |
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As I was studying Farsi today and realizing how much I like it ... I thought to myself:
WHY AM I LEARNING FARSI???? With an American passport, I don't expect that I'll ever be able to go to Iran any time soon (at least not without facing ridicule and gasps of horror from everyone I know!). I feel discourgad that I'll ever be able to use it. Even if I were ever to meet Iranians abroad, I feel like it's disrepectful to use them as free language practice ... mostly because I HATE it when people in other countries want to be "friends" with me to use me as free English practice. I live in Iraqi Kurdistan now, and I know a couple of Kurds who grew up in Iran. However, it seems silly to try to speak Farsi with them since the language of the group (rest of the family) is Kurdish, why don't we just speak that ... plus a lot of Kurds seem to prefer Kurdish over their lingua francas (depends on the individual, but there is some language prejudice for some people). Again, if I were to speak Farsi with them, it wouldn't be for communication (which is the purpose of language) it would be for free language practice, so it just seems weird. Farsi is very much a "vanity" language for me. Meaning, I use Arabic and Kurdish every day - I have to know them for my life. But Farsi is unecessary (probably why in my rebellious nature I like it the best!!) I guess I have to pray that I'll meet a non-Kurdish Iranian in Kurdistan ... better yet a whole Iranian family who speaks Farsi with each other. Either that or look into jobs in Afghanistan. :-) Do you ever feel discouraged from ever having the chance to use your language? Edited by Fasulye on 28 November 2011 at 9:59am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Solfrid Cristin Heptaglot Winner TAC 2011 & 2012 Senior Member Norway Joined 5134 days ago 4143 posts - 8864 votes Speaks: Norwegian*, Spanish, Swedish, French, English, German, Italian Studies: Russian | Message 2 of 13 28 November 2011 at 12:18pm | IP Logged |
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I feel water in my mouth at the idea of speaking Arabic and Kurdish every day. I am sure that you will find an opportunity to practise Persian at some point. Keep in mind that the world might change faster than you think. When I grew up, Iran was still under the Shah. I had friends who were tortured in his prisons. We sang "Free Nelson Mandela", and I could not imagine that South Africa could change, without being drowned in blood. Now Mandela has been a president of that very same country. I grew up thinking there was no way East-Germany would ever be united with West-Germany. My kids have not even heard of East-Germany. I grew up with Yugoslavia being one country,with Ukraine being part of the Soviet Union. Now they have all split up.
The political scenery may change so fast your head will spin. And if there is one thing I would like to pray for, it is Iran having a true democracy where women will have equal rights. The Iranians are a lovely people, who deserve all good things coming to them. Edited by Solfrid Cristin on 28 November 2011 at 12:18pm 8 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Darya0Khoshki Triglot Groupie United States Joined 4868 days ago 71 posts - 91 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), Arabic (Iraqi) Studies: Persian | Message 3 of 13 28 November 2011 at 1:35pm | IP Logged |
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Great post, Solfrid. :-) That's encouraging.
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| SueK Groupie United States Joined 4551 days ago 77 posts - 133 votes Studies: Mandarin | Message 4 of 13 28 November 2011 at 2:35pm | IP Logged |
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I look forward to the (all too distant) day that I know enough to feel I could communicate with a native speaker!
A lot of foreigners in the US would like that you appreciate their language, and enjoy the opportunity to use it themselves. I would think this to be especially so for Farsi speakers, given some reactions to the 911 tragedy. Give it a try and be sensitive to the possibility of their feeling like you do. You can back off if they don't seem sincerely excited to help. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Ari Heptaglot Senior Member Norway Joined 6382 days ago 2314 posts - 5695 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese Studies: Czech, Latin, German | Message 6 of 13 29 November 2011 at 6:57am | IP Logged |
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There's a lot of stuff you can do with a language without having a conversation in it. Heck, I've had something like three conversations in French since I learned it.
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| fomalhaut Groupie United States Joined 4703 days ago 80 posts - 101 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German | Message 7 of 13 29 November 2011 at 8:05am | IP Logged |
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As an American it's the most awkward thing to meet a Persian. Oh hey! remember overthrowing your government!! remember how we are having more contact than our countries have had in the past 30 years! yeah!
I'd love to learn Persian, truly deeply, I tried, but realized the futility of it. I'd keep it on the back burner, it's what i did. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Darya0Khoshki Triglot Groupie United States Joined 4868 days ago 71 posts - 91 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), Arabic (Iraqi) Studies: Persian | Message 8 of 13 29 November 2011 at 8:25am | IP Logged |
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Ari,
True, and I do gain a lot of cultural knowledge from watching BBCFarsi.com, Iranian movies, and videos of Ahmadinijad on youtube ... HOWEVER, to me a big part of learning a language is relationships with people. And that is what I'm missing right now with Persian. :-) 1 person has voted this message useful |
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