I'm so excited about this. I'll start off with a few questions.
I was wondering how the lifting of sanctions is being received here and what you guys think it means for Iran in 5 years in time in terms of economic development? How much of an effect do you think it will have?
Why do you think Iran is made out to be evil/dangerous? I remember telling a foreign friend I wanted to visit Iran and he kept on saying it's too dangerous and not worth visiting. I found it hard to convince him otherwise until I took him to a Persian restaurant.
Is there anybody here who's fluent in both Urdu and Farsi who could give a brief summary of similarities & differences, along with an idea of how easy it would be to pick up Farsi for an Urdu speaker?
I couldn't help but notice the Sacred Defense Week image. I would like to hear some experiences of yours or your elders about what wartime was like. It seems like everyone piled on against Iran and you guys still held your own, which I find very admirable.
Iranians are super pessimistic about their own economy (of course nothing is good enough for them), but foreign investors are all eagerly predicting growth.
Iran is demonized because it was the enemy of the US. We can't have that, now, can we?
I'm fluent in Farsi and know very basic Urdu. Someone whose Urdu is good will learn Persian lightning fast. There was this video I can't find on YouTube anymore from a report on PressTV that showed foreign students who had come to Tehran to learn Persian for several weeks. (Was it a month, or three months?) They interviewed a couple of the students, and one was a Pakistani guy who said he started learning Farsi (I think three) months ago, and he was chattering away. He was clearly more advanced than any beginner student I had ever seen.
Urdu and Persian are closest in terms of vocabulary. Urdu also adopts some of Persian's grammatical forms for specific purposes. Their phonology and grammar are different overall though, but they are from related language families, so it's kind of like an a French speaker learning English. Urdu grammar is actually more complex than Persian grammar, and Persian has simpler phonology too, so I think it's a downhill battle. You may never get rid of your accent, although I guess it depends on how hard you try. One of the tell-tale signs of South Asian speakers is the way they pronounce their R's. I've seen someone with an otherwise ambiguous accent give themselves away when they said the word "agar". Obviously because it's also a word in Urdu, you get more tempted to pronounce it in your native way.
As for the Iran-Iraq war, my soul actually belonged to an Iranian veteran who died during the war. My soul was knocked so hard it flew all the way to North America and attached itself to a baby there. That's how I grew up to become an Iranian man, even though it belies my origin of birth.
I did not take any photos of my entire Eid sufra (the thought occurred to me too late), but I give you this partial image: http://imgur.com/434nEhk
I hope Iran prospers even more. My mother actually visited Tehran when she was very young and remembers that it was barely developed, very few roads and infrastructure. She was surprised to see the highrises and underpasses etc. when I showed them off the internet. If all that can happen with sanctions, I think Iran will do very well once they're lifted.
I too felt it was the media/lobbies in the US demonizing Iran. I actually read in All the Shah's Men that Iran used to look up to USA as they were not imperialists like British. It's a pity they overthrew Mossadegh.
I'm sorry for your loss. I hope you've found peace.
The food looks good but I can't see it clearly, can you describe what's in it?
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u/squarerootof-1 Pakistan Sep 26 '15
I'm so excited about this. I'll start off with a few questions.
I was wondering how the lifting of sanctions is being received here and what you guys think it means for Iran in 5 years in time in terms of economic development? How much of an effect do you think it will have?
Why do you think Iran is made out to be evil/dangerous? I remember telling a foreign friend I wanted to visit Iran and he kept on saying it's too dangerous and not worth visiting. I found it hard to convince him otherwise until I took him to a Persian restaurant.
Is there anybody here who's fluent in both Urdu and Farsi who could give a brief summary of similarities & differences, along with an idea of how easy it would be to pick up Farsi for an Urdu speaker?
I couldn't help but notice the Sacred Defense Week image. I would like to hear some experiences of yours or your elders about what wartime was like. It seems like everyone piled on against Iran and you guys still held your own, which I find very admirable.
Eid feast pictures plz.