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During my life in Russia there were many obstacles that would not allow me continue learning Farsi. After nine years of living there I was speaking, writing and reading Russian perfectly, people were saying that even better than some Russians. The Russian language was like my first language and I had no difficult in speaking it and expressing myself. We got a chance out of many people to come and live in United States of America as permanent residents. It was very happy moment for my family, however we were again faced with unfamiliar language and environment. It was very scary at first to just communicate with our teachers let alone the students, who can be a little more judgmental. In spite of this slowly I was speaking English and trying to explain myself, it was very challenging time. After three years living in USA I graduate high school with advanced diploma and was accepted by one of the best colleges in USA. It was very challenging to get here and I worked very hard to be where I am now. Now was the time for me to go back to my native tongue and learn what I was not able to learn before. Therefore I am here to use this opportunity to learn writing and the use of proper grammar.
During my first language meeting of the week, my partner and I reviewed two news articles for the vocabulary and grammar. I needed some help with specific phrases (such as "durup dururken") whose dictionary definitions don't express the meaning of the phrase. He also helped to explain the constructions that turn verbs into adjectives and nouns, which is something I find very difficult. While I wouldn't necessarily be able to use these constructions in conversation, I can recognize them on paper and, with effort, in speech. For the second meeting, we had an hour-long conversation. This was the most helpful activity so far, because I was forced to convey/understand thoughts and ideas that I wouldn't come up with while framing a dialogue on my own. I beleive this was a good weekly strategy - while I can carry on a conversation and contribute to it, I need to study grammar, texts and audio in order to get a general sense of the language. I noticed that I can become familiar with one person's way of speaking, but often another person's use of the language might be incomprehensible. I plan to work on understanding a variety of types of speakers.
Finally, my vocabulary for the week has centered on variations of verbs, such as adding -en, -dik, -las etc. This is a mix between grammar and vocabulary, so in the coming weeks I will make an effort to formulate and study proper grammar lists. I did not attempt a writing exercize, but I will plan to do so in the coming weeks in order to produce an artifact. Finally, I believe intensive listening will help me acheive many of the goals mentioned above, and I will make use of the Schola materials to train myself to pick up specific usages.
The first Persian filmmaker was Mirza Ebrahim Khan Akkas Bashi, the official photographer of Muzaffar al-Din Shah, the Shah of Persia from 1896–1907. After a visit to Paris in July 1900, Akkas Bashi obtained a camera and filmed the Shah's visit to Europe upon the Shah's orders. He is said to have filmed the Shah’s private and religious ceremonies, but no copies of such films are available. Soon thereafter, Khan Baba Motazedi emerged as another pioneer in Iranian motion picture photography.
In 1904 Mirza Ebrahim Khan Sahhafbashi opened the first movie theater in Tehran.
In 1925, an Armenian-Iranian cinematographer, Ovanes Ohanian, decided to establish the first film school in Iran. Within five years he managed to run the first session of the school under the name of "Parvareshgahe Artistiye cinema" (The Cinema Artist Educational Center).
In 1932, Abdolhossein Sepanta made the first Iranian sound film, entitled Lor Girl. In 1935, Later, he directed movies such as Ferdowsi (the life story of the most celebrated epic poet of Iran), Shirin and Farhaad (a classic Iranian love story), and Black Eyes (the story of Nader Shah's invasion of India). In 1937, he directed Laili and Majnoon, an Eastern love story similar to the English story of Romeo and Juliet. These are seen as the most influential movies ever to be produced in Iranian film and that helped create the breakthrough into synchronized sound, sound technologically coupled with images and actions, opposed to earlier silent films. These are known as the great early classics.
More info can be found at:
I found creating my learning plan extremely difficult. I was lost until last class when Dr Scinicariello gave some specifics on what each week's learning should entail. The idea of learning tasks made me feel like I could get a lot more done. I made an ambitious plan, and set up all my resources and some artifact ideas. However, I found sticking to even the first week's goal hard. This week I realized maybe my plan is too ambitious. I am working hard to learn the alphabet, but I definitely can't identify or write all the characters yet. I hope in learning on other topics my familiarity will grow to the point where I know them all, even once that's no longer my focus.
I had never heard about Zoroastrianism before reading a brief history of Iran. Apparently, it was the primary religion of Iran (or what was the Iranian empire at a certain point in time) until a shift to Islam occurred with the Arab invasion in 641. Nobody's really sure when Zoroaster lived, or when he wrote his book, Avesta (could be anywhere between 18th and 10th centuries BC), but it was a big influence to both Platonism and Judaism. Zoroaster is attributed some very big ideas, one of which is free will.
Zoroastrians began building fortified dwellings to defend themselves. However, once Muslim dominance was in full swing, all sorts of legal restrictions were put on remaining Zoroastrians, many of which affected their houses. For instance, a Zoroastrian's house couldn't be taller than a man's reach. This forced them to find other ways to fortify. Archaeological evidence shows that they contained hidden rooms for valuables to be hidden in, in case the family needed to run away. An exciting note: there's a legend/urban myth of sorts that all old Zoroastrian houses have hidden treasure, probably because when leaving in a hurry they buried valuables under the floor. Think about it - this is just like the weird myth surrounding old Victorian houses ("haunted" houses) in the States. Few people realize that exists because of an economic crisis in the Victorian era where many people abandoned their houses to seek better fortunes out West. I wonder if modern-day Iranians know where that particular legend comes from... Another result of the religious turmoil was that Zoroastrian houses didn't have windows (only peep-holes to watch for attack), and had covered courtyards to defend against roof-top invasion. Mary Boyce (an expert) gave some insight onto the significance of this: “It is ironic that Zoroastrians with their sophisticated theologies of light should have been forced to live in such shadowy, enclosed buildings.”
However, they found other ways of expressing their religion through their houses. Here is an interesting linguistic note:
there were two buildings in a typical Zoroastrian dwelling, the "pesgam-i mas" or "great house," and "pesgam-i vrok" or "small house." This is so interesting when we're thinking of language because the small house wasn't actually smaller in SIZE. It was smaller in importance. The great house (generally SMALLER) was dedicated to religious activity, and only the pure could enter it.
Source: http://www.iranchamber.com/religions/articles/zoroastrian_houses_yazd.php
I had my first meeting with Haya recently and it went really well. Haya is a really good language partner and we can tell that she genuinely wants to help us learn. Because I have somewhat of an ear for Hebrew from hearing my dad and grandparents speak, my pronunciation is very good for a beginner. I do know some words and phrases, but they are limited and I don't know any of the rules or context behind them. This makes it seem like I know more than I actually do so I have to make a point of establishing myself as a beginner (0 level) so I don't get over my head.
In the first lesson we learned a considerable amount. It is a little frustrating that I don't know/understand the rules behind what I'm doing although that may be too ambitious for the first time. Hopefully I'll start to put the pieces together on how to change the form of words within the next few weeks.
The multiple intelligences test wasn't helpful at all. I am a nature learner, and the suggestions are mostly not possible. I cannot go hiking in the Iranian countryside. Working in the garden was one of the suggestions. I can't think of a way to use that to learn Farsi.
The FIRE model, on the other hand, was very helpful. I am mostly an "Insightful" learner, though I have many qualities of "Factual" and "Rational." Even without being restricted to a primary category, however, the model points out some great ways to learn. I was able to look at what I do and don't enjoy in a learning environment in a cogent manner. From the Factual category, I see that I should maybe start with learning written language before jumping into culture. From the Insightful category, I know to look for exercises that is based on problem-solving and includes opportunity for multiple opinions/debate. From the Rational category, I recognize the advantage for me of self-directed learning, which will allow me to pursue those aspects of Farsi I find intriguing and inspiring.
