Farsi, aka Persian, is the national language of Iran. Note that Iranians typically do not speak Arabic. Here are some of the most common words to get around with.
Step 1 Try these common words to make your visit easier
Remeber that phonetic sounds makes a language easier to learn. Pronounce these words phonetically.:
- hello: Salam (sa-lam) or Salamalecom (sa-law-mal-eh-com)
- I: man.
- you: tou(informal)(singular, slang)- shoma(formal singular,plural).
- we: maa.
- please: lotfan (lout-fan).
- thank you: tashakkor or merci or mamnoon.
- good bye: Khoda-fez.
- where: Koja.
- when: key(kei)(similar to pronounce the letter 'K').
- tourist: gardeshgar or tourist(tour-ist).
- friend: dost ("o" as in orange)
- money: pool
- beautiful: ziba(zee-ba).
- smart: bahoosh (baaa-whosh). or zerang
- car: machine (ma-sheen)
- color: rang
- girl: dokhtar (dokh-tar)
- boy: bacha or pesar
- dad: pedar
- mom: maadar
- want: meekham (mee-kham)
- I don't know: Nemeedoonam (Nemi- Dounam) or namehfamum (Nemih-famum)
- grandma: maman bozorg
- good: khoob
- lady: khanoom (kha-noom)
- guy: agha
- bathroom: dastshoo'e (das-shou-ee)
- tree: derakht (de-rakht)
- hospital: beemarestan (bimarestan)
- cocacola : nooshaabeh-cooka
- fanta: nooshaabeh zard--narenji(this mean is also orange)
- pizza: pit-za
- sandwich : saandeh-vitch
- water: aab
- help: komak
- hand: dast
- foot: paa
- sport: varzesh
- city: shahr
- country: keshvar
- music: moosiq
- book: ketaab
- what time is it?: saa`at chande?
- excuse me: bebakhshid
- goodbye: khodaa hafez or khodaa negahdaar
- see you later: ba`dan mibinamet
- dont: naakon
- how: chejoori
- food: ghaaza
- i love you: Aasheghetam (awsh-egh-ett-amm) or man toro doostet daram
- thing: cheez
- bed: takht (taa-kht)
- couch: mobl (mow-bl)
- laugh: khande (khaan-deh)
- oh my: vay (a bit like why but with a V)
- hair: moo
- eye: cheshm
- lips: lab
- stomach: del
- soul: joonam
- sweety: azizam (as-is-am)
- my love: eshgheman (esh-ghe-man)
- clothes: lebaas
- play: baazi
- shopping: kharid (khar-eed)
- house:khooneh
- dog: saag
- cat: gorbeh
- fish: maahee
- make up: arayesh
- floor: zaamin
- talk: haarf or sobat
- black: siah
- white:sefeed
- green: sabz
- red: ghermez
- blue: aabi (aw-bee)
- pink:soorati (soor-atee)
- yellow: zard
- brown: ghahve-ee
- picture: aks
Tips
- Persian (Farsi) speakers use a lot of English terms for modern devices, like TV, radio, computer, modem, cable. The pronunciation is a bit different though.
- Persian speakers love to hear a different accent, so go ahead and don't be shy. No one is going to laugh at you.
- A variation of Farsi called Dari which is also spoken by Afghans, but there are major differences between the two
- There is also a program that most local librarys have it is a 2 part series of cassette that is really helpful. I belive it is called learning to speak casual farsi
- Hope it helps you as much as it helped me
- If you speak another language words with the letters "gh" (must be next to each other as shown to the left) will post likely be hard to pronounce
Warnings
- Just like in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," watch out for people translating wrong on purpose. If suspicious, double check with another person before embarrassing yourself somewhere else.
