iran's language issue

Balatarin
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zhubin
by zhubin
01-Oct-2010
 

 i have been living in santa monica for the last 10 years, i went to high-school in tehran and even though both my parents were from tabriz, i never bothered to learn their language, plus i didn't really have a need for it since i lived the first 17 years of my life in tehran which meant that i didn't need to learn their language.

But recently i have been wanting to learn Azarbaijani Turkish and in order to do that i asked my mom to QUIT TALKING TO ME IN FARSI, so we have chiefly been talking to each other in IRANIAN TURKI for the last month or so but the problem is that SINCE THIS LANGUAGE WAS NEVER STANDARDIZED AND TAUGHT AT SCHOOLS IN IRAN, THERE'S NO STANDARD DICTIONARY OR GRAMMER BOOK ON IT, and those other books and materials that are available merely COPY THE NORTHEN BAKU DIALECT. so all this stuff has led me to read and find out more about the OTHER LANGUAGES in Iran and i have realized that PEOPLE IN IRAN'S NON-FARSI AREAS HAVE A HIGHER ILLITRACY RATE mainly because they are unable to study in their own language.

now i was never really aware of this when i was in tehran because i was in a farsi-speaking city and didn't really care much or know much about the rest of that country, but eversince i started learning Azarbaijani, I BECAME AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM AND HAVE TALKED TO OTHER PEOPLE ABOUT IT. If you haven't noticed already, THERE ARE QUITE A FEW SEPARATIST WEBSITES whose main reason for their agenda has been LANGUAGE. I however, personally think that EVERY COUNTRY should have a common language but cases like INDIA AND SWITZERLAND could be pretty usefull to iran's language problem since they both have managed to keep it all together while allowing all those other languages to function at the same time.

i sympathize with IRAN'S NON-FARSI people and believe that they should have some right to reading and writing in their own language either through PRIVATE SCHOOLS and special courses designed for those non-farsi areas of Iran or through the PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM's custom-made classes and institutions for those areas. this subject is controversial yet very fascinating, IF ANY ONE HAS ANY GOOD IDEAS PLEASE SHARE THEM.

 

THANK YOU.

Balatarin
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Recently by zhubinCommentsDate
NEXT IRAQ? OR THE NEXT YUGOSLAVIA.
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Oct 04, 2010
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zhubin

LINKS

by zhubin on Mon Oct 04, 2010 03:49 PM PDT

I DON'T ACCESS THE INTERNET FROM HOME, SO THAT'S WHY I COULDN'T GET BACK AS FAST, BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH. THANKS FOR ALL THE LINKS, I WILL CHECK THEM OUT.

 

THANK YOU.


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zhubin

THANK YOU FOR YOUR

by zhubin on Mon Oct 04, 2010 03:45 PM PDT

THANK YOU FOR YOUR WELL-WORDED, WELL-THOUGH OUT COMMENT, I PERSONALLY THINK THAT THIS IS A SUBJECT/PROBLEM THAT NEEDS MORE ATTENTION BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY IT'S MAKING A LOT OF FOLKS RESENTFUL. AND IT'S NOT JUST IRAN, IT'S TURKEY, SPAIN, THEY BOTH HAVE HAD THEIR OWN ETHNIC AND LANGUAGE ISSUES.


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zhubin

STAY ON THE SUBJECT-NESS

by zhubin on Mon Oct 04, 2010 03:40 PM PDT

I ALREADY KNOW HOW SUCCESSFUL IRANIANS ARE, BUT THAT'S NOT WHAT THIS BLOG IS ABOUT.


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Escape

By the Way I'm Asian

by Escape on Sun Oct 03, 2010 08:01 PM PDT

I'm not jealous,there's no reason to be as I'm Asian.You've got a long ways to go to catch Asians in just about every department and I seriously doubt Iranians ever will.That being said,I like Iranian's despite having to knock down your sense of 'exceptionalism'....


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Escape

No I know they are from Rich Family's

by Escape on Sun Oct 03, 2010 07:41 PM PDT

That were fortunate enough to get out of Iran.Afterall the poor didn't leave Tehran and move to Beverly Hill's did they? Did Jimmy Delsad work his way to Mayor like Antonio Villargroisa? No,he was rich.The Average Iranian didn't have the ways and means to move their family and come to Los Angeles did they?I am sure Americans in Europe are rich also aren't they? It doesn't kill me because I know any rich group of people wil prosper duh...I actually am saying these things because your sense of 'exceptionalism'.And ironically it's the same sense that just burns you about America and Republicans.As I said it's ok for Iranian's to be proud but not Americans.I see you still don't get it.That happens often when you use a person's own argument against themselves.


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vildemose

Escape:: The businesses are

by vildemose on Sun Oct 03, 2010 07:19 PM PDT

Escape:: The businesses are mostly Iranian owned. Even the Italian restaurant...French or Italian jewerly stores, Mexican grocery store, the buildings and all too..hahaha

It kills you, doesn't it??

They don't have to have Iranian sign or even been related to Iran.

You are burning with envy. I pegged you right. You can't believe how successful Iranians are eventhough they are very small minority.

I see you had nothing to say about Higer Median income and being homeowners above national average.

Burn baby brun.... 

 


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Escape

  I just can't let this

by Escape on Sun Oct 03, 2010 07:01 PM PDT

  I just can't let this one go..

Santa Monica, Westwood, and Beverly Hills  are practically run by Iranians. Most home owners and business owners in the area are Iranians.

I don't believe that for a minute.

I know thats the word for Iranians about Los Angeles but when they go to Los Angeles they find a Spanish/American city nothing else.I am supposed to be in SHOCK to find out after reading a copy and paste of 'Iranian academia' that Iranians practically run Beverly Hills,Westwood and Santa Monica.And I'm jealous.Really?Maybe I have been missing them.Should we take a little walk down Rodeo Drive and point out the Iranian's? Have you ever been there?Lol if MOST shop's are owned by Iranians I will buy some you something from one of them...Or are the Iranian shops Down Wilshire? Down Doheny?At the Bottom of Bev Hills on Pico?

I can't even think of anything remotely Iranian on the Santa Monica pier or the 3rd St. Promenade.Let alone - Most of the Businesses,

Even Tehrangeles' is tiny.The majority of it is a few shops on Westwood Blvd.If I blink,I will Miss them...By the Way Azad Rug Company on Pico in Rancho Park next to the Westwood pavillion appears to be shutting down,that's actually the only Noticeable shop on Pico that may be remotely Iranian.(Thats 2 blocks from 'Tehrangeles')....I can drive around all day Santa Monica,Beverly Hills and Westwood and not see any signs of Iranians whatsoever.Who do you think you are fooling?Because the Mayor of Bev Hills is Iranian? LOL hilarious.Beverly Hills is tiny and not the same anymore.Apartments and Condos have become affordable since the Recession.

There are dominant cultures in Los Angeles,Iranian's are really not even dominant in what is supposed to be Tehrangeles let alone Bev hills,Santa Monica and Westwood.As far as Ethnic groups they don't even compare to South Central being 'practically ran' by Blacks or even Little Saigon,Little Ethiopa,Korea Town etc.

And finally of course it would be a complete joke to compare China Town  being ran by Chinese and 'Bev Hills/santa monica/westwood being ran by Iranians..

Now I am sorry to 'shock' you.

 


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Roozbeh_Gilani

good blog Zhubin. It goes further than just the language.

by Roozbeh_Gilani on Sun Oct 03, 2010 11:39 AM PDT

It's a question of Nationality. It is potentialy one of the biggest issues Iran is facing moving forward. The national minorities both during the pahlavis and now during the islamist regime are deprived of their right of internal governance and self determination. This includes teaching and speaking their own language at aschools, and places of work, in supplement to the main languuage of Iran, Farsi. This is a major cause of resentment in Kurdistan, Baloochistan, Khusistan, and recently azarbijan. These just sentiments can be manipulated by some to invoke separatism.

I really can not see how we could look forward to any democratic Iran, within current borders,  which is not based on the concept of federalism.


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Cost-of-Progress

Escape, Frankly

by Cost-of-Progress on Sun Oct 03, 2010 08:35 AM PDT

the reason is that people have been leaving their homeland of Iran right after the so called revolution and that has not really stopped......The reason, of course, is the (second) occupation of the arab army, only this time, this army is homemade, and that's what is bothersome. Otherwise, they would be more than happy to stay in their ancestral land and help propel her forward instead of contributing to places where some consider them no better than the very elements they Escaped from.

The whole issue of Iranians in diaspora is a complicated matter beyond the scope of my humble post, but I thought I'd chime in as these matters are important to me.

As for the need or desire to speaks one's own mother tounge, I am all for it - We all need to keep in mind though, that Iran is one country with many colorful local traditions and a tapestry of mini-cultures - But it is still one Iran.

CoP 

____________

IRAN FIRST

____________


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Escape

 Vildermose you're acting

by Escape on Sun Oct 03, 2010 01:44 AM PDT

 Vildermose you're acting just like a Republican acts about America.Here's your criticism of American pride  sense of exceptionalism, and bigotted superiority over all other nations. That is not what America should be all about. 
Apparently that's not what America should be about but THAT SENSE  IS JUST FINE FOR IRANIAN EXILES to have on FULL display.You should check your own bragging for 'Inferiority complex'..I'm not envious of it,you must be joking..


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vildemose

ESCAPE: I hate to break it to you

by vildemose on Sat Oct 02, 2010 11:52 AM PDT

Escape: I hate to break it to you. Santa Monica, Westwood, and Beverly Hills  are practically run by Iranians. Most home owners and business owners in the area are Iranians.

Have you ever been to LA??

Did you know t  that the Mayor of Beverly Hills is Iranian?

Did you know that one out of 4 kids in Beverly Hills 90210 is Iranian?

Did you know that on the average 60 to 70 out of 120 to 130 dental students at UCLA are Iranian?

 

Did you know Iranians are more educated and make more money than the national average in the US

Did you know Iranians contribute $600 billion to American economy?

I suggest you inform yourself about Iran and Iranians that is if you are not green with envy.

//www.isgmit.org/research/data/iranianamerican/

 

//www.isgmit.org/research/?id=279&cat=iranian-american&stat=full

 

//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_American

Academia/Science

Below is the list of few of prominent Iranian-Americans in various scientific and other disciplines

 

  • Shahriar Afshar, physicist, namesake of Afshar experiment
  • Siavash Alamouti, CTO Broad Band and INTEL fellow, inventor of Alamouti Code, code-communication engineer
  • Abass Alavi, Professor of Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and neurology; University of Pennsylvania.[1]
  • Nima Arkani-Hamed, physicist from Harvard
  • Mina Bissell, scientist and biologist, LBL.
  • Hamid Dabashi, Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies, Columbia University in New York.
  • Raymond Vahan Damadian, inventor of Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Richard Danielpour, Professor of Composition, Manhattan School of Music
  • Nader Engheta, Professor of Electrical and Systems Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • Haleh Esfandiari, Middle East Scholar
  • Nariman Farvardin, Provost of University of Maryland
  • Reza Ghaffarian, NASA senior research scientist
  • Vartan Gregorian, President of the Carnegie Corporation of New York

  • //en.

  • Ali Javan, physicist, inventor of gas laser, Professor Emeritus of Physics at MIT.
  • Sepandar Kamvar, computer scientist, Stanford University.
  • Mehran Kardar, physicist, MIT.[2]
  • Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, Founding Director of Center for Persian Studies, University of Maryland.[3]
  • Farid Masrour, philosopher, Harvard University, previously in New York University
  • Bahram Mashhoon, General Relativity physicist
  • Abbas Milani, Director of Iranian Studies Program, Stanford University.
  • Maryam Mirzakhani, Stanford University Professor.
  • Roxana Moslehi, DCEG post-doctoral fellow at National Cancer Institute [4], adjunct assistant professor at George Washington University.
  • Mohsen Mostafavi, Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design[5]
  • Hossein Khan Motamed, Famous Iranian surgeon and founder of Motamed Hospital in Tehran, Iran 1936[6]
  • Hamid Mowlana, Director of the Division of International Communication at American University [7]
  • Firouz Naderi, NASA director of Mars project.[8]
  • Majid M. Naini, computer scientist, former Professor at University of Pennsylvania, Rumi expert.[9]
  • Kayvan Najarian, Associate Professor of Computer Science, Virginia Commonwealth University.
  • Seyyed Hossein Nasr, philosopher, George Washington University.
  • Vali Nasr, Middle East Scholar and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations
  • Camran Nezhat, Director, Stanford Endoscopy Center for Training & Technology.
  • Jahan Ramazani, Professor of English Literature, University of Virginia
  • Kaveh Pahlavan, Professor of Computer and Electrical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
  • Behzad Razavi, Professor of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles

    • .....

    wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Iranian_Americans

     


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    MM

    zhubin

    by MM on Sat Oct 02, 2010 11:31 AM PDT

    Speaking to your Mom helps, but if you want to learn Azeri, you definitely need to intensify your studies via a computer program(s).  Fortunately, for Azeri language, the country of Azerbaijan has a very similar way of speaking as Iranian torks, although in the past few decades, a few Russian words have snuck in there (*).   However, Azerbaijan switched to Latin letters back some time ago, but it is very easy to pick up what is what in pronunciations.

    //www.languageresourceonline.com/languages/learn_azerbaijani.html

    //www.azerb.com/az-lear.html

    //www.transparent.com/learn-azerbaijani/

    others.............as you do a search on "learn Azerbaijani"

    Secondly, once you get more proficient in your Azeri skills, you can re-enforce it by watching Azeri movies on the internet, e.g., such classics as Mashdi Ebad, Arshin Mal Alan and Babek.  The site below is loaded with >30 old classics Azeri movies:

    //video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5516107032258397950#

    You can also download the movies to your ipod and watch them on long trips.  Needless to say, downloading songs (many many sites) and listening to them helps too.  Basically, you need to immerse yourself in a language to appreciate and learn it. 

    As far as looking forward, in a secular free society, Iran hopes to have a central language with locals being able to enjoy their local language/customs.  The multi-language countries have innovative ways of dealing with this problem.  You mentioned Switzerland, but in an even more complicated case, India which has 28 official languages and hundreds of local dialects, adopted English as the official universal language of India since Tamils in the South refused to learn Hindi.

    * you can tell the difference in idioms by watching the two versions of Mashdi Ebad made in the 50's vs. the new one made in the 90's


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    Escape

    I'm more curious

    by Escape on Sat Oct 02, 2010 11:28 AM PDT

    Frankly how people get the opportunity to leave Iran and come live in Santa Monica.I think it's great don't get me wrong.


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