Luxury and love in Georgia? And the Farsi Language used in Iran.

Flag of Georgia. From Wikipedia.

Problem
Georgia? Where is it? I've been to Atlanta, Georgia, in the USA. But not Georgia over in Eurasia.

Answer
I had just finished an aqua class in London, in Harrow, a very cosmopolitan area. In previous centuries immigrants arrived by boat in the East End of London. Nowadays they arrive at Heathrow airport and live nearby in Harrow.

A dark-haired, brown-eyes lady accidentally bomped me on the head with a sponge noodle. "I apologise!" she said. We locked eyes and smiled several times. When the lesson ended, she and her friend were talking in the water and I went to join in.

She is originally from Iran and speaks Farsi. That language is also spoken in neighbouring Afghanistan.

She recently returned from a holiday in Georgia with family from the UK, USA and Iran. When some of the family can't get back to Iran, it's easy to meet up in Georgia, which was formerly part of Russia but now independent. Currently (November 2017) you can enjoy luxury hotels at low prices, she says. She stayed at the second best standard hotel, because her group wanted enough bedrooms for all of them in the same hotel, in summer, which is high season there as it is elsewhere in the world.

I asked, "What is a well-known landmark which everybody should see, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris?"

"The animated statue of the lovers," she said. "It's a giant statue. The boy and girl move backwards and forwards, towards each other, away, then back again. It's based on the (true?) story of lovers, Christian and non-Christian, who had to part.

"It's not in the centre of the capital city, but the seaside, very nearby."

The statue is called The Statue of Love, or Man and Woman, 8 meters tall, in the seaside of Batumi, inspired by the story of Ali and Nino.

"What about the Farsi language?" I asked. Now I know that it's useful in more than one country, I am more interested. I heard an amusing talk about the Iranian language, Persian, at a Toastmasters meeting in London. We have had two memorable members, charismatic characters, who were originally from Iran.

I thought I would start by learning a useful and an easy word, used in English, and universally. Taxi.
"Is taxi the same word in your language?"

"Yes, we say taxi in Farsi."

I told her that my third level of learning languages will be Arabic and other languages with 'difficult' script. I already speak English and fluent French as a second language. I am learned Latin at school so Italian, Spanish and Portuguese are relatively easy, just a matter of putting in the time. After that, German and Scandinavian languages and Dutch.

I am learning the Cyrillic alphabets for Russian and Bulgarian. I am also learning Greek, and Hebrew which is like Greek, with one of two letters reversed right to left such as the Gimel. (In Greek alpha beta gimel delta; in Hebrew alef, bet, gimel, dalit). The gimel looks like an r in Greek but like a 7 in Hebrew.

I told her that Romanian is similar to Italian (Romania means under the rule of the Romans) with a few French words, such as Mersi for thank you.

"Mersi is also thank you in Iranian!" she said.

My family and a group of friends are already planning a trip to either Madeira (for which I need to learn Portuguese) or Bulgaria (for which I need the Cyrillic).

So now I can say taxi and thank you in Farsi. So can you.

I now have my eyes on learning Farsi, and visiting Georgia. What was previously just a name on a map, is one step closer.

If you are interested in learning languages, a free ap is Duolingo.

Currently (nov 2016) you can learn:
Chinese (hatching - in preparation - maybe you or a friend can help
Czech
Danish
Dutch
English (for speakers of various other languages)
French
German
Greek
Hebrew
(Hindi - hatching ie in preparation, maybe you or a bilingual friend can help)
(Indonesian - hatching ie in preparation, maybe you or a bilingual friend can help)
Irish
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Norwegian
Portuguese
Polish
Romanian
Russian
Spanish
Swahili
Swedish
Turkish
Ukrainian
Vietnamese
Welsh

USEFUL WEBSITES
www.duolingo.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV9cNxfwfDQ Video of Man and Woman sculpture by Tamara in Batumi, seaside of Georgia.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, teacher of English and other languages.

Learning Persian For Fun

Problem
How do you learn Persian? Why bother, especially if you have no immediate plans to go there?

Answer
Why not? It provides a topic of conversation with anybody who speaks another language or who is learning English. And once you start learning another language, you notice people from a country which speaks that language. You might even recognize the words of greeting when standing on a bus or train or boarding a plane, or checking in. That will awaken your interest and keep it fresh in your memory.

Story
I was at a Toastmasters International meeting in London. In London both the clubs to which I belong (HOD and Harrovians) have at least one Spanish speaking member who often mentions Spain and Spanish language and learning English in their talks.

Over in Singapore I often meet people with names ending with ez, which means their family was of Portuguese origin. On paper, Portuguese looks similar to Spanish. Many of them have ancestors or relatives from mach or Goa.

I was evaluating a talk on language by the Spanish speaking girl. I was also asked to do the table topics (questions for impromptu two minute replies by guests and members of the audience who have not had the chance to stand up and give a prepared speech). When I heard that her speech was on learning the English language, I was delighted. An opportunity for me to give topics on learning English, and learning or speaking other languages.

Spain was under Moorish rule for a while. The Moors came from across the sea to the south from Morocco (hence the name Moors). Their language was close to Arabic spoken all around North Africa at that time.

In the audience was somebody from Iran. During the interval he explained to me that when he said he was Persian, English people often replied, "Oh - you mean Iranian?"

His answer is: "Iranian and Persian are different. Iran is the current name of a country. Persians are a race and a language. You can speak Persian, or be of Persian race, even if you live in a country bordering Iran, or the other side of the world in Europe, England or America. You can be both Persian and Iranian. You could be one but not the other."

(I have to attend a meeting. More shortly.)

Tips
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyWaiEHlaCQ (Tells you greetings. Free three minute course.)

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, public speaker, workshop leader, author and language teacher (English and other languages).