My Very First Day In Iran

Can I blow my own trumpet for a moment?

Thanks!

Well, I’m quite proud of the fact that, during my long and illustrious life, I have, at various times, managed to make people laugh in languages other than my own native English.

Yeah, I know quite an achievement, huh?

I was doing it yesterday in fact. Making my in-laws laugh. In Dutch. I’ve been doing that for years. And not just by speaking it badly! Oh no. I’ve made them intentionally laugh, and I have sometimes used the correct and proper words while doing so.

You’re impressed, I can tell.

But making people laugh in Dutch isn’t my greatest comedic achievement. Nor are the times when (I’m sure this must have happened, coz I’m a very funny guy, but I can’t quite remember when it was) I did the same with my school boy French.

No. My greatest language related comedy moment occurred on the day I spoke some Farsi in the middle of a car journey from Tehran to Isfahan…

….we were visiting a family of some good Iranian friends, whom we had got to know when one of them had been studying at Nottingham University. They had regularly invited us to stay with them, and we did so a few years after they had returned to Iran. I decided beforehand that I was going to learn some of the lingo. It was in the days before Duolingo (other free language courses are available) and leading up to our visit I splashed out £70!!! on some Farsi language learning CD’s. And, for a few weeks, I studied intensely.

The concept that you can learn a language in a few weeks is, of course, a complete and utter myth. But I learned a little bit.

So I was ready and primed.

We flew to Tehran, and then, on My Very First Day In Iran, in a cafe on our journey to Isfahan, I managed to make some witty comment about a gold fish that was swimming in a bowl next to our table. Don’t ask me what the funny bit was! But I definitely did it, it was definitely made in (bad) Farsi, and it made my friends laugh!

I’m sure Hossein and Pooran don’t remember the moment. But I do.

So thank you for your close attention. My apologies for the lack of the Farsi punchline, but I don’t make this stuff up you know. And try finding anecdotes like this on other blogs if you can! :)

ps. Also, please don’t ask me to make you laugh in Farsi if we meet. It’s all gone now, I’m sad to say. That’s £70 I’ll never get back…