Iran's religiosity is its most striking cultural feature - it pervades
all aspects of life. The national language of Iran is Persian, also known as Farsi, an Indo-European language. The other main
regional languages are Azari, Kurdish, Arabic and Lori (spoken by the
Lors); and there
are dozens of other tongues throughout the 26 provinces, such as Gilaki, Balouchi and Turkmen. The Arabic script was adapted
to Persian after the arabs invasion. There is no standard method of transliterating Persian into English. In Iran,
as in all Islamic societies, art favors the non -representational, the derivative and the stylized. Many Iranian art forms
predate the Arab conquest, but since nearly all of them reached their peak within the Islamic era, religious influences are
rarely absent. Persian carpets are Iran's most famous cultural export, dating back to the 5th century BC, and are still an
integral part of religious and cultural festivals (and the economy).
The most appealing and melodious traditional music is found among the ethnic minorities,
such as the Turkmen, Azari, Kurd, Balouch and Lor.
Persian poetry first appeared in the 9th century AD and slowly
developed into the enduring canon of epic poems and non-rhyming couplet poems which are part of its cultural treasury today.
Persian painting dates back to the Seljuq period, which then faded until the 16th century
when it flourished along with calligraphy, especially in Shiraz.
Other notable Persian crafts include metalwork, glass ware and woodwork,
while, more recently, Iranian films have been remarkably successful. Mohsen Makhmalbaf, maker of Gabbeh, is Iran's most controversial,
and most lauded, filmmaker.
At its best, Iranian cuisine is very good. It's heavily based on rice,
bread, fresh vegetables, herbs and fruit. Meat, usually lamb or mutton minced or cut into small chunks, is used to add flavor
but is rarely the dominant ingredient, except in kebabs. Sadly for travelers, this
usually translates into the same two or three standard dishes
of kebabs or chicken, with rice, vegetables and bread - you need to be invited into homes or splurge on up market hotels to
eat the best Iranian food. The national drink of Iran is undoubtedly chaay (tea), always served scalding hot, black and strong.
TV Episode Listening Help students improve
listening comprehension skills with this TV episode listening lesson plan. Guest lesson plan by Fabian Bedoya. Thanks Fabian!
Would you like to submit a lesson plan or resource for teachers and learners around the world? We'd
love to have your plan up on the site.
Present, Past and Progressive This review focuses on whether to use a perfect form (He's lived here for three years) or the progressive perfect
form (He's been working for three hours). Find out when to use either form in the past, present or future.
Reported Speech Reading Comprehension "Guess
Who I Bumped Into?" is a short reading comperhension and reported speech quiz and grammar activity for upper intermediate to advanced level classes. The following pages provide
further advanced level quizzes for:
Essay Writing If you want to study in the
USA you will have to write an admissions essay. This essay helps schools assess your academic abilities and achievements.
Here are a few links to help you with the process. If you are unfamiliar with essay writing, here is a lesson in basic essay writing skills especially for students learning English as a second language. For teachers, here is a lesson plan focusing on introducing essay writing skills. Tuesday July 26, 2005#
English Learning in North Korea Many ESL /
EFL teachers end up in South Korea. Apparently, North Korea is also becoming interested in learning English. The L.A. times reports on this interesting trend. Here is one interesting fact:
"According to the Educational Testing Service of Princeton, N.J., 4,783 North Koreans took the standardized
test for English as a second language, or TOEFL, last year, triple the number six years earlier."
For more intesting comment, take a look at EFL Geek's take (thanks for the tip EFL Geek).
Setting Objectives People learn English for many and extremely varied reasons. Knowing exactly what your English
learning goals are can dramatically improve your learning curve. Thursday July 21, 2005#
Voice of America Special English Dictionary This
Special English Dictionary contains about 1,500 words and makes an excellent vocabulary goal for intermediate level learners.
Broadcasts of the VOA use this Special English Dictionary as the basis for broadcasts, allowing you to prepare yourself for
listening practice. Of course, some might say that the VOA provides a rather one-sided point of view. That may well be the
case, however, for listening comprehension practice the broadcast provides an excellent resource. ABCDEFGHIJKLM NOPQRSTUVWYZ Thursday July 21, 2005#
English Meetup Meetup.com has a great idea:
Use the Internet to help groups of people from around the world to meet and discuss their favorite ideas. They have a page
dedicated to English as a Second Language groups (there are more than 200!) around the world. Some of the groups have a number of participants, while
others are smaller. It's a great idea that I hope does well. Tuesday July 19, 2005#
If either of these girls (on the left or right) walks up to you, looks into your eyes for 10 seconds,
then asks, "Could you tell me the time?"
You REALLY think she wants to know what
time it is?
If you're a straight guy - and you give her the time
of day and walk away, you REALLY need to learn more about BODY LANGUAGE.
Okay, now women.
This guy walks up to you slowly, keeps his eyes on you, then says, "Excuse me.
Do you know where I can mail a letter around here?"
You think he's desperate to find a post office?
Think about it. He's smiling openly and approaching slowly
with his head tilted. Hallooo! Offer to show him the way - walk with him -especially if it's a few blocks away!
Think. Always be ready and aware!
You never know when the perfect opportunity might be standing there in front of you. That's WHY understanding body language
can REALLY pump up your love life!
Body language is the quiet, secret and most powerful language
of all! According to experts, our non-verbal language communicates about 50% of what we really mean (voice tonality contributes
38%) while words themselves contribute a mere 7%. Our bodies send out messages constantly and often we don't recognize
that we're communicating a lot more than we realize.
Our understanding and use of non-verbal cues in facial expression
are familiar to us nearly from birth
By familiarizing ourselves with a few basic nonverbal signals,
we can improve our ability to understand what people are really communicating and become aware of what we are broadcasting
to the world with our own non-verbal cues.
A person's body posture, movements and positions more often tell us exactly
what they mean (which may be the exact opposite of what they are saying). Many people are unaware of how loudly they communicate
with their bodies.
This guy might as well stand up, wave his arms
and scream, "I'm a lousy cheat! Please - flunk me, now!"
Our use and reading of body language is largely unconscious.
We understand what a person indicates with their gestures and body positions and we send out our own messages - but we rarely
stop to think about how we do it.
Often when a person is considered to have great intuition about other people, their
understanding is actually due to careful observation of individuals, and conscious or unconscious understanding of non-verbal
communication. These people can see interpret verbal and non-verbal language due to training or years of observation and analysis
of people.
We need to recognize and give credibility to our own "intuition"
and "feelings" about a person or situation.
One of the most basic instances involves our personal "space."
We notice that when a stranger or someone gets too close, we feel uncomfortable. Unconsciously we know the distancing from
others that is appropriate for our own culture. Every day we judge our own distance and respect the space of others by avoiding
getting too close and follow our "feeling" to adjust to the correct distances from friends as opposed to acquaintances or
strangers.
Here are some tips which may help you to master the English Language!
Speak without Fear
The biggest problem most people face in learning a new language is their own fear.They worry that they won’t say things correctly or that they will look stupid
so they don’t talk at all.Don’t do this.The fastest way to learn anything is to do it – again and again until you get it right.Like anything, learning English requires practice.Don’t
let a little fear stop you from getting what you want.
Use all of your Resources
Even if you study English at a language school it doesn’t mean you can’t
learn outside of class.Using as many different sources, methods and tools as
possible, will allow you to learn faster.There are many different ways you can
improve your English, so don’t limit yourself to only one or two. The internet
is a fantastic resource for virtually anything, but for the language learner it's perfect.
Surround Yourself with English
The absolute best way to learn English is to surround yourself with it.Take notes in English, put English books around your room, listen to English language radio broadcasts,
watch English news, movies and television.Speak English with your friends whenever
you can.The more English material that you have around you, the faster you will learn
and the more likely it is that you will begin “thinking in English.” .
Listen to Native Speakers as Much as Possible
There are some good English teachers that have had to learn English as a second language
before they could teach it.However, there are several reasons why many
of the best schools prefer to hire native English speakers.One of the reasons is that
native speakers have a natural flow to their speech that students of English should try to imitate.The closer ESL / EFL students can get to this rhythm or flow, the more convincing and comfortable they
will become.
Watch English Films and Television
This is not only a fun way to learn but it is also very effective.By watching English films (especially those with English subtitles) you can expand your vocabulary
and hear the flow of speech from the actors.If you listen to the news you can
also hear different accents.
Listen to English Music
Music can be a very effective method of learning English.In fact, it is often used as a way of improving comprehension.The
best way to learn though, is to get the lyrics (words) to the songs you are listening to and try to read them as the artist
sings. There are several good internet sites where one can find the words for most songs.
This way you can practice your listening and reading at the same time.And
if you like to sing, fine.
Study As Often As Possible!
Only by studying things like grammar and vocabulary and doing exercises, can you really
improve your knowledge of any language.
Do Exercises and Take Tests
Many people think that exercises and tests aren't much fun.However, by completing exercises and taking tests you can really improve your English.One of the best reasons for doing lots of exercises and tests is that they give you a benchmark to compare your
future results with.Often, it is by comparing your score on a test you took
yesterday with one you took a month or six months ago that you realize just how much you have learned.If you never test yourself, you will never know how much you are progressing. Start now by doing some
of the many exercises and tests on this site, and return in a few days to see what you've learned. Keep doing this and
you really will make some progress with English.
Record Yourself
Nobody likes to hear their own voice on tape but like tests, it is good to compare
your tapes from time to time.You may be so impressed with the progress you are
making that you may not mind the sound of your voice as much.
Listen to English
By this, we mean, speak on the phone or listen to radio broadcasts, audiobooks or
CDs in English.This is different than watching the television or films because
you can’t see the person that is speaking to you.Many learners of English
say that speaking on the phone is one of the most difficult things that they do and the only way to improve is to practice.
Learning to speak English well may be the best thing you can do to improve your life.
That's right. Do you think it would be fun to have access to information that other people can't get? Talk and write letters to interesting people that others can't communicate with? Impress people around you whenever you opened your mouth? Make big jumps in your
career, leaving others miles behind?
You can get all this if you speak English well.
Get access to knowledge
What are you interested in? Is it science? Music? Computers? Health? Business? Sports? Today's media
— such as the Internet, television, and the press — give you almost unlimited access to knowledge about your favorite subjects. After all, we live in the information age, don't we?
There's only one problem. Most of this knowledge is in English.
Here are some examples of knowledge you can use if you know English:
Most pages on the Web. That's over a billion (1,000,000,000) pages of information!
It's amazing that learning just one language gives you access to almost all knowledge on the Internet.
Books — on any subject, from all over the world. Read books by British or American authors, and books translated from other languages. Whatever you're interested in, you can read about it in English!
The press. Only English-language magazines and newspapers can be bought
in every part of the world. You don't have to search for Time, Newsweek, or the International
Herald Tribune!
Science. English is the key to the world of science. In 1997, 95% of the
articles in the Science Citation Index were written in English. Only about 50% of them were from English-speaking countries like the USA or
Britain. (source)
News reports. Watch international television networks, such as CNN International
and NBC. They broadcast news much faster, and more professionally, than smaller, national networks. And you can watch them everywhere in the world.
Communicate with people
We like to call English "the language of communication". Why? Because it seems all the people in the
world have agreed to use English to talk to each other.
About 1,500,000,000 people in the world speak English. Another 1,000,000,000 are learning it. (source)
75% of the world's letters and postcards are written in English. (source)
Almost all international conferences and competitions are conducted in English. For example, the Olympics and the Miss World contest.
Diplomats and politicians from different countries use English to communicate with each other. English is the main language of
organizations like the United Nations, NATO, and the European Free Trade Association.
If you can communicate in English, you can:
Contact people from all over the world. Talk about your ideas and opinions
on Internet discussion groups. Send e-mail to interesting people. Learn about their life and culture.
Travel more easily. Communicate with people wherever you go — English
is spoken in more than 100 countries (source). Ask directions, have a conversation, or... ask for help. Who knows, maybe English will save your life someday!
Push your career forward
If you want a good job in business, technology, or science, get out of that armchair and start learning English now! (If you already have a good job, start learning before you lose it!)
Knowing English will let you:
Put "excellent knowledge of English" on your CV. Get your dream job, and earn more money.
Gain technical knowledge. English is the language of technology, especially
high technology like computer science, genetics, and medicine. If you're going to read about technology, you'll probably have
to do it in English.
Learn computer science. Read technical articles without difficulty. Or write
your own articles!
Be a world-class businessman (or -woman). It's simple. International business is done in English. And all business today is international. So if you want to play, you have to know English — to
contact other businesspeople, go to conferences, read international business newspapers and magazines, etc.
Become a better scientist. Contact scientists from other countries, go to international conferences, visit academic centers abroad. Learn about new scientific discoveries by reading papers, books, and
magazines.
Use your computer more effectively. Most computer applications are in English,
so you will understand them better — and become a better employee.
Learn new skills for your job. The section "Get access to knowledge" explains how English helps you learn.
Enjoy art like never before
English lets you feel the culture of the world like no other language. With a good knowledge of the
English language, you can do wonderful things:
Watch American and British films in the original. Once you try it, you'll
never go back to dubbed versions!
Read great books. Every famous book was written in English or it
was translated into English. There is an amazing number of titles — from classic plays like Hamlet to modern thrillers like Jurassic Park.
Enjoy English-language music more. Believe us: music is much better if you
can understand the words.
English is easy to learn
English is not only the most useful language in the world. It is also one of the easiest languages
to learn and to use:
Simple alphabet — no special symbols such as é or ä.
Type in sweet, part, film on your computer. Now try süß (German), (Polish), (Russian). Which is easier?
Easy plurals — simply add s to a word. One car, five
cars; one telephone, two telephones... There are very few exceptions.
Words are easy to learn. In French, it's la fille and le
chien. In German, it's das Mädchen and der Hund. In English, they're just a girl
and a dog. And that's all you need to know.
Short words. Most of the basic words are short: run, work,
big, go, man. Long words are often shortened: sitcom = situational comedy, fridge
= refrigerator, OS = operating system. Speaking English saves you time. :-)
Words don't change. But in many languages, one word has many forms:
English:The man is blind. German:Der Mann ist blind.
English:This is a blind man. German:Das ist ein blinder Mann.
English:I see a blind man. German:Ich sehe einen blinden
Mann.
Call everybody "you". You can say "Do you speak English?" to your
friend or to your teacher. In other languages, you have to use the right word for the right person. In English, everybody
is equal. :-)
English is everywhere. You can easily access English-language television, music, websites, magazines, etc. You don't have to learn from boringtextbooks. You can learn and use your English at the same time. Using your English is especially important
because it increases your desire to learn.
Get satisfaction
English is not only useful — it gives you a lot of satisfaction:
Making progress feels great. We'll never forget the moment we discovered we could speak
with Americans or watch TV in English.
You will enjoy learning English, if you remember that every hour you spend
gets you closer to perfection.
Using English is fun, too, because every sentence you speak or write reminds you of your success.
We hope that, with our help, your progress in English will soon give you a lot of satisfaction, too. Many people have followed our methods and watched their "English power" grow very quickly. You can read about these people in the Successful English learners section of Antimoon.com.
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Please get in touch with any comments or reactions to my site.
Check the non-verbal cues in our "
(Polish), 
(Russian). Which is easier?
