A cold in Persian
The pharmacy by the house, the third day of a cold in Persian. 7 phrases that the conversation is made of: «سلام! چه میخواهید؟» — Hello! What will you have?; «سرم درد می‌کند و تب دارم.» — I have a headache and a fever.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: the pharmacy by the house, the third day of a cold. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- سلام! چه میخواهید؟salâm! che mi-khâhid؟Hello! What will you have?
- سرم درد می‌کند و تب دارم.saram dârd mi-kânad va tab dârâm.I have a headache and a fever.
- سرفه هم دارید؟sârfe ham dârid؟A cough too?
- بله, کمی.bale, kami.Yes, a little.
- قرص روزی دو بار, بعد از غذا.gârs ruzi dâ bar, ba'd az ghaza.Two pills a day, after food.
- ممنون! حساب چنده؟memnun! hesâb chande؟Thank you! How much do I owe?
- بیست تومان.bist tumân.Twenty tomans.
Lines one by one
| Persian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| سلام! چه میخواهید؟ | salâm! che mi-khâhid؟ | Hello! What will you have? |
| سرم درد می‌کند و تب دارم. | saram dârd mi-kânad va tab dârâm. | I have a headache and a fever. |
| سرفه هم دارید؟ | sârfe ham dârid؟ | A cough too? |
| بله, کمی. | bale, kami. | Yes, a little. |
| قرص روزی دو بار, بعد از غذا. | gârs ruzi dâ bar, ba'd az ghaza. | Two pills a day, after food. |
| ممنون! حساب چنده؟ | memnun! hesâb chande؟ | Thank you! How much do I owe? |
| بیست تومان. | bist tumân. | Twenty tomans. |
How to prepare for a conversation like this
Memorizing the lines is not enough: the other person will say their own thing, not what is written. What helps more is catching the key words by ear and keeping three rescue phrases ready: “I don't understand”, “repeat, please”, “slower”.
And one more thing phrasebooks do not mention: awkwardness gets in the way more than not knowing the words.
- Fear of making mistakes gets in the way of learning a language, and noticeably so. The link turns up study after study, and together those studies cover almost twenty thousand people.checked many timesTeimouri, Goetze & Plonsky, 2019, Studies in Second Language Acquisition 41(2) · 19,933 participants from 23 countries; correlation with results r = −0.36.
- That fear can be dealt with — the methods have been tested and they work.checked many timesXiong et al., 2024, Journal of Language and Social Psychology · 37 studies, anxiety reduced by −0.61. Of the seven conditions examined, only age turned out to matter.
Frequently asked
How do you start a conversation in Persian in this situation?
“سلام! چه میخواهید؟” (salâm! che mi-khâhid؟) — Hello! What will you have? The first line in such a conversation is almost always the same, and that is the one worth learning: the other person will carry it from there.
What if you did not understand the reply?
Say “I don't understand” and “repeat, please” — both are in the rescue set. Admitting your language is still shaky almost always makes the other person more patient.
Should you memorize the dialogue?
No. It is more useful to catch the key words by ear: the other person will say their own thing, and a memorized line will not always fit their reply.