At the interview in Persian
The office of a small firm, a manager talks with a man who answered an ad in Persian. 6 phrases that the conversation is made of: «سلام! خسته نباشید. برای کار آمدهاید؟» — Hello! Thank you for the trouble. Have you come about work?; «بله, من حسابدارم.» — Yes, I am an accountant.
How the whole thing sounds
The situation: the office of a small firm, a manager talks with a man who answered an ad. First the whole conversation, then each line on its own, with a translation.
- سلام! خسته نباشید. برای کار آمدهاید؟salâm! khaste nebâshid. barâe kâr âmâdeid؟Hello! Thank you for the trouble. Have you come about work?
- بله, من حسابدارم.bele, man hesâbdâram.Yes, I am an accountant.
- کجا کار می‌کردید؟kâdzhâ kâr mi-kardid؟Where did you work?
- در فروشگاهی نزدیک میدان. حساب فروشگاه با من بود.dar fârushgâhi nazdik meydân. hesâbe fârushgâh ba man bud.At the shop by the square. The shop’s accounts were on me.
- عالی. هر روز اول صبح گزارش می‌دهید؟âli. har ruz avvale sâbh gâzâresh mi-dehid؟Excellent. Will you report every day from early morning?
- بله, هر روز اول صبح گزارش می‌دهم.bele, har ruz avvale sâbh gâzâresh mi-deham.Yes, every day from early morning I report.
Lines one by one
| Persian | Reading | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| سلام! خسته نباشید. برای کار آمدهاید؟ | salâm! khaste nebâshid. barâe kâr âmâdeid؟ | Hello! Thank you for the trouble. Have you come about work? |
| بله, من حسابدارم. | bele, man hesâbdâram. | Yes, I am an accountant. |
| کجا کار می‌کردید؟ | kâdzhâ kâr mi-kardid؟ | Where did you work? |
| در فروشگاهی نزدیک میدان. حساب فروشگاه با من بود. | dar fârushgâhi nazdik meydân. hesâbe fârushgâh ba man bud. | At the shop by the square. The shop’s accounts were on me. |
| عالی. هر روز اول صبح گزارش می‌دهید؟ | âli. har ruz avvale sâbh gâzâresh mi-dehid؟ | Excellent. Will you report every day from early morning? |
| بله, هر روز اول صبح گزارش می‌دهم. | bele, har ruz avvale sâbh gâzâresh mi-deham. | Yes, every day from early morning I report. |
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! خسته نباشید. برای کار آمدهاید؟” (salâm! khaste nebâshid. barâe kâr âmâdeid؟) — Hello! Thank you for the trouble. Have you come about work? 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.