3 ms·

Tarof isn't an impediment to learning the language, but it is an annoyance that a foreigner would have to constantly deal with if he chose Iran for a place to i

Tarof isn't an impediment to learning the language, but it is an annoyance that a foreigner would have to constantly deal with if he chose Iran for a place to immerse himself in the language. > Furthermore, taarof is part of the Iranian culture. These little cultural differences are what makes this world beautiful... Even Iranians themselves often don't find tarof beautiful. One might claim that tarof is a "part of Iranian culture" in the same way that chewing paan is "part of Indian culture", i.e. it's ubiquitous, but even many local people would find the world a better place without it.

owenversteeg 6y ago
Yes, of course there are Iranians on both sides of the issue, but from what I can tell the vast majority of its critics are a handful of young Iranians living outside of Iran. My experience is that Iranians in Iran are favorable towards taarof and big users of it, and Iranians outside of Iran are very pessimistic about it, as they generally are about most things Iran-related.
- behnamoh 6y ago
  > as they generally are about most things Iran-related. While I agree with the rest of your comment, as an Iranian, I cannot completely agree with this part. Many Iranians living abroad actually miss these little social cues, and if there aren't Persian restaurants and neighborhoods in their city, they become homesick easier than, say, the Indians and the Chinese. Being able to at least practice some of these social cues would help them avoid that problem and feel like _home_ in a foreign culture. Side note: Comparing the American and Iranian culture, lots of things are similar (people want to have a happy life and provide for their family). But the US culture is much more _individualistic_ than Iran. So if you come here from Iran, people - despite being generally good and nice - might seem distant at first. Once you settle in the new society however, you learn that there are other ways of life as well, and you start to appreciate the things in the new culture that were rare back home. For example, Americans are generally careful about following the rules and the law, which is kinda missed in Iran, because many Iranians are ok with being _flexible_ with the rules. In Iran I always found that annoying, and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that in the US. This of course does not mean that I would find most Iran-related things wrong/problematic.

owenversteeg 6y ago

Yes, of course there are Iranians on both sides of the issue, but from what I can tell the vast majority of its critics are a handful of young Iranians living outside of Iran. My experience is that Iranians in Iran are favorable towards taarof and big users of it, and Iranians outside of Iran are very pessimistic about it, as they generally are about most things Iran-related.

behnamoh 6y ago
> as they generally are about most things Iran-related. While I agree with the rest of your comment, as an Iranian, I cannot completely agree with this part. Many Iranians living abroad actually miss these little social cues, and if there aren't Persian restaurants and neighborhoods in their city, they become homesick easier than, say, the Indians and the Chinese. Being able to at least practice some of these social cues would help them avoid that problem and feel like _home_ in a foreign culture. Side note: Comparing the American and Iranian culture, lots of things are similar (people want to have a happy life and provide for their family). But the US culture is much more _individualistic_ than Iran. So if you come here from Iran, people - despite being generally good and nice - might seem distant at first. Once you settle in the new society however, you learn that there are other ways of life as well, and you start to appreciate the things in the new culture that were rare back home. For example, Americans are generally careful about following the rules and the law, which is kinda missed in Iran, because many Iranians are ok with being _flexible_ with the rules. In Iran I always found that annoying, and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate that in the US. This of course does not mean that I would find most Iran-related things wrong/problematic.