The Hot Seat || Guest : east&west

[Kite102]

Thank you for your welcome mohammad.clergyman. A present?

This wasn't in my contract!

[mohammad.clergyman]

Thank you for your welcome mohammad.clergyman. A present?

This wasn't in my contract!

thanks

the hosts of here offer a so called present at the end of being on the hot chair

the present can be a picture , a poem , a meaningful sentence , a file or anything which you conside as new and interesting

here are my questions

? how did you notice this forum

? how did you become a muslim

? what do you think of clergymen

? are you shia or sony

( or samsung )

please tell me my possible english mistakes

? if you come to iran would you let us take a photograph with you

If you wouldn't mind, I'd appreciate it if I could have your yahoo id

thanks alot

[mir@]

Hey dear Huzayfa, (is this a good beginning?)
How is everything?
Hope all is well with you.
Here are my first package of questions I'd be grateful if you kindly mention the errors and use of inappropriate words.

1- Where are you from? What is your country of origin? (Since your name is Arabic)
2- What is your field of study? Are you a PhD student now?
3- Are you married? If not, when will you get married? Do you have any girlfriends? (If I may ask, I apologize if it's an offensive question or a private and personal one that I shouldn't ask)
4- Do you live with your parents? Any brothers and sisters?
5- You are a Muslim and I think in U.K., racism exists. Have you ever experienced a race-based bigotry, prejudice, violence, oppression, stereotyping or discrimination?
6- Which one is more beautiful? American or British accent?
7- Are you interested in music. What kind of music?
8- I think you are a devout Muslim, aren't you? Do you say your prayers regularly? Many Iranian youth of today don't care about religious tasks. What is your advice for them?
9- What is your greatest goal in your life?
10-Are you aware of Iran's shortcomings, your probable problems here, low wages, heavy traffic, nasty weather, many unrefined people, poverty, outdated and obsolete facilities and undeveloped bases, inflation and so on? I don't want to humiliate my dear country (As a poet said: If Iran is nothing more than ruins, I love these ruins) and also don't want to discourage you from coming here, but I don't want you to come here and after facing adversity, quit Iran with a bad picture in your mind.

Thank you in advance.

Please answer each asker's questions in a seperate post.

I also want to express my deepest gratitude for correction of the sentences. I'd like to ask you not to leave us alone in this forum. We really need someone with your English level in this forum. Your being here is a godsend for us

Best wishes

[Kite102]

Hi people

Since I will be correcting sentences here I think I should explain my procedure first. In my classroom I would never return a student's homework with the corrections listed alone. I always give more general comments about their level and progress as well so that the student doesn't get disheartened. So let me say that for everyone who has posted so far, I have had no trouble understanding what they are trying to say.

Obviously Persian and English are very different languages and it is very difficult for a native Persian speaker to have absolutely perfect English. So don't worry too much! These minor mistakes are natural and expected.

mohammad.clergyman: Thank you for your questions. Thanks for explaining about the present too, I will have to think about it!


the hosts OVER here offer a present at the end of the period on the hot chair


? how did you notice this forum
I understand the question but it would be more natural to ask something like 'How did you come across this forum?'

I think I was searching for English language schools in Iran and I somehow stumbled upon this site.

? how did you become a muslim
My parents are Muslim too so I was born as a Muslim alhamdlillah

? what do you think of clergymen
On the whole I like them. I don't think that ALL clergymen are infallible but I think they are a very important element of society.

? are you shia or sony
I am Sunni (normal spelling in English) but I love all my Shia brothers and sisters and the Prophet's blessed family.

? if you come to iran would you let us take a photograph with you
I'm not very photogenic but for you I will make an exception. Yes!

If you wouldn't mind, I'd appreciate it if I could have your yahoo id
I use msn and I don't have a yahoo account. If you would like my msn address, send me a private message

I noticed from your profile that you are from Qum. Are you a member of the clergy? I would very much like to visit Qum when I come to Iran.

[Kite102]

Hey dear Huzayfa, (is this a good beginning?) Terrific beginning!
How is everything?
Hope all is well with you.
Here are my first package of questions This is my first batch of questions
(We don't really use 'package' for questions..)

I'd be grateful if you could kindly mention the errors and use of inappropriate words



1- Where are you from? What is your country of origin? (Since your name is Arabic)
I was born and raised in Britain but my family is of Indian descent. Most British Muslims are of foreign descent but for the second and third generations, Britain is the only country we know and understand. For this reason most British Muslims prefer to define themselves primarily as British. The situation is similar for most of Europe's 50 million Muslims.
I was named after a famous companion of the Prophet (saw), called Huzayfa bin al-Yamman.

2- What is your field of study? Are you a PhD student now?
Broadly speaking, world religions but more specifically Islamic civilisation. I finished my Mphil in Theology this year and I decided to put off my doctorate for at least a year whilst I travel.

3- Are you married? If not, when will you get married? Do you have any girlfriends? (If I may ask, I apologize if it's an offensive question or a private and personal one that I shouldn't ask)
No offense taken at all. I am used to be questioned about my marital status in the Middle-East! I'm not married and I have no girlfriends. I would like to get married one day but God alone knows when. Are you married?

4- Do you live with your parents? Any brothers and sisters?
Yes and no to the first question. I have spent a long period of time away from London studying and travelling over the past seven years. When I return to London though, I stay with my family. Yes I have many brothers and sisters!

5- You are a Muslim and I think in THE U.K., racism exists. Have you ever experienced (No 'a') race-based bigotry, prejudice, violence, oppression, stereotyping or discrimination
Yes we do unfortunately have racism here. But it is not so bad and it has certainly improved immeasurably since fifty years ago. Towards Muslims in particular, things have got worse since 9/11 and 7/7 but it isn't on the whole intolerable. Some areas, of course, are much worse than others.

6- Which one is more beautiful? THE American or British accent?
British OF COURSE. We invented the language, they borrowed it.

7- Are you interested in music. What kind of music?
Yes. At the moment I am listening to mainly Syrian religious music or 'sim3a'

8- I think you are a devout Muslim, aren't you? Do you say your prayers regularly? Many Iranian youth of today don't care about religious tasks. What is your advice for them?
Well it is for God to decide how devout we are and whether he will accept are works. Yes I do pray but again I ask God to make our devotions sincere for His sake alone. It is hard for me to analyse the Iranian youth and how religious they are since I haven't been to Iran yet. On a general level, I would advise myself and others to reflect on the signs of God in the horizons and within themselves. What is your advice?

9- What is your greatest goal in your life?
To please my Creator. Sometimes goals become blurred or hard to see. Sometimes we even forget about out goal completely. But the important thing is to keep turning back to it again and again and again

10-Are you aware of Iran's shortcomings, your probable problems here, low wages, heavy traffic, nasty weather, many unrefined people, poverty, outdated and obsolete facilities and undeveloped bases, inflation and so on? I don't want to humiliate my dear country (As a poet said: If Iran is nothing more than ruins, I love these ruins) and also I don't want to discourage you from coming here, but I don't want you to come here and after facing adversity, quit Iran with a bad picture in your mind
I have read a little about modern Iran's problems so I have an idea of what to expect. I have also been to poverty stricken places before. Well I don't think I will ever quit Iran with a bad image in my mind because I know that people do not live in poverty voluntarily. I prefer to help rather than complain .

Is the weather in Iran really nasty? What's it like in Tehran?

[Kite102]

Amir:

Oh and thanks for your kind welcome to stay here. I will try to keep in touch hopefully.

Why is your city lost?

[mir@]

Hey buddy (I think 'mate' is better for you ), a bunch of thanks for your comprehensive and beautiful responsesl

It's an honor to have you here l

Are you married?
Not yet. But I am seeking a good mate l

What is your advice?
Nothing, because nobody minds

Is the weather in Iran really nasty? What's it like in Tehran?
The weather in Tehran is worse than nasty, it's really disgusting. Every breath will result in a decrease of 1 hour of your life. However, we have many regions with fantastic weather like deserts (!), jungles, and etc

Why is your city lost?
It is just a poem, God alone knows (An expression I learned from your response right now, as I said your presence here is really appreciable) what its poet, Sohrab Sepehri, meant

Don't bother to answer the questions as soon as possible (You have answered at 5:00 o'clock which is about 1:30 in London). It is absolutely OK to reply even 1 day later. We don't have many askers here. Make yourself at forum

Moreover, since you are going to be active here , I'd like to suggest that you choose an AVATAR. You can go to the
تنظیمات کاربر
meaning user settings menu, and then click on
ویرایش آواتار
which means editing avatar, and then upload an avatar or put its link there. It should not be bigger than 150*150 pixels and more than about 40KB

Sincerely yours
(Chakerim)lچاکریم
You should learn such expressions little by little l

[A r c h i]

Dear Huzayfa,
Thanks for the answers,and thanks for correcting my mistakes

anyway,no one still told you what "Dam koni " means,
Dam koni is something that we use for cooking rice, we put part of a stuft on the pot, and it will help the rice to be well cooked, the verb is " dam kardan" and it's just used for cooking rice.

[mohammad.clergyman]

I noticed from your profile that you are from Qum. Are you a member of the clergy? I would very much like to visit Qum when I come to Iran.

thanks alot for both your correction and complete answers

the answer to your question is yes I am

I'm looking forward to meet you dear here in Qum

[Kite102]

anyway,no one still told you what "Dam koni " means,
Dam koni is something that we use for cooking rice, we put part of a stuft on the pot, and it will help the rice to be well cooked, the verb is " dam kardan" and it's just used for cooking rice.

I see! I will remember this when I next cook rice...