September 2018 Humphrey Secretariat Post
I have been teaching English for about 17 years. All through these years of teaching, I have been trying my best to be an effective teacher. What I followed in my career and my main area of interest is training efficacious teachers whose concern is considering learners’ beliefs and individualities. In this long journey of being an English teacher, I have faced with my own identity which has led me to start helping new teachers to be professional ones. It has been four years that I have started thinking and doing research in the area of teaching English as a foreign language to high-functioning autistic children. This new perspective is extremely extended and it needs more research and help from all scientists and educators around the world. Due to high and ever-increasing prevalence of autism around the world and in Iran, I believe this fellowship program can help me to meet international experienced figures. This event can, hopefully, lead to better understanding of teaching a language other than mother-tongue to individuals who are on autism spectrum.
I teach English as a foreign language to Persian-speaking students at different ages. Teaching general English, IELTS, and SSAT are the main focus of my career. I have been working as an educational supervisor in a language institute run by my husband and I, helping the students to be perfect language learners and assisting new teachers to improve their career through teacher training or teacher developmental courses. Another side of my life, is teaching as an adjunct lecturer in Tehran’s university for about nine years. I teach courses related to general English such as issues in grammar, listening and speaking courses, essay writing, paragraph writing, as well as linguistics, psycholinguistics and methodology in university. Most Iranians are extremely into learning languages especially English. Parents register their kids in language institutes at very early ages. They truly believe that English is a key to future success. So, I have many students both at the university and the language institute.
Iran is a country with four climates; however, recently, pollution and dust have become two major issues in big cities. Provinces which are located in the south of Iran, are dealing with difficult days of not having fresh air and high-quality water. Tehran, as the capital city, faces air pollution problem every winter. Sometimes the city is covered with smog which makes breathing difficult for people with heart and lung problems. In those days, the schools will be off and some offices also stop working. This may happen two or three times a year through the winter days.
Iran is a country with many local dress code, foods, dances, songs, lullabies, stories, and life styles. Where one lives, explains the life style and all those related local issues. The food that people who live in the north eat is different from the food in the south. One reason can be different climates that they experience. Caspian sea is located at the top of Iran’s map, which looks like a cat, and Persian Gulf is located at the bottom. The fish that live in these two waters are different and that can be a good reason of food differences which one can be observed.
Iran is a country with famous poets, Hafez, Sa’di, Molana, Ferdousi, Shamlou, Frough, to name a few. The contemporary style of poetry is very different from the traditional one in many ways. Hafez is among the traditional ones. Iranians love him and they look at his poems from a holly perspective. His tomb is in Shiraz which is one of the cities most famous for tourism. There is this tradition of “Fal” which means that the one who wants to do this first should pray and say some holly sentences from Quran, then he opens the Hafez’s poem book randomly. Any page that appears, can be about your life and your future. It is mostly about positive sides of life!
There are many special occasions in Iran that people celebrate together. To name a few, I can refer to Yalda night, Charshanbe Souri, Eyde Nourooz. The Yalda night is the last night of fall which is the longest night of the year. Usually all family members and relatives get together and spend a great and fun night together chatting, eating special foods and nuts, reading poems, telling stories, dancing, and being with each other. Iranian celebrate Charshanbe Souri in streets together! It is the last Tuesday of a year. They get together, make fire, jump over the fire while singing a very old traditional song, and go for getting treats from neighbors- it is like the trick and treat of Halloween. Eyde Nouruz is the most famous and biggest celebration of Iranians. It is the start of spring and new year. All the schools are off for 13 days and offices are off for six days and sometimes more. The most important part of this celebration is setting a very special table for it which stays there for all the 13 days.
It includes seven things and foods which all starts with the “s” letter and it is called “Haft sin” which mean “Seven S”. All the relatives and family member visit each other during these holidays and they eat nuts and special foods depending on which part of the country they are form. The last day of Nouruz holiday which is the 13th of Farvardin is called “Sizdah be dar”. Iranian believe that they should go for a day-long picnic on this day and celebrate the last day of holiday. It is recently called “Nature Day” by the government. They usually go for a picnic and out-door barbecue. Iran is full of fun things to see, do, and more importantly to eat! I hope the economic and political situation get better and you all can come for a visit. I always hope for days without boundaries just like when you are in the plane above the clouds!