Let's learn together!

Columbiana · Post by **Columbiana** » Sat May 16, 2015 3:18 pm

Hi everybody!
I want to say thanks for Behman for starting this discussion on this thread! I was very impressed after I red all commets. I'm very interested in all ways how to learn English that were offered here. My name is Denis, I'm from Ukraine, male. I'm a student a I found this web-site only for one reason: to practise more English, to communicate with other foreigners, in fact with teachers to o expand my vocabulary. My motto is: The more you work, the more you learn. As I understood, I can offer my own topic here, right? So, there were a lot of variants how to learn English I tried, and the best one is for my opinion to learn it on special web-sites. It's not a spam! I just wanna share my idea with other. I learning my English during 5 years. the last step for that was web-site Essaycool. https://essaycool.com . So, it was good for my English. Behman, how many years are you working as a teacher? Do you speak Russian? Thanks again for thread, I'll waiting rof your answers, and for your comments about my proposal (web-site)
Good luck to all!

setareh · Post by **setareh** » Sun May 17, 2015 3:43 pm

I am so glad to hear your reunion. I wish you all a long-lasting friendship. Behnam we are waithing to read the rest of the story. by the way who is Zivar.

wish you all the best,
setareh

setareh · Post by **setareh** » Sun May 17, 2015 3:46 pm

Marriage happens when two mature persons decide to start a family with each other, to share their happiness and sadness, to provide tranquility for one another and to have kids and raise them properly. So it must be an important decision that every body has to make in their life. It is highly recommended in every religion and culture. As we all know no matter how rich or how successful we are we can not lead a lonely life; we all have physical and mental needs and marriage seems to be the best way to meet all those needs. Every country has its own tradition about marriage but the concept of marriage is scared in all cultures. So let me ask you a question which age do you think is suitable for getting married?
Let me put it in this way. For instance if you want to vote in an election you must be sixteen years old or it might be different in other countries. If you want to get your driving license you must be eighteen years old. What about marriage? Do we have a certain age for being able to get married?
Do you think if you are only physically mature that would be enough to have the permission to get married? I have seen so many marriages especially recently of girls about fourteen or fifteen surprisingly with boys twice as their age. Oh my god! I have no idea what those boys have in their mind about marriage or what the parents are thinking. Maybe a girl is somehow physically mature at the age of fifteen but is she also mentally mature? I don’t think so.
In my opinion there must be some regulation about marriage as well. It is one of the most important decisions that is made in every one’s life so I don’t think that a fifteen years old kid could make such a decision. Marriage at such a young age mostly deprives a girl from continuing her education. I believe that an educated person could be a better wife and a better mother; there would be some exceptions of course. But generally speaking no one can doubt the benefits of education.
That would be great to share your ideas with us. Thanks beforehand.
Wish you all the best,
Setareh

Amalrab · Post by **Amalrab** » Mon May 18, 2015 2:57 pm

Dear friends:

I am really happy that you finally met.. I wish I was with you although I am sure that I was in your heart..

Thanks for writing my name on the list.

Dear Behnam, I want to thank you because you wrote those posts which made me imagine and live every minute as if I were with you, please write more and tell us about our friends..
Dear, I think you were one of the luckiest men on the world

because you had two beautiful girls around you!

Dear Eli, one of my biggest dreams is meeting you.. You know that you are always in mind and heart.. Really love you.. I would like to hear from you too about the meeting and about our naughty friend, did he say any jokes?

Wish you happiness.
Amal

Elham · Post by **Elham** » Mon May 18, 2015 3:11 pm

Hi Every body,

How are things with you all? Hope you are enjoying life. As you've noticed we had a meeting in book exhibition
with Behnam and Setare! It was just great. I remember the moments of this really nice meeting every day and it brings a beautiful smile on my lips.

It always was one of my wishes to meet my dear Behnam and Setare,since in recent years they've been my best and closest friends. We've been so intimate and share almost everything together. We listen to each other,spend time together,share happy and sad events and feelings with each other and it's not an exaggeration if I say we are part of each other's life. It was a real pity if couldn't meet together.

I'm really thankful of Behnam and Setare who made this meeting possible. Although at first I disagreed and was lazy to go to Tehran, I'm happy that finally I decided to do it.

Dear Behnam is a real gentleman. He's so kind, caring and knows well how to treat with ladies.

He was just the same professor Behnam we all know. He's always been a great man in my eyes and it was my pleasure to see this great man in person and talk with him face to face and eye to eye. I felt comfortable and relaxed with him.It was really enjoyable to spend time with him and again learning things from him as always. You can't imagine how HAPPY and excited I was when I first saw him standing near his car waving hand for me from distance. It was a wonderful moment I never forget.

Ohhh, dear Behnam with his special blue color...

Everything was blue with him..his car, his shirt and suit, his pen, his Tasbih.....just like his blue color in the thread

Fortunately, my lovely Setare was a girl and I could hug her!

When we saw each other I didn't let her kiss me at the first moment, I just hugged her firmly twice. I believe hugging is the best way to show my warm feelings for other people so I couldn't help hugging Setare the moment I saw her for the first time. I hope my positive energy has been transferred

Setare is a very beautiful girl. She's very wise and polite. In my eyes Setare is a real lady. She's got a very soft and lovely voice, you never get bored of hearing her. Good for her friends; she was going to take a trip with her friends. I wish I was among those friends

Dear Behnam, Dear Setare,
Thank you very much for everything. It was a great honor for me to meet you. I really enjoyed it and I wish it could take longer. Thank you indeed for your lovely gifts to me. Every thing was just great with you. "Meeting in "Mosala" turned to be one of the sweetest memories of my whole life.

Love you,
KISS

Elham · Post by **Elham** » Mon May 18, 2015 3:22 pm

Dear Shahrebanoo,

How are you honey. Long time no see. I have missed you dear.

Oh you haven't looked at the picture of names carefully! Your name is just in front of name of Hurie. Check it again please honey.

How great could it be if all the lovely members of Let's learn together could meet! Wow, even imagining it is enjoyable.

Please write more and try to spend more time online for chatting. I'm looking forward to talking with you soon.

Take care honey,
Eli

Elham · Post by **Elham** » Mon May 18, 2015 3:33 pm

Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeear Amal,

I'm sad with you. Why aren't you Iranian too? If you were, you could join us too. Change being Arab to Persian and leave your country to Iran so that we could have you with us next time

Do you believe me if I say I really really really Loved to have you with us there? Your place was empty,really empty. It's my wish to see you in person and hug you just like I hugged Setare. If I see you some day, I'll take your hand in mine and won't leave it even one second.

Oh Yes, Behnam was the same naughty Behnam! Although he himself claim that he's not been as naughty as he's in net,I detected his naughtiness from the first minutes of the meeting!

He's always a nice man who knows how to make his friends enjoy their time around him and make them laugh. He found a very good place to sit and bought lunch for us. I thank him again here for all his kindness.

In the hope of meeting Amal in the near future,
KISS
Eli

LanguageBox · Post by **LanguageBox** » Tue May 19, 2015 9:07 am

The discussion started 2012. Do you guys thing there was an improvement in your English since then? I mean because of the discussion?

reindeer · Post by **reindeer** » Tue May 19, 2015 9:01 pm

Yes, we do thing so! Yes there was an improvement. The discussion turned out very useful.

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Fri May 22, 2015 4:59 am

Columbiana wrote:So, it was good for my English. Behman, how many years are you working as a teacher? Do you speak Russian?

Hi Denis,

Welcome to this thread! Thank you for joining us and putting comment in this place.
I am a physics teacher, and I've been teaching Physics for a long time; many years actually. My life is totally involved in learning and teaching Physics. Unfortunately, I don't speak in Russian. I speak Farsi, Azerbaijani, A little bit Turkish and Arabic!

Columbiana wrote:As I understood, I can offer my own topic here, right?

Of course you can! You can offer your own topic and write about it. We will also put comment on your topics. We are here to practice English through writing and reading. Your topics will provide us with some opportunities to write and then to practice.

Columbiana wrote:My motto is: The more you work, the more you learn.

Nice motto! The more you practice, the more you learn!

What do you study? I hope to hear more from you.

All the best,
Behnam, 22 May, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Fri May 22, 2015 5:26 am

LanguageBox wrote:The discussion started 2012. Do you guys thing there was an improvement in your English since then? I mean because of the discussion?

Hi LanguageBox!

How are you? I hope you are fine. Thank you for putting comment.

Actually, I started writing on WWW.English-at-home.com in 2007. From 2007 until now I've been writing English almost regularly; continuously. In 2012 we decided to leave other sites and to write on this power site.

In answer to your question; yes, writing does help with practicing English. As you can see by glancing through 118 pages on this site, and downloading 4 files in PDF format from WWW.Scribd.com. Each file contains about 1000 pages. Dear Elham has made 4 files from our previous posts on WWW.English-at-home.com. You can go to WWW.Scribd.com and search for 'Let's Learn Together!'. I hope you will find them.

Hope to hear more from you.

All the best,
Behnam, 22 May, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Fri May 22, 2015 5:32 am

Hi Shahrbanoo,

Thank you for your nice posts and kind words. How are you dear? Long time no see! How are you doing? I hope you are doing well and enjoying every minute of your life.

I hope to read more from you. Please don't lose contact with this thread. We love your presence!

All the best,
Behnam, 22 May, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Fri May 22, 2015 6:07 am

Hi Elham,

Thank you so much for your posts and friendly words. You have pictured the meeting beautifully. I used to call myself 'eagle-eyed' Behnam, but now I see you are much more eagle-eyed than me! You've noticed some details.

After Parking the car in the parking area, we walked towards the book exhibition. The weather was boringly hot and the exhibition was overcrowded. Walking was really difficult. It was like swimming in the pool filled by human beings; not water! Therefore, you can imagine what your hands will touch and where your body will impact

Elham was tired and thirsty. She has spent many hours in the Sun among those heavy traffic of people. I bought her a bottle of water. She couldn't open the top of the bottle, so I did it for her.

She has put some of her stuff in an office. I don't know its equivalent in English; somewhere at the entrance to the book exhibition. Some people were responsible to take your things and put them in a box and give you a piece of paper. On the paper the box number in which your things are kept is written. Elham wanted to take her stuff back, but she didn't know where she had given her things. She just knew some signs about the office. The address was not mentioned completely. We had to ask many people for the address. Finally, after some walks we found that place and Elham took her things back.

In the book exhibition, it is really difficult to find somewhere to sit and take rest. People who have visited Tehran International Book Exhibition know what I am saying. Elham worried about finding a proper place to sit and take rest. She was tired. She disliked walking among that heavy traffic of people. I found a very nice place; quiet, nice and cool, in the shade of trees. I also found a useless banner and laid it on the ground among tress. Elham was amazed when I said; "Now, sit on it and enjoy taking rest!" She couldn't believe what she saw!

..... will be continued.

All the best,
Behnam, 22 May, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Fri May 22, 2015 6:56 am

setareh wrote:So let me ask you a question which age do you think is suitable for getting married?

Hi dear Setareh,

How are you? I hope you are great and enjoying every second of your life. Thank you very much for introducing some nice topics and expressing your idea about them.

I totally agree with you. Marriage is sacred and it has got a very meaningful philosophy. Right women and men inevitably will get married; because it is one of the most important stages of the life. As God has said in the holy Koran, marriage brings us many positive things. For example, marriage gives people calmness and peace of mind.

If we think about the main philosophy of marriage, we will find out that it is for keeping the generations going. Surely, marriage has got many positive effects on our spirit and body. Although, it provide us with some pleasure, relief, comfort, calmness, peace of mind, etc., these are not its main goal. Marriage is like planting seeds in order to get wheat as food for human beings. However, other useful things will be automatically produced as food for animals.

After finding out the main mission of marriage, we must think about the qualities that spouses should have got in order to fulfill that main mission! Obviously, boys and girls should reach puberty. Their physical bodies and spirits must be ready for getting married. In other words, they must be mentally, spiritually and physically grown!

How can a girl or a boy bring calmness while s/he is not qualified with that ability?

With regards to proper age for girls to get married; I personally think in Iran the majority of girls are physically, mentally and spiritually ready for marriage at age 18! It may differ from person to person, or from origin to origin, and from culture to culture! However, the distribution curve is Gaussian centered at 18 years old. This is my opinion!

I hope to read more from you.

All the best,
Behnam, 22 May, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Fri May 22, 2015 7:07 am

Hi dear Amal,

How are you? How is your life? How is everything with you? I hope you are fine and everything is going well.

Thank you very much for following us. That's very kind of you. You are always in my thoughts. Your place is special in my heart.

I was naughty in the book exhibition, but not as naughty as I am in the thread and when chatting with friends.

We remembered your name and we wished you had been with us at that moment. It could have been wonderful.

I hope to read more from you. What do you do? How do you spend your free time? Walking with your friends on the streets in Damascus? I hope you are enjoying your life.

All the best,
Behnam, 22 May, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Fri May 22, 2015 7:10 am

Hi Mohsen,

How are you? I hope you are doing well. Where are you? I've missed you. Please drop something in the thread and let us enjoy reading your posts, full of new and interesting things.

Hope to hear from you soon.

All the best,
Behnam, 22 May, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Fri May 22, 2015 7:12 am

Hi Hurieh,

How are you? I hope you are doing well. Where are you? I've missed you. Please drop something in the thread and let us enjoy reading your posts, full of new and interesting things.

Hope to hear from you soon.

All the best,
Behnam, 22 May, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Fri May 22, 2015 7:13 am

Hi Andrew the great,

How are you? I hope you are doing well. Where are you? I've missed you. Please drop something in the thread and let us enjoy reading your posts, full of new and interesting things. What do you do these days? What are you busy with? Please don't lose the contact with the thread and your old friends.

Hope to hear from you soon.

All the best,
Behnam, 22 May, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Fri May 22, 2015 7:16 am

Hi Setayesh,

How are you? I hope you are great. How was your trip to Kish? I hope you have fully enjoyed it .

Dear Setayesh, I am waiting to read your report about the meeting in the book exhibition and the trip to Kish. Please write about your new experiences.

I am looking forwards to hearing from you as soon as possible.

All the best,
Behnam, 2 May, 2015

Kamelia · Post by **Kamelia** » Fri May 22, 2015 9:33 am

How are youuuu? Oh-My-God!Do I so envy you right now right here so bad or what? So you actually met at the book fair and did not care to tell poor Kami? I was there from 22nd to 24th and at 24th I went to wander in the isles alone and I am just begging God SO BADLY that it was not on this day that you met because I will be ghahr with you for a long time and that's a fact

Just kidding! How are you? what did you buy? I was so excited reading through all your beautiful posts about it that I even have got my first initiating smile on! Your posts were so wonderfully in details and so alive that I felt I was actually there spending the time with you. Oh and I am so grateful for you remembering me and writing my name on the piece of paper. I guess I'll save the picture as a little token

So happy you finally got together, and so proud of having hearty lovely friends as you. Wish you the best.

Love,

Kamelia

setayesh · Post by **setayesh** » Sun May 24, 2015 6:38 pm

Hi All DEAR FRIENDS!

How areeeee you guysss? Oh my goodness! What wonderful detailed posts you have written about our fantastic meeting at Tehran international book exhibition! I think Behnam is going to write more about it,since he has not narrated how difficult he found dear Setayesh* in the dense of crowd there!

Just God knows how difficult I could managed to happen this meeting! It was a real hard job to convince dearest Elham to come Tehran. I was so eager to meet her after more than 6 years virtual friendship. Although we had the chance to make phone call time to time but, all you know, nothing is better than meeting your dears face-to-face! It was not the only reason that made me ask dear Elham and Behnam to come there. Perhaps even dear Behnam and Elham don’t know how much it was pleasant for me to meet them both in a same place and at a same time! having a meeting with these two dearest friends together was one of my sweet dreams which beautifully came true!

Although I was so enthusiastic to meet them, convincing Elham to join us was somehow risky, because she must have a journey from another city to Tehran. You cannot imagine how many sms I sent her to make sure, if she is healthy and hasn’t got any problem in coming here.

From the first moment of that Thursday I was very excited but unfortunately I had to wait till noon at work. I left my work place at 1:30. It just took 6 minute to reach to the exhibition coz it was so near to my office. But, it took a long time to find Eli and Behnam there. Dear Behnam did me great favor and walked a long distance to find me and we walked to the place where Behnam had settled down dear Elham there.

Only and only God knows how sweet was meeting my dearest Elham. We hugged each other. Exchanged some kisses. Elham has got a very friendly face. Her face talks to you without any words. She can convey her positive energy via her smile only. All those friends who had the chance of talking to her know, I’m sure you all prove, how beautiful her voice is. Believe me, her face is twice beautiful, sincere and kind! She was 100 percent that Elham who were in my mind all those 6 years! It was really a wonderful day, we drank, ate ,wrote and exchanged some gifts. In the end after saying goodbye to dear Behnam I accompanied dearest Elham to the place where she met her sister and cousin.they were both very lovely and sweetheart girls. We walked to the exit door together and talked. They took a taxi and said goodbye to me .we waved hands with the best wishes for each other…

Elham the dearest(this is the title that I have chosen for you!), I want to thank you for accepting my invitation and coming to Tehran. I have put that beautiful wooden candle stand which you gifted to me near to my bed.so every day I see it and think about you. Sometimes I think a part of your soul is flying through its holes and windows. I hope to see you and your family once again.

Dear professor Behnam, thank you a million times! Thanks for everything, for that nice scare you gifted us , for the lunch you bought for us and more important than all thanks for coming and spending your valuable time with us.

I hope God support you both in every single moment of life

All the best,
Setayesh

(Setayesh*= Setareh=Seti)

setayesh · Post by **setayesh** » Sun May 24, 2015 6:51 pm

Dear elham will write another post to you and tell you all about my trip to kish as soon as possible

LanguageBox · Post by **LanguageBox** » Mon May 25, 2015 6:49 am

Yes, I understand. I hope you are not touchy because I didn't mean to. Indeed, writing is improved ... with writing. The thing is that I didn't find it focused. It's just a general discussion in English where people can practice their writing skills but there is no learning process. I mean learning something like how to write a letter for example, how to structure your writing, how to link your thoughts in English and such things. Anyway, I am glad to make a contact with you guys. I will put my thoughts here from time to time ;)

behnam wrote:
Actually, I started writing on WWW.English-at-home.com in 2007. From 2007 until now I've been writing English almost regularly; continuously. In 2012 we decided to leave other sites and to write on this power site.

Hurieh · Post by **Hurieh** » Mon May 25, 2015 11:53 am

Mohsen wrote:Hi Hurieh,
It is pleasure to read your post and knew that you are in health , just your busy schedule is the reason of your absence .

Hi dear Mohsen,
How are you? It’s a long time you haven’t shown up. I hope you’re enjoying your time. It’s really nice of you.

I don’t know if you like the Baghlava and Pashmak ( the two famous confectionaries in Yazd) ,

To tell the truth, I’m not into souvenirs of Yazd. They are so sweet and may cause some issues such as dental problems. To top it off, the rate of diabetes is also considerably high in this city. Some experts attribute this issue to sweet souvenirs of Yazd. However, Diabetes isn’t a sweet disease at all. We have patients with this problem in every unit. Diabetes affects nearly all systems in humans’ body such as epithelial and skin, cardiovascular, renal, visual, and neural system; and subsequently, deteriorates prognosis of their disease. About everyone knows about this unpleasant disease and it’s negative effects on body system. I’m afraid of getting diabetes since some close relatives of ours are suffering from that .Hopefully, I don’t have it in my own family but I have to be careful. Oh…Poor Mohsen…the next time you’ll eat our souvenirs you won’t have good feelings I guess…. Smiling…. Don’t panic and enjoy it happily. I’m too conservative.

As usual I went to park at morning with a group of my family . this my routine job on Fridays.

WOW…what a nice and healthy habit. Good for you and the guys who accompany you. I’m also interested in taking up a fitness activity like mount climbing, jogging or walking in the parks, but these days it’s not possible for me. Anyway, last weekend, some relatives of us insisted on visiting the park in our vicinity to make their only small kid enjoy playing there. It was after midnight, and the park was quiet until we reached there. We enjoyed playing with the tools which were devised for small kids’ playing, and forgot for which purpose we were there. Poor that kid!!! He was totally forgotten. Anyway, sometimes awakening our inner child and playing like kids are necessary. I’ve been considering doing that again every once in a while. By the way, do you play like kids in parks??? If not, I do recommend it. Just give it a try. Winking.
Hope to have you here so soon.

Regards,
Hurieh
May 25th, 2015

Hurieh · Post by **Hurieh** » Mon May 25, 2015 12:04 pm

behnam wrote:Hi Hurieh,

How are you? I hope you are doing well. Where are you? I've missed you. Please drop something in the thread and let us enjoy reading your posts, full of new and interesting things.

Hope to hear from you soon.

All the best,
Behnam, 22 May, 2015

Dear Behnam,

How are you? How do you do? Thanks for caring.

It’s really enjoyable to read about your meeting with some friends of ours in International Book Fair. Sounds like you had great time and really enjoyed it. In my opinion, you should have planned your meeting somewhere else like Shah Abdol Azim Shrine. Then you would be able to do sightseeing (Siahat) and pilgrimage (Ziarat) at the same time…winking and smiling at the same time…It would also be nice to be remembered there... Just kidding.

Thanks for remembering us there. I want to take this excuse to convey my regards to our dear friends Elham and Setayesh. It was such a long time we were deprived from reading your nice words. You were greatly missed. I hope you’re enjoying your moments, and will write more here.

One more thing… The idea of writing names on the paper was so innovative and amazing and the handwriting which belongs to dear Behnam was eye catching. I really wonder whose idea it was. Anyway, It was so creative. Although the idea seems a bit girlish I won’t dare guess whose idea it was. Winking…

Dear Behnam, I’m following the posts of yours and our friends and enjoying reading them. They're informative too. These days I have to cut back my time spending on the net. I’ve taken a step further and analyzed my data. Now I have to put my pen on the paper and start writing. Wish me luck please. Meanwhile, I wish long lasting happiness and joyfulness for you three and the rest of our friends.

Regards,
Hurieh
May 25th, 2015

P.S. It's nice to see our friend's paw here. Do you know to whom I'm pointing? Accept my humble regards dear Andrew. We're waiting for your posts and riddles eagerly.

Hurieh · Post by **Hurieh** » Mon May 25, 2015 12:15 pm

Dear friends,

Last week something happened to me that was a real eye opener. I want to save it right here forever as a reminder. An unforgettable lesson actually !!!!

There’s an English professor in our university who has an electronic magazine. She asks learners who are interested in English to write things for her magazine. If she finds them interesting or informative, she will publish them; otherwise perish. I sometimes write something for that magazine and asks them to put my e-mail address at the end to receive readers’ feedbacks.
My last text was a long article about life, it’s philosophy, and so on. The feedbacks are rare and usually casual. Last week, I received an e-mail from someone who claimed he’s an English teacher and translator. He had written his idea about life, and shared his ID with me to join him. Although I wasn’t in the mood of English at that moment, but I couldn’t resist the temptation of replying his e-mail. Immediately and without thinking, I wrote a letter and emphasized on my point of view in a childish and poor way. Anyway, very soon I received an e-mail from him that said he had just shared his own idea nothing more…hehehehehe…
He had put his words in a polite way. I’m still ashamed of my childish reaction towards my fair- minded critic. Why do we usually doubt people’s intentions? Why have we habituated to judge people based on our personal limited knowledge?

His reaction taught me many worthwhile lessons. I have to think twice before doing something even on the net. Yeah… I have to keep in mind that this is not “madine-ye-fazele” or “arman shahr”. Our feet are on earth not heaven. It’s quite selfish of us to expect people to change in accordance with our wishes and interests, and in most situations impossible.
Why do we want to convince people rather than to be convinced most of the time??? My finger is pointing to myself not anyone else.

One more lesson! Every debate should usually have a sacrifice, otherwise it will turn into a sever explosion. Since, in most of circumstances both sides try to show their superiority and hardly give up. Finally, the teacher of my story easily won the discussion for the reason of his LENIENCY.

I take this excuse to ask pardon from all of my friends here in case they were also victims of my arrogance... I hope to reform my weaknesses. I think I’d better stop writing about morality for a while. Instead, I’ll switch to writing scientific articles in my own specific field. It’s much better I guess….LOL

Regards,
Hurieh
May 25th, 2015

P.S. You can read e-mails exchanged between us on the next posts.

Hurieh · Post by **Hurieh** » Mon May 25, 2015 12:27 pm

Ms. X.X,

I’m…., an English teacher and translator. I’m privileged to meet you. I just read your long article about “Life” on …… magazine. It was great; However, as far as I’m concerned, life is short and so complicated at the same time. There are so many directions around us each calling us to take them. We are wondering which way to take. We need a help or something like a right attitude about life. Sometimes I feel a simple word, advice or even an image, no matter where it comes from, may change my whole life.

I would be glad if you joined me on LinkedIn with this ID: …………

With regards,

X.Y

Hi Mr. X.Y,

It's my pleasure to get to know you here as an English expert. You've got a variety of skills and experiences in English according to your profile which are truly applaudable. Good for you indeed.

By the way, you've been holding an interesting point of view regarding life and it's philosophy. Are they your own statements??? Anyway, I put value on your opinion, and found it a good excuse to write something, since I’m a big talker and interested in raising controversial issues. It’s said: “discussion and doubt are essential for our progress.”

In my opinion, life isn't that complicated you imagine. A reason that may draw us into such wandering situation may be the lack of in-depth understanding from ourselves or actually self-awareness. We are not born to be tortured in this world. We are living to enjoy, grow up, win, lose, learn, do our responsibility towards this world, and then leave it. Have you noticed that some people who have an eye for detail may turn out to be much more successful in their lives? They think differently and exactly know what they’re supposed to do during their lifelong. They can see things that others don’t care about. In other words, they are able to find opportunities for their taking steps by having such precise skills.

Have you heard of EQ? I’m sure you heard. It doesn’t necessarily demand having high IQ for our achievements. Sometimes, an average person with high EQ can appear more successful than a genius. That implies the fact that how much being aware of ourselves and getting the signals we’ve been receiving around ourselves matter. I’m not opposing the point that getting advice from others is unacceptable. Getting advice can come helpful, but only if we know ourselves and our interests. Otherwise, it can also be kind of wandering hopelessly among many different ideas. To put it in blunt form, being able to decode the signals we’ve been receiving from others along with distinguishing the best one suits our interests may be keys to success. However, we always have exception too. Winking.

Meanwhile, It’s said the quality of life is much more important than it’s quantity. I put a strong faith on this idea. I personally feel life is short whenever I procrastinate tasks, and feel I’m not spending my time properly. We won’t feel life is short when we’ve got lots of achievements from the past. Therefore, there will be no regret in future whether we’ve wasted our time or not. Let’s accept this fact that each of us has a responsibility towards their lives that should be addressed, and no one can properly detect it except ourselves.

By the way, I just shared my personal idea as a student who is interested in writing.

Sincere best wishes,
X.X. May 20th, 2015

Hurieh · Post by **Hurieh** » Mon May 25, 2015 12:37 pm

Hello Ms. X.X,

First of all, I should express my admiration for your great long speech and Blah.Blah.Blah.Blah...............................................................................................................................................................................................................Blah!

The words I wrote to you are mine and I believe in the philosophy behind that. Let me tell you that a Dutch man wrote a message to me and told me that he had the same paragraph in the preface of one of his books! I had to swear at God that it was mine!
I say life is short maybe because of what I am facing nowadays, otherwise sometimes I feel life is the longest and the most boring thing on earth. This new year holidays, my family and I visited Ghasr prison in Tehran that has become a museum-garden now. We visited the dark and so suffocating cells and remembered the ones who had spent long years there. How could I say life is short when they were counting every minute of all those long years? But they themselves say that life is too short when they were released finally and had a chance of, some year later, visiting the old prison.
In the other part of that paragraph, I had indicated that someone or something may change my whole life. This is what I also believe in.
I am not as expert as you in raising controversial issues so I stop here while I like to know more about you and if I can do anything for you.

With regards
X.Y

Mr. X.Y,

My gratitude to you for all of your fascinating words attributed to me, even if they sound more like compliments and exaggeration. Winking.

Your plain text caught my attention at first, and persuaded me to write that letter to you. You write beautifully and clearly. I’m glad to hear those belong to you. By the way, you had replied my somewhat-rude letter pretty nice and with respectful manner which obviously shows your great nobility.

Yeah…I believe what you said about that Dutch man. Your statements also reminded me of a book that contains the same thoughts but with different words and in Persain. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the name of the book. I feel like sharing an excerpt from the book with you right here. Here goes:

داستان غریبی است ! زندگی چون کلاف سردرگم ، ما را چون گردش دور یک میدان، به دور خود می چرخاند و در پایان هر روز احساس می کنیم که بعد از این همه تلاش؛ سر جای اولمان ایستاده ایم...

You are definitely right. There are some periods of time in everyone’s life that may cause such feelings towards the life. In such situations, I personally mumble these words;

بهر من بدتر از این روزی نیست / زندگی آش دهن سوزی نیست

However, I usually have the same idea towards the life that I mentioned before. In addition, I’d also like to read others' experiences. Writing and reading make us better people and better citizens. I’m still too inexperienced. On the other hand, learning process never ends. Anyway, I appreciate you and your time dedicated to writing to me. By the way, I can’t follow you on your page since I’m not an active member on my LinkedIn.

It’s a quarter past 23. Gotta go.

Sincere gratitude
X.X, May 21st/ 2015

P.S. Some praise-filled sentences are removed from the first paragraph of his e-mail to ensure readers that i didn't put them intentionally to brag.

Hurieh · Post by **Hurieh** » Mon May 25, 2015 12:44 pm

Hi Ms. X.X

Thank You for the reply and Blah. Blah. Blah. .........................................................................
......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Blah.

You have written about my writing style and that I write clearly and beautifully. I can't believe this one because this is my main drawback and sometimes I have come to conclude that I won't learn English and I won't be able to write even a clear and beautiful sentence in my whole life! They have been personal questions of mine why I am not a clear person and I can't tell others what I mean and how I can make others understood about my intentions.

Some years ago, I began to draw on ordinary papers by simple pens. it was so joyful but soon I realized that I wasn't able provide a perfect image at the end and they always remained incomplete!
I have begun to read a book on who intellectuals actually are and what their roles are in the society. Although I found this book among the old books I had, it showed it was my concern why I wasn't clear enough and that kind of personality is always seen in my words!

Anyway, I wish you the best wherever you are.

Have a good Friday

P.S. Some praise-filled sentences are removed from the first paragraph of his e-mail to ensure readers that i didn't put them intentionally to brag.

Mohsen · Post by **Mohsen** » Mon May 25, 2015 7:17 pm

Dear Behnam ,
Thank you for inserting my name in the paper, your nice decision which came up with writing of names and title of I love you is praised.
In fact you visited your friends there , not buy any books , Did your wife read these pages or not?
I punch a flower at the bottom of your paper to respect my friends

B.wishes

Mohsen · Post by **Mohsen** » Mon May 25, 2015 7:33 pm

Hi Hurieh,
Thanks for your beautiful posts , I read all of them and enjoy your fluency in English writing , The long days and short night has effected to my daily life , except from three days of feast which I was busy in parties at nights , I was working at office as much as possible ,sometimes I came back at 8.30.

In this season I spend a lot of money to buy fruits, as I am crazy of eating apricot and berries, I also went to place beside the river on Friday with our family to shake some big tall white berries ,gathered about 10 kgs, we ate as much as possible and took the remain at home . On Saturday one of relatives passed away at the age of 93 ,so I took part at her funeral ceremony , at noon we were invited to eat launch in a restaurant , I rarely eat something in restaurant ,so I brought and excuse and came back home , the next day at morning I should take part in a Mosque in her ceremony , I ordered a big artificial wreath of flowers to a charity association before going to the mosque, then I went to the mosque , The charity is responsible to bring the flowers to put them on a stand in front of mosque , in the mosques ,I read 20 pages of Quran , I saw many far relatives there ,I was talking with them in the yard of mosque ,some of them had changes in their face , gray and white hair , bold and wrinkled. Totally I enjoyed being at that ceremony, than at 11 I came back to office, my boss is always angry and at that time his eyebrow was 88( Λ Λ).
I rarely watch movies specially Hollywood makers , sometimes I see a political film , my friend gave me a movie to watch ,it was called World War Z , As I saw this movies I understood how devilish ,wick is the Amrican movie maker
I try to come back soon.
It is around 12 and about next 5 minutes, the petrol price will be 1000 Toman /litter
All the best
Mohsen

Mohsen · Post by **Mohsen** » Tue May 26, 2015 2:10 pm

Dear Friends,
After watching of World war Z , I realized how they try to show the facts upside down to deceive the public, in fact Zionists who have occupied Palestinian territory ,and killing many of Palestinian in recent wars ,are shown as a holy people , and Palestinian in role of Zombies.
I read the following article in Fars News and try to translate it in English, may I put this article in a critical newspaper in future.
Unfortunately my translation is not good, so I hope my friends read it and correct me as much as possible.
I put the first part to get your correction and then I continue the next parts
Thanks for your help in advance
All best wishes
Mohsen

Culture strategy
The public culture which is make by American cultural administrator , as an antagonist base culture, has always introduced numerous Anti-hero to human society; Vampire, Dracula, the Mummy and the Werewolf are just examples of anti-heroes, especially with the advent of Hollywood day by day it was added to their reputation.
The process of making anti-heros went ahead as far as the production of Night of The living Dead in 1968 by George A. Romero and followed by a new anti-hero as "zombies" which officially entered the folklore of the world. Although the name of zombies already existed in America popular culture, But the tales of George Romero gave new cohesion to it and by this resaon many people believe that his films were the starter the zombie genre.
The Zambies are horror living animated deaths which usually move slowly and have keen interest to eat human’s meat and brain ,his saliva enter the body through biting the victims and in this way the victims become a living dead too.
The movies of «Dawn of the Dead (1978)» «Day of the Dead (1985)»، «Beetle Juice (1988)» ، Shaun of the Dead (2004)، 28 Weeks Later (2007)، I Am Legend (2007)، Zombieland (2009) and production of series movies of Resident Evil which is copied from a computer game with the same name are the single examples of abundant movies which have been made with Zombie base

The impact of Zombies were extended as far as after making the game of Resident Evil in PlayStation console in 1996 and global sales success, this Zombie base game got the title of first computer game which its film was made and the first part of the film in 5 parts had been produced in 2002.

Right : The Resident movies – Left : Resident Evil game

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Thu May 28, 2015 1:26 am

Mohsen wrote:In fact you visited your friends there , not buy any books , Did your wife read these pages or not?

Hi Mohsen,

Thank you very much for your post and putting a flower on the page, although it has blocked some names! In answer to your question, yes my wife knows the details about the meeting.

All the best,
Behnam, 28 May, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Thu May 28, 2015 1:44 am

Hi Hurieh,

Many thanks for your wonderful posts. Your English is excellent. Nobody doubts about it. However, to be honest, I couldn't get what was special about the man, what had been wrong with your article, what had been wrong with your reaction, ...! I read your posts twice, but I didn't get what the matter was.

Hurieh wrote:Why do we usually doubt people’s intentions? Why have we habituated to judge people based on our personal limited knowledge?

I believe it is a cultural illness and of course a cultural disaster. When honesty goes out from a nation, doubt and mistrust come in! By the way, insincere people doubt more than others, because an unwritten law says that the world around me is like me! Don't worry, both you and that guy are from the country of love and beauty. You are both the same. In fact, we are all the same. Only, the level of dishonesty and insincerity is different among us! Don't blame yourself.

All the best,
Behnam, 28 May, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Thu May 28, 2015 1:53 am

Hi Setayesh,

So many thanks for your kind words and wonderful post. Your writing skill is excellent. Your post is easy to follow, and coherent. Please write a report from your trip to Kish. I am impatiently waiting for reading that report.

All the best,
Behnam, 28 May, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Thu May 28, 2015 2:06 am

LanguageBox wrote:Yes, I understand. I hope you are not touchy because I didn't mean to. Indeed, writing is improved ... with writing. The thing is that I didn't find it focused. It's just a general discussion in English where people can practice their writing skills but there is no learning process. I mean learning something like how to write a letter for example, how to structure your writing, how to link your thoughts in English and such things. Anyway, I am glad to make a contact with you guys. I will put my thoughts here from time to time ;)

Hi LanguageBox,

Thanks for your reply. We have written many posts about the format of essay writing. Maybe, finding those posts is difficult. Please introduce a topic, you will see the replies of some people related to your topic. If you put some questions in your posts, some people will try to answer them. This thread is a place for free discussion. We are not following any special plan for teaching English. However, we always welcome questions with open arms.

All the best,
Behnam, 28 May, 2015

Hurieh · Post by **Hurieh** » Thu May 28, 2015 4:28 am

Hi dear Mohsen,

How are you? You can read your revised manuscript below. I’m interested in translating formal letters and scientific texts too much, especially when it comes to my own specific major.

The topic was far away from my expertise; So don’t hesitate to ask an expert to look it over if you’d like, and let me know the comments if possible. The contents were a bit controversial—winking--; otherwise, I would ask a native English friend to edit my manuscript.

The strategy of culture,

The public culture which is made by American cultural administrators, as an antagonist-based culture, has always introduced numerous Anti-heroes to the society including Vampire, Dracula, the Mummy and the Werewolf. With the advent of Hollywood, However, they gained increasing reputation little by little.
The process of creating anti-heroes continued; and as a result, the movie “Night of The living Dead” was produced by George A. Romero in 1968; and subsequently, a new anti-hero that called "zombies" was introduced to the people around the world. Although the name of Zombie has been already seen in the culture of America, but the tales of George Romero augmented it’s reputation; and for this reason many people considered his films as the starter of zombie genre.

The Zambies are horror dead brainless creatures that usually move slowly and are interested in eating human’s meat and brain. By biting people their saliva enters the body of the victims and make them living dead bodies like themselves.

The movies of «Dawn of the Dead (1978)» «Day of the Dead (1985)»، «Beetle Juice (1988)» ، Shaun of the Dead (2004)، 28 Weeks Later (2007)، I Am Legend (2007)، Zombieland (2009) and series of “Resident Evil” movie which are produced after a famous computer game with the same name are only a few examples of numerous movies have been produced with Zombie-based content.
The considerable impact of Zombies extended further. Therefore, after production of “Resident Evil” game in PlayStation console in 1996 and it’s successful global sale, this Zombie-based game was called as the first computer game which it’s film was made; and the first part of this 5-part film produced in 2002.

Good luck,
Hurieh
May 28th/2015

P.S. Mohsssssen!!! You put that nice flower right on my name and made it invisible!!!! Why???? Nagggggggging…

P.S.S. Now, would you like to pay in cash or by credit card sir ???hehehehe

Hurieh · Post by **Hurieh** » Thu May 28, 2015 4:37 am

Hi dear Behnam,

How are you? Thank you very much for praising my English and giving your sincere feedbacks about my posts generously. They’re really professional. Believe it. You always encourage me to write in a plain format. I’ve tried to use this important tip in my writings long time ago, but sounds’ like it’s impossible for me…heheheheheh….
It’s been my habit to put my thoughts in a complicated form(در لفافه ), and expect my audiences to use their acumen to decode them.LOL. I have to put this habit aside and try to put my thoughts bluntly. You know how difficult it is leaving an old habit!

I guess I should have put my own article at first, but I didn’t—for some security reasons actually. Winking!
What’s wrong with my reaction? It’s something in my mind. As I read his feedback which was opposite of my ideas, at once, I thought he had put those intentionally. But without any resistance, he just said that they were just his personal ideas. I have to learn these tips: 1st: To write clearly. 2nd: To be a bit humble towards feedbacks even I don’t believe them.

You’re right. Doubt is something devastative that ruins relationships and even the person him/herself. We should avoid it for our health and our relationships. I’m in a hurry!

By the way, thanks for your feedbacks.

Sincere gratitude,
Hurieh
May 28th/2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Thu May 28, 2015 11:14 am

Hi friends,

I've found the following expressions interesting. I hope you will let me know the philosophy behind them.

1) I am hungry for success. Why I am not thirsty for success?
2) I am thirsty for change. Why I am not hungry for change?
3) I am thirsty for love. Why I am not hungry for love.
4) I am thirsty for learning. Why I am not hungry for learning?
5) I am thirsty for attention. Why I am not hungry for attention?
6) I am thirsty for knowledge. Why I am not hungry for knowledge?
7) I am hungry for change. Why I am not thirsty for change?
8) I am hungry for life. Why I am not thirsty for life?
9) I am hungry for love. Why I am not thirsty for love?
11) I am hungry for right. Why I am not thirsty for right?
.......

That's funny, I am thirsty or hungry for many things, but what is the difference? How can we know whether we are thirsty for something or hungry for that?

All the best,
Behnam, 28 May, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Thu May 28, 2015 1:31 pm

Hi Kamelia,

How is everything with you? I hope everything is going well with you.

To be honest with you, I didn't intend to go to the book exhibition, since I personally believe buying books is like burning your money and the jungles on the Earth! The majority of people buy books to put them on shelves in order to claim that they are cultured, educated, and civilized! There motto is 'the thicker, the better'!

In our lovely country, people treat books with respect. They don't touch them! From this point of view, our people are remarkable, but we should know, the more books we buy, the more trees we burn.

Needless to boast or to show off; on a typical day I may read one book, but I use e-books. They are environmentally-friendly. For example, last night I downloaded 'Know can do' and read it. It was a wonderful book. I strongly recommend it. By the way, I NEVER read translated books.

I didn't intend to go to the exhibition, but dear kind Setayesh made a plan and called it 'Meeting Elham'(Elham Bini), then she invited me to the meeting I totally forgot your message. I am terribly sorry. It could be a good chance to be with you; alas! But, you were in our thoughts. Next year God willing we will have another opportunity to meet each other. It seems the book exhibition provides perfect opportunities for people to meet. What a meeting party!

All the best,
Behnam, 28 May, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Thu May 28, 2015 1:42 pm

An IELTS test taker from the USA has shared the following topics after a recent exam:

WRITING TEST
Writing task 2 (an essay)
Some people believe that the radio is the best way to get news, while others believe that TV is better for this purpose. Discus both views and give your opinion.

SPEAKING TEST
Interview
- What is your full name?
- Can I see your ID?
- Where are you from?
- Do you work or study?
- Do you live in a house or an apartment?
- What kind of house is it?
- Do you like living there? Why?
- How many hours do you sleep a day?
- How was your sleep when you were young?
- Do you like reading?
- Do you usually read before going to sleep? Why?

CUE CARD
Describe a toy that was special to you as a child. Please say
- What was the toy?
- Who gave it to you and when?
- How did you use to play with it?

DISCUSSION
- Do you still have that toy?
- Do you think toys are important for children?
- What is the difference between toys at different ages of children?
- What is better in your opinion: electronic or simple soft toys?
- Do you think children should play with the same toys as other kids?

All the best,
Behnam, 28 May, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Thu May 28, 2015 4:57 pm

SIMPLICITY IS AN ART!

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Thu May 28, 2015 4:57 pm

Dear Hurieh,

Thank you very much for your quick reply. As your posts reflect, your English is excellent and your writing skills are great. Your thoughts are deep.

Hurieh wrote:It’s been my habit to put my thoughts in a complicated form(در لفافه ), and expect my audiences to use their acumen to decode them.LOL.

I don't mean to criticize, but I'd like to take your post or your statement as an excuse to write something about simplicity. Simplicity is an art. Speaking and writing in a way that the majority of people understand you easily is an art. When speaking and writing, we are not going, on the one hand, to make puzzle for people, on the other hand to limit our audiences. Well, obviously, when we expect our audiences to use their acumen(as you have put it) we assume that they are some special people, for example with high IQ level. Therefore, our audiences must be some special people. This is not a defensible idea. We are dealing with different people with different level of talent, intelligence and acumen. We should know how to communicate effectively and efficiently. Certainly, we need to be as plain as possible.

As a psychological rule, people get bothered when they don't understand something. Many people get offended when they don't understand the speakers. They think of it as an indirect insult from the speakers
and writers when they don't understand them.

Giving some advice to his son a man said; "My dear son, try to sit somewhere above others and speak big words to show yourself important." To follow his father's advice, the boy sat on shelf and said 'elephant'!

I am speaking generally, although the post is addressed to you. I am even considering myself, I mean to remind myself 'Behnam, be careful when speaking and writing. Behnam, write as simple as possible. Behnam, teach as simple as possible!'

Hurieh wrote:You’re right. Doubt is something devastative that ruins relationships and even the person him/herself.

As it is mentioned above and all people(me included) believe that your English is excellent and your writing style is great. I personally envy your writing skills. However, in order to give an example of what I meant in this post, and in order to give you some feedback, I put a cut of your post there to ask you about the reason of using that wrong word[devastative is used wrongly. It is devastating which means badly damaging or destroying] instead of using simple equivalent words such as 'damaging, destroying, affecting negatively, killing, removing, taking away, threatening, ...'! Although some of these words may not be proper for the structure of our sentence, instead they are easy to understand. In other words, people will get what we mean. Effective communication is essentially important, not literary style of writing!

I do believe in simplicity. We must learn to be clear. We must think of plainness as a virtue and try to teach it to the students and try to spread it among people in the society. We must try our best to avoid the probable misunderstandings that our sentences cause.

As I've written in my previous post, everyday I may read one book, in English of course. These days, I study for my PhD final exam. I won't be lying if I say I spend about one hour a day on English books. Although they are related to my major, they are written in literary language. I can follow them easily. I seldom use dictionary to understand the text. Why? Am I very good at English? No, I am not. As a matter of fact, books are written in a way that readers can easily follow the contexts. It is a must in writing effective books to be clear.

Last night I read 'Know can do'! I didn't use dictionary at all. Why? It was easy to follow. No need to know the meaning of all words when reading a book. It is only important to get the points.

Finally, as a general rule, cohesion, coherency, simplicity, and clearness are musts when it comes to effective writing.

I have to repeat that these things are not directed to you, although the post itself is directed to you. I just took it as a proper opportunity to express my opinion about the style of writing. I love simplicity.

All the best,
Behnam, 28 May, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Thu May 28, 2015 7:15 pm

behnam wrote:I won't be lying if I say I spend about one hour a day on English books.

I won't be lying if I say I spend about ten hours a day on English books mainly Nonlinear Optics, Quantum Optics, Laser Physics, Modern Optics, Fiber Optics, Nanophysics, nanophotonics, Optical Switching, Pulse propagation, Physics of waves, Photonic crystals, etc. These books are in English. Although they are all related to my major, it doesn't mean that they are only filled by some spiritless physical formulas. In Physics, authors must explain all the mathematics they use for describing the phenomena. What I am trying to transfer is the importance of being as simple as possible.

Albert Einstein says; "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."

All the best,
Behnam, 28 May, 2015

skystar · Post by **skystar** » Thu May 28, 2015 7:22 pm

Dear friends
Hi.I hope every thing is going well with you. This is my first thread after months of being absent

. I was busy with my exam

. I'm very happy to be here again and I can read your nice threads.

Dear Behnam

In my opinion when we write or speak, we have to consider whom we are writing to and why we are writing. When we write to lay people or to public, our writing should be as simple as possible. As writers we shouldn't use the same style and language when we write to children, to adults, to experts of a field, etc. I agree with you about the importance of simplicity in academic texts. I, myself, feel more comfortable when I read a coursebook which I understand and I don't need to consult a dictionary or any expert to check the meaning of any words, phrases or sentences. Maybe this is because of the nature of the academic texts as they aim at increasing readers' knowledge of the field and making readers understood. Then, I think simplicity is a must in scientific books as they aim at increasing knowledge of the reader. However, it's not the same for literary texts as they aim at expressing the writers' feeling. So, in literary texts careful selection of the words becomes very important as they express writer's feeling.

.
Maybe we love simplicity because we are teachers

.

Best
Sara

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Fri May 29, 2015 3:34 am

Hi Sara,

Long time no see! So happy to see your new post in the thread. Thank you very much for keeping the connection with the thread going. Congratulations on your great success in final qualifying exam.

Thanks a million for putting comment on my posts. You are right. I agree with you.

First of all, I'd like to re-emphasize that I am speaking generally. I don't mean anybody, although I may address my posts to someone.

I am going to write something about 'feelings'. What I am going to write is not a newly born idea. In fact, during my studies I have had similar debates with different people, literature teachers and professors.

skystar wrote:Maybe this is because of the nature of the academic texts as they aim at increasing readers' knowledge of the field and making readers understood. Then, I think simplicity is a must in scientific books as they aim at increasing knowledge of the reader. However, it's not the same for literary texts as they aim at expressing the writers' feeling. So, in literary texts careful selection of the words becomes very important as they express writer's feeling.

On a typical day, everybody experiences different feelings. For example, s/he is angry in the morning, happy at noon, sad in the afternoon, laughing in the evening, and crying at night! We all experience different feelings. How many feelings are there in the world? I don't know, but depends on the situations, I believe every human being can experience all the existing feelings. The strength of feeling something may differ from someone to someone, but everybody may have sort of reaction if we put them in similar situations. Their reactions-maybe-will be different, but having a response to a feeling-based situation can be common! I don't know! I am not sure about this part of my idea.

Light contains a continuous spectrum of different wavelengths. For example, if we let a beam of sunlight passe through a prism, it will be separated to different colours. We see different colours in the universe. All these colours are the result of interacting the same sunlight(beams of one source) with matters. This is really amazing! Everyday we see blue sky and red sunset. Right now in spring the nature is mostly green. Oh, flowers with different colours! Isn't it amazing that the Sun is the only source of this great range of variety of colours?

Making an analogy between, on the one hand, a beam of sun and all existing feelings in the world, on the other hand between matter reactions(as detectors) and human beings, I believe everybody has kind of response to the existing feelings. Everybody is a detector and detects some part of those feelings. Detectors have got different response sensitivity, efficiency, rise time, fall time, etc.

How to describe our feelings? It depends on the sensitivity of the detector. It depends on the matters which are used in the structure of a detector and used technology. Similarly, in human beings it depends on someone's personality, gender, upbringing, culture, geography, etc. Many factors are involved in detecting a feeling and then describing it, or showing it, or reacting to it, or whatever you call it!

So far, we agree that: 1)There are many feelings in the world. 2) Human beings have the ability or capability to detect(to feel) at least some of them. 3) Human beings will have different responses(or level of responses) to a particular feeling. 4) Human beings' responses is a very complicated function of time, gender, personality, upbringing, age, environment, etc(our response to the same event will be different when we are hungry or full

). Therefore, many variables are involved in our response function.

Now, it is time to come to the main goal of this post. A poet looks at a flower at different situations. At first time s/he is thirsty. At second time s/he is hungry. At third time s/he is drunk! His/her poems will be different in these different situations. Is it possible to understand what poems were been said when? Suppose we could identify them. What is the use of it?

Somewhere is the country of poetry, poem and poets. What is the use of it? Does it solve the problems? Are the people special with delicate feelings? What is the main effect of it?

Painting is a way of expressing feelings! In a film that I have watched many years ago, a mentally ill lady is fighting with her husband! Why? She mixes different colours in a buckle and randomly sprays it into a piece of paper or into a wall and creates a painting! Some millionaires from her family buy her paintings. Little by little the lady goes under illusion that she is different. She believes her husband doesn't understand her. She asks for a divorce!

I am tired of sitting on the chair at my computer now. The mission isn't accomplished yet. I intended to say that something is valid when it is possible to be learned, to be taught, to be transferred, and to be measured. If something is not measurable, it is not reliable and valid. If people have some difficulties in understanding our feelings, we shouldn't say, oh, you don't understand me. We should say 'Oh, sorry, I don't know how to describe my feelings in a way that you can understand them'.

Dear Sara, as you have said, feelings are too much difficult to transfer. Therefore, in describing feelings it is a must for writers to put their feelings into words in a way that people(readers) can get at least some of them. If a feeling is not transferable, it won't be as effective as it can be.

....will be continued.

All the best,
Behnam, 29 May, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Fri May 29, 2015 3:47 am

Hi,

Let's read what my favourite Physicist Richard Feynman says:

A poet once said, "The whole universe is in a glass of wine." We will probably
never know in what sense he meant that, for poets do not write to be understood. But it is true that if we look at a glass of wine closely enough we see the entire universe. There are the things of physics: the twisting liquid which evaporates depending on the wind and weather, the reflections in the glass, and our imagination adds the atoms. The glass is a distillation of the earth's rocks, and in its composition we see the secrets of the universe's age, and the evolution of stars. What strange array of chemicals are in the wine? How did they come to be? There are the ferments, the enzymes, the substrates, and the products. There in wine is found the great generalization: all life is fermentation. Nobody can discover the chemistry of wine without discovering, as did Louis Pasteur, the cause of much disease. How vivid is the claret, pressing its existence into the consciousness that watches it! If our small minds, for some convenience, divide this glass of wine, this universe, into parts—physics, biology, geology, astronomy, psychology, and so on—remember that nature does not know it! So let us put it all back together, not forgetting ultimately what it is for. Let it give us one more final pleasure: drink it and forget it all!

All the best,
Behnam, 29 May, 2015

Hurieh · Post by **Hurieh** » Fri May 29, 2015 4:37 am

Hi dear Behnam,

How do you do? I Do appreciate your unique subtlety and powerful feedbacks once again. As a learner and a student, I’ve been learning a lot out of your posts, comments and thoughts. Thank you very much for all of your praise-filled statements regard to my writing even if they sound a bit paradoxical. I personally don’t believe my writing is that excellent. I think you also know it. A friend usually says: “Let go of the compliment and praise me frankly please.” Winking!

Dear Behnam, You are ABSOLUTELY right. It’s a crucially vital necessity to be clear and easily be understood—especially for people who are going to add something to the body of literature and science and those who have responsibility towards the growth of science. I personally like to learn how to write and speak clearly. You’ve already warned me about this weakness of mine several times, and I tried to get rid of it. However, I think I need to practice more and more.

But why I usually choose unfamiliar words in my writings??? Or I’d better ask ; “Why my words seem unfamiliar to you? “
We are supposed to get ourselves busy with many heavy textbooks and complicated articles to keep up with the rapid growth of medical science like many other majors. So it’s quite normal. We tend to use the words and structures that we’re usually dealing with. I’ve personally read many articles and books related to my major that most of them were too complicated. I got habituated to reading these books and articles. Now, I can read them easily and so fast because they taught me so many words and vocabularies which still exist in my mind and I use them regularly—especially in writing formal texts. I can watch movies and films and get the point easily, because of being familiar with large diversity of words. However, there are many new words that I still don’t know the meaning, and I should guess or look them up in a dictionary. It’s not surprising or disappointing if we don’t know all of the words. Learning would be meaningless if we knew everything and didn’t make any mistake. This is what I usually say to the trainees when they make silly mistakes and get disappointed.

However, I confidently say that our students (at the university that I’ve studied or better to say grown up actually) don’t spend their time on reading such complicated books, translating them into Persian, and after that getting to conclusion what the books are trying to convey. Not only the students (I mean MS students, not BS) but also majority of our professors are like that. They consider it waste of time reading original textbooks. They tend to read translated books since they believe our texts are complicated and they don’t have enough time—and MAYBEEEE literacy. Believe it… Last month, I wrote an article related to my specific major and sent it to two of our professors who are the faculty members of a governmental university. I haven’t received any reply yet. I called one of them and politely asked him the reason. He answered; “ You were supposed to write it in Persian at first. After getting my comments, translate them into English. ” This is funny and disastrous what’s going on in some universities, but is a real fact. Once again I confidently say that most of them are not able to write a single sentence in English correctly. I’m envious of your students for having such professors like you that care about second language too much.

Once again, I also love simplicity and really like to be clear. I have to try more but I confess it’s not that easy for me. It’s beyond my control. Perhaps you’re right. I have to say: “'Oh, sorry, I don't know how to describe my feelings in a way that you can understand them.” That’s all.

Dear Behnam, I learn new words out of watching movies much better than reading. Once I was watching a documentary program about “How to be able to control your anger”. One of the actors used “devastative” in his speaking and it stuck in my mind. I checked a dictionary to make sure if I used it correctly after reading your last post addressed to me. The result is this: Both “devastating” and “devastative” are adjective. However, it’s important in which dictionary we looked them up. Longman dictionary is very good but usually lacks some words. Please check it out on google yourself.

Regarding your question, I will give you my own answer and I’m sure you’ll laugh at my explanation and the funny way I’ve chosen to link things incoherently. Hehehehehehe

behnam wrote:

How can we know whether we are thirsty for something or hungry for that?

To my knowledge, it’s not that easy to make a difference between these two different feelings. Scientifically speaking, the same part of our brain is responsible for interpreting hunger and thirst signals. So, it’s difficult for most of us to understand whether we’re thirsty or hungry. Some people may feel thirsty but they start eating meal, and then put too much weight and complain about obesity. In such situation, a nutritionist or experienced nurse will offer these patients who are usually too overweight to drink at least 5 glasses of water per day. It prohibits them from eating excessively.
The other recommendation is to instruct them the signs and symptoms of hunger and thirst. Believe it. We have some patients who don’t exactly know whether they are thirsty or hungry. By the way, is there any one here who is suffering from obesity??? hehehehehehe

Ah…Damn… We came back to the square one I guess. I’m لایتغیر Behnam. But I have a solution! I’m grounded for an unpredictable time until I’ll shape up. I guess it’s better. Winking!

Once again, thank you very much for your feedbacks. You don’t need it but I’d like to wish you luck in your exams.

Have a lovely Friday,
Hurieh
May 29th, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Fri May 29, 2015 5:46 am

Hurieh wrote:Thank you very much for all of your praise-filled statements regard to my writing even if they sound a bit paradoxical.

Dear Hurieh,

Thank you so much for replying. I really love your posts and enjoy reading them. Nothing is absolutely bad or absolutely good in the world. Everything has got some advantages and some disadvantages. Nothing is perfect. Your English is excellent and your writing skills are great. It doesn't mean your posts lack grammatical mistakes. It also doesn't mean all your sentences are written correctly and understandably. When I say your English is excellent, I do mean it. When I say your writing skills are great, I do mean it. When I ask you to be as understandable as possible, I do mean it. I am sorry if you have found them paradoxical.

Hurieh wrote:Both “devastating” and “devastative” are adjective. However, it’s important in which dictionary we looked them up. Longman dictionary is very good but usually lacks some words. Please check it out on google yourself.

That's really strange! I know that my vocabulary is not large. That's a fact. I was on the metro when reading your post. I found some words new. I couldn't guess their meanings from the context. Then I used my mobile phone. I have installed Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English on my mobile phone and my computer. I really love it. Strangely, I couldn't find “devastative” in it! Put yourself in my shoes please. Frankly speaking, I said some bad words about you at that terrible situation!

I حرص می خورم, why? What is the insistence on writing such a word when it is not even in a famous dictionary?

Hurieh wrote:But I have a solution! I’m grounded for an unpredictable time until I’ll shape up. I guess it’s better.

Although this sentence is wrong, this time I could get what you mean by that. Nobody restricts or punishes you. In fact, nobody has the right to do that. I personally love your presence in the thread. It gives me a lot of assurance. I appreciate your presence and take the value and importance of it. What you are going to do is not a solution. It is, actually, erasing the problem, not solving it.

All the best,
Behnam, 29 May, 2015

behnam · Post by **behnam** » Fri May 29, 2015 6:55 am

.....
We sat on the banner, laid by me on the ground among trees in a quiet place. Elham showed me a notebook, full of memories, feelings and thoughts. The story of the notebook is long. I don't intend to tell it now.

We spoke about different issues. Elham's mother called her. She talked to her mother on her mobile phone. She said; "dear mum, I am with Behnam now." I also talked to her mother. She had a very friendly voice. She was very kind to me on the phone.

It was about 13:30 that Setayesh called me and said; 'I am in the book exhibition now. I am standing in front of 'Digital Devices' compartment! I wanted her to stand somewhere within sight; somewhere to be easily seen and identified. Elham stayed on the carpet. You know, I was sure that if we both left that place other people would occupy there. Therefore, I wanted Elham to sit there and to say 'no' to people who may ask for sharing the carpet. I left Elham alone for a while to go and find Setayesh and then to bring her to the place. It was my second time to meet Setayesh, so we knew each other. We met each other at the entrance door number 1.

We came to Elham. When these two girls met each other, something amazing happened. They kissed and hugged each other frequently. Elham firmly hugged Setayesh, and Setayesh jumped on her arms, they did it again and again! I didn't know what to do. I felt a little bit embarrassed, you know, they were hugging and kissing each other so friendly that I decided to bend my head at the ground.

We sat and talked about different things. We shared some gifts. Elham has brought me a piece of beautiful carpet to lay and pray on. She has brought a very beautiful candle housing to Setayesh. I gave a scarf to Elham and Setayesh. Setayesh gave a purse to Elham. We took some photos of them in different situations.

It was about 15:30 and I was hungry. Keeping their food containers in hand, a boy and a girl came to our place and asked; "May we sit here?" I answered; "No, it threatens our privacy.". Strangely, they sat on our carpet! They started eating their foods. I said to them; 'We are three hungry people here. If you cannot share your food with us, why do you sit beside us?" After a while, another boy joined them. They were shopkeepers.

It was time to leave, since Elham had to meet her sister and her cousin. We left our cool and nice place and went to the food station to buy some food. I bought three sandwiches. We again found somewhere nice and quite and ate our delicious sandwiches. I didn't let girls sit on the ground and make their clothes dusty or dirty. I found some cartons and laid them on the ground. We sat on a clean place.

After eating our sandwiches, it was the time to say goodbye. Elham's sister and cousin were waiting for her. Setayesh wanted to greet them. I said goodbye!

Elham was a tall, friendly, kind, beautiful, polite, and patient girl. Setayesh was kind, polite, friendly, beautiful, shorter than Ehlam, but fatter than her!

Good old days!

All the best,
Behnam, 29 May, 2015