Funny In Farsi

Dumas recounts the details of her family’s move from Iran to America when she was 7 years old. Her father, Kazem, spent time previously in Texas and California as part of his work with National Iranian Oil Company and as a graduate student. He thought very highly of America and spoke some English, but her mother, Nazireh, spoke none. Dumas recalls her first day of school. Her mother accompanies her. Neither is able to understand the teacher, and Dumas feels highly embarrassed. After school, they get lost on the way home, and a schoolmate’s mother helps them.

Dumas reveals that it becomes apparent that her father’s English is not what he made it out to be. Those to whom he speaks usually cannot decipher what he is saying. Much of his English is a variation of outdated British dialect. Nazireh, meanwhile, adapts to life in America, if only to the norms of its consumer culture. She struggles with the language and speaks full paragraphs “without using any verbs” (11). Dumas recounts a few comic moments when the meaning of phrases is lost in translation, such as when they are told they will need some elbow grease. Firoozeh and her mother go to a hardware store and ask for it.