Jack and I Meet Adam in The Garden of Eden!

  Have you heard of the city of Tabriz? It’s a city of about three million people, in the far north of Iran. The people who live there are mainly Turkish-speaking Azeris. The city is in a very arid, geologically violent but beautiful area, bordered by spectacular mountains and volcanoes, and is about 200 km west of the Caspian Sea, on the old Silk Road trade routes. Some archaeologists claim that according to Biblical records, Tabriz is where The Garden of Eden was situated!

The Spectacular Ali Shokri Mountains, Near Tabriz

    About eighteen months ago, “Adam” stepped out of his “Garden of Eden” and made friends with Jack – online, of course, in this modern age of international communication. Jack was keen to learn a foreign language and decided to learn Persian (or Farsi), one of the least likely languages that a Westerner would choose to learn! However, Jack is his own person, never one to follow the crowd, and so he embarked on teaching himself the Farsi script (which looks like Arabic writing), and set to work learning some grammar and vocabulary. One day, Jack noticed a chap in Iran who wanted to practise his English and in return, Jack could practise his Farsi. What a great opportunity to help one another with each other’s languages. They quickly became good friends, speaking to each other every night, and in fact, they are now like brothers to each other. Jack has concentrated on learning the colloquial language and his Farsi has become almost fluent. Apparently, Jack has developed a good ear for language and sounds just like a native-born, Tehran taxi driver!

    Now this “Adam”, whom we’ll call by his real name, Pouya, was not at all at Jack’s beginner level of learning another language. He was at such an advanced level, in both vocabulary and grammar, that sometimes Pouya’s questions were beyond Jack’s ability to help him!  Which degree of conditional tense should I use here, Jack, and should I use a gerund here or an infinitive?  What is the difference in meaning between this word and that – sometimes the words being unknown to Jack himself, despite his good knowledge of vocabulary. Pouya was studying for the TOEFL English tests, a very difficult set of exams that would allow him to apply for study in other countries. If he could gain a mark of 90% or over, the world would open up to him. When Pouya’s questions stumped Jack, Jack said that his mum knew grammar well, and that maybe I could help him. And so, three weeks ago, I was introduced to this Adam from The Garden of Eden.

    The TOEFL Exams are excruciatingly difficult and put the participants through very stressful writing, speaking, listening and reading tests that English natives would struggle with. In fact, Pouya and I have decided that they should really be called the TOEFL Torture Tests! I help Pouya with his speaking and writing tests, and along with that, we also chat about life in Australia and Iran. I have learnt so much about his life and culture from our talks, and have enjoyed every conversation we have had together. And just as Jack has come to feel that Pouya is his brother, I feel that I am like Pouya's Aussie Mum. I think the bond of friendship that has developed amongst the three of us will be a lifelong one, and Jack and I hope to visit our Adam in Tabriz within the next year.

Tabriz - The Garden of Eden!

   To visit Iran would be quite something – not the usual tourist destination for Westerners! And although, according to Pouya, Jack speaks like a Tehran taxi driver, his knowledge of the language will be perfectly respectable for everyday use. I will be totally useless in Farsi, of course, but because Pouya, his family and the people of Tabriz are Turkish speakers, I have embarked on learning some Turkish!  I hope that in one year's time, I might be able to have a simple conversation in Turkish when we visit this very different and unusual country.

   I don’t know what became of Eve in The Garden of Eden, but Adam is alive and well and has become a quadralingual lecturer in mechanical engineering, and is now a part of our family. We are lucky to have met him.