Kurdish Lesson 01*

So, you know how I love to teach people things, right?

Anyone who knows me, though, knows that I hate to teach things. I think you should be able to pick up most things on your own and, let's face it, your inability to do so just makes me angry.

Haha. Just kidding...

No. Not kidding. Totally true. I mean, get with it.

I have noticed that I get a large number of hits on my blog from people searching for Kurdish stuff; Kurdish food, Kurdish recipes, Kurdish air force and, most recently, Kurdish months.

So, I have decided to add a new feature! I will start teaching Kurdish stuff. I know that when one searched for Kurdish things on the internet, one finds about... oh, nothing of use. At least nothing in English. But, that's about to change.

That's where I come in! Now searches will be rewarded. I have everything necessary to change lives:

• A Computer
• A Blog
• English fluency
• Knowledge of Kurdish things

I'm like the Socrates of the Kurdish education blog world.

Lesson 01 is below. Enjoy.Sulaymaniyah. Mangi paynj.

The Kurdish Months:

First things first, I must tell you that there are two sets of names for the Kurdish months. There's one that people use and then one that they don't.

Set #1:

Mangi yek
Mangi du
Mangi say
Mangi chwar
Mangi paynj
Mangi shush
Mangi hewt
Mangi husht
Mangi no
Mangi duh
Mangi yanze
Mangi dwanze

From this list we learn two things: the kurdish word for month (mang) and the numbers 1-12. It's simple and easy. January is month 1, February is month 2 and so on.

Set #2:

This is the set that your Kurdish teacher will teach you. You'll spend days memorizing it and practicing it.

Then you'll go to Kurdistan and try to use it. Everyone will be all "Huh? What...yeah. No."

This is not the set for the conversational speaker. This is the set for... Well, I honestly don't know. I never heard anyone use it.

You know what? I'm not going to teach it to you. You don't need Kanuni duem and friends.

That's it. That's the end of lesson 1. Did you learn something? I hope so.

I plan to try to teach a different lesson regularly so that 13Months give back to the community rather than just take, take, take.

Let me know if there's anything you'd like to know about the Kurds or Kurdistan or even Iraq. I'll try to teach what you want.

* all language lessons are Sorani Kurdish as spoken in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq (Southern Kurdistan). All spellings are an attempt to simplify pronunciation.