Another Talented Iranian Lady
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Simin Habibian is named Shahrzad or the Princess of Proverbs
Since the revolution of 1979 in Iran, Iranian women continue to amaze us with their talents and hard work. Their genuine efforts to improve themselves, their families, and their community has been phenomenal. During these years, they have never lost a minute to improve their education and become more informed while raising their families and earning a living, all at the same time. Their stamina and courage in trying to play an extremely delicate role in shaping and reshaping our society--be it inside the country or outside--is commendable. On top of all this, no doubt their contributions to our culture, in most areas, is unprecedented among other women immigrants of at least this country.
Simin Habibian is indeed one of these ladies who has done exactly that, since migrating to
the U.S.. She
has worked hard, raised a family and at the same time continued to improve her education.
In addition , she has great dedication to her community and culture. She
has volunteered as a teacher at local Persian Community Schools, as a reporter for
various local papers, as a co-producer of a weekly radio show, and on top of all of these accomplishments, she also published a valuable book
called, "1001 Persian-English Proverbs", which was published first in 1996
and its second edition just recently.
Equipped with a bachelor of arts degree in English translation from Tehran's College of Translation, Simin volunteered at the Persian Community School in Rockville where she taught Persian to English-speaking Iranian youth. In conversing with her students, Simin found that reciting Persian proverbs was an effective teaching method. Simin says she made sure her students understood the meaning of the proverbs by also saying their English equivalents.
Simin has been named the Princess of Persian Proverbs by several local newspapers (where she resides), interviewing her in recent months. She has collected 1001 proverbs, which bear striking similarities in both the Persian and English languages, in an effort to show how much the two cultures have in common. As she mentions in her interviews, by reading the proverbs and comparing them in the two languages, it makes us realize that indeed "regardless of which nation we live in, we are all human and share similar experiences in our life".
Simin thought of compiling the proverbs into a book "To emphasize the similarities of our cultures and demonstrate them through proverbs. I wanted to get the attention of the parents and their children to these similar experiences and bring the two cultures closer together as well."
The format of Simin's book reinforces her philosophies. Each popular Persian saying is placed alongside an English proverb of comparable meaning. To help the reader see cultural similarities and differences in each pair, a literal translation of the Persian saying follows. More than 100 uncaptioned drawings are scattered throughout the book, challenging the reader to recognize additional proverbs. No sweat, there's an answer key in the back of the book.
Why 1001 proverbs? " The more I looked for English equivalents, the more I found, but I had to stop somewhere," she says. Influenced by "1001 Nights," the stories of the Arabian princess Shahrzad, known to both Iranians and American, Simin stopped at 1000, then added one, her own" "May 1001 proverbs bring you delight, more than the stories of 1001 Nights."
We congratulate Ms. Habibian for her success and appreciate her valuable
effort of promoting another aspect of our deep colorful culture and sincerely
hope more recognition for her.
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