iTalki PSA: Stay conscious of your target language's baggage/politics

I had a great first lesson with a wonderful Farsi tutor. I immediately scheduled another one and she accepted. Later that day, I decided to fill out my profile on iTalki.

Long story short, I mentioned how my wife was Persian and her family left after the Shah fell and that I also served in the US military.

She cancelled the upcoming session and was very embarrassed/apologetic. She said she could be in a lot of trouble for the "Shah" and "US military" stuff in my profile. I immediately deleted it, but we won't continue out of an abundance of safety.

I should have known better as my wife still has a lot of family there and I hear the stories all the time. Keep in mind what you share and how you share it, as it can cause issues in certain countries.

I've scheduled some trials with new tutors and my profile is much simpler: "I want to learn Farsi."

submitted by /u/__howzat__
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