Grammar teaching in Iran

[Information from an Iranian friend teaching English there.] See also the Arab world  and Israel.

• Were you taught the grammar of Persian before you started English?
  • Yes, I started learning grammar of Persian when I was 11 years old, before I started either Arabic or English.
• Did your English teacher compare English grammar with Persian grammar? Do you do that when you’re teaching English?
  • As far as I can remember, they never did that. I personally do that sometimes, especially when I think it will help my students to learn grammar better.
• Did you also learn Arabic? If so, did you use the same terms and ideas as for Persian?
  • Yes, we learned to read Arabic and learned about its grammar. And the teachers did use the Arabic terms, as far as I can remember. But we were not taught to speak Arabic.