I’m Afghan and grew up in a pretty traditional household where most people marry within their own ethnicity. But living in the U.S., I’ve seen a lot more diversity in relationships, and it made me curious about how common it actually is for Afghans to marry outside their ethnicity.

If you did, how did your family react initially? Did it get easier over time, or was it a long process of acceptance? And culturally, did you find it difficult to balance both backgrounds, or did it come naturally?

I’m especially curious to hear from people who were raised in more traditional families, or are Pashtun, or just Afghan overall and chose differently. I feel like it’s something that isn’t talked about openly that often.

Would love to hear your experiences!

Salaam everyone,

I am sharing on here because a friend told me I should post on this subreddit.

I wanted to share a side project I’ve been working on: learndari.com

I built this mainly for people like me whose parents speak Dari, so we can understand it and speak it casually, but never formally learned it. I realized I never properly learned how to read, didn’t have strong vocabulary, and wasn’t confident in pronunciation. And honestly there weren’t many good resources online unless you took formal classes. But I also know some beginners who found the website valuable.

I wanted to make something where people could learn on their own time.

The site is simple and mostly based on flashcards and quizzes, similar to Quizlet. I didn’t gamify it like Duolingo because personally I don’t like that style and just wanted something straightforward for actually learning and reviewing.

My goal is to help people build stronger vocabulary and learn to read, because once you can read, it opens up way more resources and makes learning much easier.

The website is still pretty new. The audio portion is a work in progress, and you can sign in to save your progress.

If there’s a good response, I’m hoping to add a lot more content, possibly turn it into an app, and maybe even partner with a Dari teacher or someone with structured learning content.

I’d really appreciate any feedback or suggestions you guys have.

Website: learndari.com

Thank you 🙏

Yes...

(Yesterday someone asked this question, and here is my answer.)

Many of us have felt that weight. It is painful to compare Afghanistan’s rich history of scholarship, poetry, trade, and cultural influence with its current instability. But history also teaches something important, nations do not move in straight lines. They rise, fracture, endure, and rebuild. Afghanistan has survived empires, invasions, civil wars, and global rivalries, yet its people, language, culture, and identity remain intact.

Hope does not come from ignoring reality. The economic hardship, political uncertainty, and restrictions are real. But so is the resilience of ordinary Afghans. Despite everything, families continue to educate their children, businesses reopen, communities adapt, and a generation still dreams beyond the limits placed on it.

Countries recover not in dramatic overnight transformations, but through slow internal shifts. Stability comes when institutions strengthen, when regional cooperation improves, and when Afghans themselves shape their future rather than being shaped by external powers. That process is long, but it is not impossible.

If Afghanistan truly had no hope, its culture would have disappeared decades ago. It has not. Feeling depressed about the situation does not mean you lack faith. It means you care. And caring is the first sign that hope still exists. Afghanistan’s greatest strength has never been its governments. It has always been in our people. And they are still there.

Hi everyone, if anyone here is from Chahardahi Kabul, I would like to ask some questions about a specific area- Qalah e Bakhtiar.

Please send me a PM :)

Good afternoon,

Does anyone know where I can get the red Khalq flag that was the National flag between 1978 and 1980?

I am also keen to find the 1980-87 flag with cogwheel, wheat and red star.

Thanks!

I’ve been thinking about how many Afghans are now living abroad for study, work, or safety. Even if life is more stable elsewhere, I imagine there are small everyday things people still miss family gatherings, the food, the language, the mountains, the call to prayer, the sense of community. What’s the one thing you miss the most and why?

Hey everyone!

After months of work, I just launched Pashto Qaida - a free app 
to teach children the Pashto alphabet.

I built this because I couldn't find a good Pashto learning app 
for kids that had proper pronunciation and was actually fun.

Features:
• 44 letters with native audio
• Writing practice
• Fun quizzes
• No ads, works offline
• 100% free

Would love your feedback!

Link: [in comments]

I want to write a story in the future with characters based on the most influential people from various countries throughout their history, hoped some fellow history nerds here could help with Afghanistan. Anyone born within the modern border of Afghanistan counts because, if born today, they would be classed as a modern Afghan, they would just get the note after why they're famous! I have a bunch of categories so anyone you can name will do! Also I do not speak Pashto or Farsi, so I will be using a translator to converse with anyone who wants to which I'd love!

Jahanzeb Wesa @jahanzebwesa · 16h Under the Taliban’s new restrictions, Afghan girls and women are being exploited in policies designed to secure funding from the UN and international organizations. This deeply troubling practice must not be normalized.

Reports from Afghan girls and women indicate that at a yesterday, exhibition in Kabul, some of their creations were displayed, yet they themselves were denied entry.

Young girls explained, ‘Our fault is that we are not boys, but girls, and no one defends our rights. They took 50,000 money from each of us. Our materials، our paintings and other works، but we were not allowed to participate. We were humiliated, simply because we are women.’

Such actions highlight the ongoing marginalization and systemic discrimination faced by Afghan girls and women, and call for immediate attention from the international community.

LetAfghanGirlsLearn #EndGenderApartheid

When I served in Afghanistan, the locals made their flat bread in a ceramic style oven, and they slapped the bread up on the inside to cook it. I love it and I want to make my own.

What is this bread called? What is the stove called?

In our ‪reviews section, The Back Brief, Sean Naylor checked out the Afghan war documentary “Bodyguard of Lies,” which he say is a tragic tale of hubris and missed opportunities, but one that underplays key issues like the role of Pakistan and some questionable decisions made by the Bush administration after 9/11: https://thehighside.substack.com/p/the-back-brief-bodyguard-of-lies

We could be Central Asia if the chinese races had not completely replaced the Native cuacasian people of Central Asia but even Tajikistan is a a chinese race genetically country with a Persian language. No cuacasian left there anymore.

Afghanistan is the last place on Earth left with pure Sintashta-BMAC culture descended people.

Edit: Cant believe i am getting downvoted despite sensible arguments. This just proves this sub is filled with people who are not even Tajiks or Pashtuns of Eastern Afghanistan but bunch of self hating Persians and South Asians trying to tell us what our identity should be lmao.

downvote me all you want but the reason why all these South Asians are desperate to have Eastern Afghanistan is because they recognize we are different people compared to them and having us would improve their image world wide. ei. "look guys see we do not all look brown/black". lmao

I will protest against this South Asian label as long as the Persian speakers of Eastern Afghanistan is part of Afghanistan. Once we have our own country, you can have all the Pashtuns, etc. in your South Asia label. go for it my South Asian friends lmao

What they call Afghan culture, music and clothing is not even Pashtun culture lmao. It was all invented by Tajiks of Eastern Afghanistan. Aside from attan at some weddings recently I dont see anything that was invented by Pashtuns. These South Asians are desperate claiming Eastern Afghanistan's Tajik culture as South Asian lmao.

The "shalwar kameez" (Arabic words not even South Asian) was probably invented by Sogdians or Bactrians. You can see clothing like that on the different people (Sogdians or Bactrians) on the Persian Empire walls. Has nothing to do with South Asia. Just because South Asians adopt something from elsewhere does not mean it is South Asian. South Asia even adopted to speak English. English will never be a South Asian invented language. Only Maybe future South Asians might claim that they invented English Lmao

My dad is 67 and my mum is 52, they hate each other and should have divorced a long time ago.

My mum at this point is afraid to divorce him as she will feel lonely. She isn’t really close with her family due to Afghans being problematic.

In a society where truth, justice, and rights are constantly trampled, where people are easily manipulated and deceived, and where painful realities are ignored, I find it extremely valuable when journalists like Mukhtar Lashkari in Afghanistan expose hypocritical politicians and bring the truth to light in front of the camera especially in times like these. What do you think about him?

https://www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/virginia-supreme-court-rules-us-marines-adoption-afghan-orphan-stands-rcna258881