Arabic

[figment]

It's summer, and that means that my job at the university is a bit easier. Sure, there's still a lot to get done, but this is the time when we try to do all the stuff we were putting off for the rest of the year. So the projects and stresses are different, anyway. Yeah, and distinctly less than during the rest of the year, too.

So this seemed like a perfect time to take advantage of being a staff member and just sign up for some class that sounds cool. I decided it was high time that I took a class in Arabic, and I started yesterday with the basic intro level course. (Yes, that's right, despite having lived in the Arab world for many years, I don't know Arabic. Other than a few words - most of which are related to food - I'm hopeless. So it's time to fix that.) The first summer session is six weeks and the class meets three times a week. I figure I can handle that!

Actually, it's a lot of fun. I'd forgotten how pleasant it is to take a class just because I'm interested and I want the intellectual stimulation, and not for some reqirement or other. I swear I can feel my brain being stretched by this - which is neither entirely pleasant nor entirely unpleasant. But it's great to be challenging myself mentally. I am happy to say that I am not hampered by a fear of seeming stupid or embarassing myself in front of the class, which I think will actually help me out a fair amount. Hooray for getting older! And what fun this is!

So, wish me luck. So far I've learned, oh, fifteen or so letters of the alphabet. I read several words today, and am delighted every time I recognize a word from some dusty recess of my brain (this does not happen that frequently, but it's nice when it does). Considering that today was only the second session, I think that's not bad. I have to admit I also thought it was hilarious when the professor was trying to get the class to pronounce, um, the letter that's usually transliterated "kh" - he basically told people to act like they were going to spit. Some of the girls seemed less than enthusiastic about making that sound, but me, I had a mildly sore throat by the end of class. And a big grin. And a very squeezed-out brain.

Comments

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

that's really cool. yay!

[buccaneer.livejournal.com]

My captain is Palastinian...Hm, maybe I should look into basics...Inshallah....

[birdfigment.livejournal.com]

Why not? I bet your captain would be delighted to teach you a bit. And if you were only learning conversation, and not writing, it might be easier. (Might.)

[sioneva.livejournal.com]

Sounds like fun!!

I keep wanting to take an Arabic course - will get around to it eventually, I suppose. Have you found the alphabet difficult to learn?

[birdfigment.livejournal.com]

It is fun! But the alphabet is, so far, difficult to learn. It's not the individual letters (technically there are, um, 24? slightly less than English) but the fact that they look different at different times. I guess it's probably similar to how, for someone learning English and learning the Latin alphabet for the first time, they think "the cursive G and the capital G and the print G all look so different! But they're all the same letter!" Anyway, that makes it more challenging.

On the other hand, with only 2 classes (so, what, a little less than 5 hours) we covered half of the alphabet and are now reading words, and that feels pretty good. So maybe it's not that bad.

[sioneva.livejournal.com]

I remember my mom singing little mnemonic rhymes when she was learning Hebrew and Greek alphabet letters, so it always seemed so hard to me! Arabic seems even harder, as half the time watching students write/sign in Arabic it all seems so fluid and undefined as opposed to the very distinct letters of our own print alphabet.

I suppose our cursive would be much harder!

[eqe.livejournal.com]

distinct letters of our print alphabet

You haven't seen my handwriting, then. :)

I really enjoyed the little bit of self-study towards Arabic I did. The language hacker (http://www.ccil.org/jargon/jargon_5.html#SEC9) in me has a lot of fun with the "this set of consonants gives a base concept, applying the vowels like so gives you different parts of speech" ruleset. Sigh, yet another of my on-hiatus projects that I'd like to get back to...

[pants-of-doom.livejournal.com]

That's so cool! Arabic looks so interesting. I was really fascinated to learn that the alphabet, like the Latin one we use, is descended from Phoenician. There's a little chart on the Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenician_alphabet) page if you're interested.

[birdfigment.livejournal.com]

Neat chart! Thanks!

[talkswithwind]

That is very cool. Learning a language outside of the linguistic family English belongs to is to be congratulated! I had a hard enough time with German, which is the linguistic version of a second cousin. Learning something like Arabic, makes my head swim. I salute you!

[birdfigment.livejournal.com]

Well, salute me if I make any real headway - right now I am only to be congratulated on my willingness to try. Considering that it costs me nothing other than my own time and efforts, I think it's pretty low-risk.