1: Why Arabic? Why now?

Last semester, I had the opportunity to teach a student  named “M” who happens to be from Iraq.

Yes, Iraq.

He’s a refugee whose life, as one can imagine, has been hell for a few years…

I can’t get into specifics here, but..after some tragic events in his country, he came to this country at the end of last summer. A few weeks later, he ended up in my ESL class.

Few words, huge smile
I remember when I first met this very sweet student, age 19, back in the fall. He couldn’t speak at all. I wanted to communicate with him, but couldn’t. Now, however, I can. Within just a few months, while working at a supermarket and practicing as much as possible, he’s been an absolute sponge, soaking up a lot of English. And now (even though he dropped my class), he’s doing well. He has this incredibly beautiful smile, a deep voice and a very special way of speaking. Each word carries power, and now he’s got a lot of words in his repertoire.

What does this have to do with me and my desire to learn Arabic?
—There was something about Mohammad and his two of friends from Palestine (whom I helped out last semester,) that touched my heart. I wish I’d been able to communicate with them, even just a few words, but I wasn’t able.  And then, when Mohammad and I had that conversation a few weeks ago, I found my urge to know Arabic growing. I began to wonder–could I learn Arabic?

—Then, after visiting some Arabic language learning websites, I felt an awareness of something deeper happening—an opening of a certain part of my brain to a third language…a desire to enter into another language dimension. My Spanish is quite good and I suppose I could work to improve that further, but….being a beginner just feels more exciting. So does entering a world of curly Qs and dots and unique sounds…

—Also, I stumbled on to a beautiful song by the former Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam)…he created it to teach his daughter the alphabet in Arabic. It’s incredibly beautiful and moving, so much so that I’d like to learn the song as another way into the alphabet and sound system. I find Cat Stevens really interesting. He had it “all,” by Western standards. Fame, fortune, etc…whatever he wanted. But he gave it up when he devoted his life to Islam. Wow.

Disclaimer: this video is religious in nature. If you’re not comfortable with that, you may not enjoy this. You could, if you want, look past the religion and see and hear and see the beauty….

—Another thing that appeals to me is learning more about a language spoken by people living in cultures so many Americans (and folks from other areas of the world) have strong opinions about. I like doing what others don’t necessarily want to do. Also, I don’t like generalizations about races, cultures, etc, and this includes the Middle East and its people. I’d rather connect with that and other cultures and learn as much of possible; I think it can only help people understand each other.

—And then there’s how difficult Arabic is. I’ve read that it’s one of the 4 most difficult languages for English speakers to learn. And I believe it. But…I suppose I like a challenge and I like to try anyway when I’m told, “That’s really hard….many people give up.” Well, that makes me want to try harder. 

—And there is a possible trip to Jordan that I’m considering (if I can combine it with Turkey and keep it affordable)….how amazing would it be to arrive speaking some Arabic and not just be a tourist? I’d love to truly connect, and being slightly conversational could help make that happen.

So…what’s it like to learn Arabic? What are the challenges? Why is it so damn hard? I’ll tell you….in the next blog. 

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~ by professoregle on February 19, 2009.