Here’s a great article from Slate called “I’m Trying To Learn Arabic. Why’s it taking so long?” by Robert Lane Greene.
Summary of the article:
1. Arabic script is complicated and hard to learn
2. There are a number of sounds that are hard to pronounce for English speakers Continue reading “Article: Why learning Arabic is so hard”
At the request of one of my Arabic learning acquaintances on Twitter, أمريكية صعيدية @AmericanSaeedi, I am re-posting here the text of an interview made back in 2003. The interview is with Dr. David Wilmsen, who was at that time living in Egypt and working at the American University. Dr. Wilmsen is now, according to my quick google search, at AUB, the American University in Beirut. You can check out his academia.edu page, or his research publications.
The article was originally posted on my old website, egyptianarabic.com. That site was where we showcased our software Egyptian Arabic Vocab Clinic®, and Modern Standard Arabic Vocab Clinic® and Verb Clinic®. They are now no longer being distributed, as AUC Press decided to not continue publishing them.
On a side note, AUC Press is a fantastic publisher and puts out some of the best Egyptian Arabic course books, as well as other publications about Egypt. Check out their website. I don’t blame them for not continuing with distributing the Vocab Clinic software, as it was on CD-ROM and that medium kind of is a dim memory for most of us now, sort of in the cassette tape zone. If you used that software or are interested in an Arabic learning course, I am dropping a small hint here: stay tuned here for some upcoming news about something we are putting together. Or sign up for my newsletter over on the right sidebar. That’s all I will say for now.
Here’s the interview: Continue reading “Egyptian Arabic: Five Important Things”
It’s 2:00 am and I am checking in at Cairo Airport Terminal 1. Heading out of country for a short trip to the US and Canada. Gearing myself up for some COLD weather in Canada!
Airports have a lot of verbal interaction, as you deal with porters, check in agents, drivers, security people, and other passengers. Arabic definitely comes in handy.
Some people learning Arabic that I have come across here in Egypt seem to feel that the usefulness of Arabic is that it saves you from having to give tips, or lets you pay local prices. Personally I don’t care as much about this one, although it is in fact helpful for living on a budget. One trip’s worth of tips in a place like the airport can blow your whole monthly budget. But what I appreciate the most is the fun and sometimes humorous interactions it brings. For me, humor is good. And Egyptians love to joke and laugh.
A porter lifts my carry-on bag onto the security belt. I don’t actually need his help, and I don’t want to tip him because I’ve given out lots of tips already. So instead I joke with him, and get him smiling.
Porter: إنت بتكلم عربي كوايس. بقالك كم سنة فى مصر؟
(You speak Arabic well. How many years have you been in Egypt?”) Continue reading “Learning Arabic can take time”
Learning Arabic is something I get a lot of questions about. I started to learn Arabic in 1989. That was when I took my first course in Modern Standard Arabic. I have spent many years since then studying, learning, and using the language. I have helped people who want to learn Arabic by creating and publishing Arabic language learning apps.
Learning Arabic in Toronto (where I grew up) back then was not very easy. But it wasn’t really until I arrived in Cairo, Egypt, that I began to really move forward in being able to function in the language. I had come to Egypt with one purpose – to learn Arabic. It was August 27, 1991, and I was a brand new arrival in Cairo, on a year abroad at the American University in Cairo during my third year of a degree at the University of Toronto.
Why did I choose Arabic? And why Egypt? I chose Arabic because I was in a linguistics undergraduate program at the University of Toronto, and wanted to study a language other than the usual French, Spanish, and German that my fellow students were studying at the time. I chose Egypt because it was the only place I knew of that would allow me to transfer credits back to my university in Canada. Amazing how seemingly small decisions can change the rest of your life. I’ve been here ever since.
Many things have changed since I arrived in Cairo that day almost 25 years ago. Here’s some of the big ones: Continue reading “Learn Arabic – then and now”
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