Arabic Grammar is Hard

3.4.07

Today is the day that I started to pay attention to Arabic vowels, and verb forms.

In Arabic 201, I remember hearing these specific words, “Don’t worry about learning the verb forms right now.” So I didn’t, and it didn’t matter.

Now, it matters.

I wonder what it would be like to teach English as a Second Language. Would I die of boredom? Seriously, how do our teachers not want to kill themselves – the monotony of the job, the repetition, how little we understand…seriously. These teachers of mine have seemingly endless patience. They remind me of my High School mentors, Mr. Luikart and Mr. Hing – they inspire learning, they listen to us, they are extremely skilled and knowledgeable in their subjects…knowing Arabic is one thing, but knowing how to teach it to foreigners is another. I love my class dynamic. It’s so nice to be in a class where there is no communal language besides Arabic. It provides true immersion. I also love how we represent different parts of the world, and political, economic, and cultural topics always seem to come up.

Before knowing Nagihan and Aicha, the only thing that I knew about Turkey was from a documentary about Noah’s Ark that we used to watch as kids. Eye-witnesses accounts of sightings of the Ark on Mount Ararat (located on the border of Turkey) filled me with intrigue and wonder. I have always wanted to go there, climb that mountain, and see the ark with my own eyes. I totally believe it exists. In the documentary, there was this old guy that spoke in very slow, broken English, about his experience discovering the ark. His story always made me cry, even as an eight year old. Weird, remembering that.

I just helped Hibba with her English homework. She’s been writing her name “Heba.” I told her that “Hibba” looks a lot prettier. She decided to change it. There really aren’t rules for transliteration.

I don’t think I’ve ever studied past perfect and past continuous in English, but from my experience learning it in French, Arabic, and ASL, I was able to give Hibba a clear explanation in spite of my limited vocabulary.

Hibba has had a toothache for a long time. We went to the dentist after school. I was really worried about the quality of the dentist from how dirty the stairway to his office was (trash, cigarette stubs, dirt…nasty). I was pleasantly surprised to find the inside super spick and span, CLEAN. Rare thing in this place.

Adam and I talked a little bit about this. I told him that the Jordanian government could create hundreds and thousands of jobs by subsidizing pollution control or trash collection programs. He basically said that it wouldn’t work in this culture because this is a culture of “honor.” Picking up trash is not an honorable job. It’s humiliating. Think China, ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’, or ‘Mulan’.

In fact, the Arabic word for honor, sheref, in certain contexts can be more powerful than the F word in English. You can say, bishereffi! – On my Honor! But don’t you dare mention his honor, or her honor, especially in a negative way.

I know that it’s better for language acquisition purposes to not translate languages directly. However, for me, I’ve found that if I don’t try to attach English words to powerful words, like swears, I may end up embarrassing myself. It’s important for me to keep a word with similar power connected to it.

The F word is not strong enough for some usages of the word sheref. It took a while, but I finally found a stronger word, with the help of a friend.

Since I’ve left home, I’ve prayed and read my scriptures every day. However, only in the last week have I prayed before I go to sleep AND right when I wake up. It’s made a huge difference in my life. I understand more in class and at home, and I am happier. I miss people and places back home less, and I live more in the moment. Life here rocks.

Last week went by super fast. Insha’allah, it will continue this way!