I Can Talk Arabic! Well, I'm learning ...

I first made an effort to start learning Arabic back when I was attending university, shortly after I met my future husband.   He and one of his friends taught me the very basics, like numbers, colors, and how to say very simple things like thank you, hello and goodbye.  When I moved to Saudi Arabia five years ago, I thought it would be imperative for me to learn more Arabic, but instead I found that people wanted to practice their English with me!  So learning the Arabic language hasn’t really been an urgent top priority for me.  At my age, learning a language is much more difficult than when I was younger.  Heck, after moving to KSA in my mid-50s, it took me three weeks just to master what to say in Arabic when I sneeze! 

Finally after five years in KSA, I took the plunge and enrolled in a conversational Arabic class.  I wanted to take a course that was fun, friendly, and informal - and I wanted to enroll in a class that would not put any pressure on me with testing or performance.  With the “I Can TalkArabic” course, I got just that!  I am about to complete my first session of 8 classes and am eagerly looking forward to more.   Not only have I thoroughly enjoyed each and every class and met some fantastic women in the process, but this “Women Only” class is the best deal in town!  

Founded by Hadeel Al-Abassi (hadeel.alabassi@gmail.com), a Saudi  writer, family counselor, and a life coach, she wanted to start an Arabic language institute in Jeddah that would focus on conversational skills instead of classical Arabic and grammar.   “I Can Talk Arabic” is perfect for the woman who wants to be able to carry on simple conversations in a variety of common everyday situations, such as shopping, traveling, banking, or at school.   “ICTA” has been in operation for one year now and conveniently offers morning or evening classes, from beginners to advanced.  Students can pay a discounted rate for the entire 8 class session up front or have the option of paying for each class separately. 

   

One of the things I like best about the "ICTA" classes is the relaxed atmosphere.  Classes are held in the pool house within the walls of Hadeel’s family villa.  Instead of a structured classroom environment, it feels more like a group of friends getting together each week and having a good time.   Women from many countries all over the world are enrolled in the class I am currently taking.  Students include business women, teachers, nurses, and housewives.  To top it all off, drinks and refreshments are also provided at each class too. 

What I also like about these classes is the opportunity to forge friendships with some real Saudi women.  Since I don't work, it's not always easy to meet other Saudi women outside my husband's family.  In my eyes, Hadeel and her crew represent the best of the typical Saudi woman - motivated, busy working mothers, well-educated and well-traveled, volunteering their time to share themselves, their culture and their beautiful language with other non-Saudi women who often feel intimidated by the different customs and culture.  I feel honored to have met them.

As this fledgling institute continues to attract more students, eventually they will outgrow their current facility, move to bigger digs, and have to raise their fees.  But for now, I'm happy with this learning experience just the way it is.

A new session of  "I Can Talk Arabic" classes will be starting soon.  

If you are interested in these WOMEN ONLY CLASSES, you can find out more information on the ICTA website.    

You can also join ICTA on Facebook.  

And here is an Arab News article about the "I Can Talk Arabic" program.  

In Search of ... Turkey!

M y husband took me out in search of a turkey for Thanksgiving since I had been very disappointed that we hadn't had one the year before, shortly after I first arrived in Saudi Arabia.


First we went to an enormous brand new immaculate and stunning super market with the widest aisles I have ever seen. Surely they must have a turkey here. After checking the fresh meat department and the frozen section, my husband decided to ask an employee - who was cleaning the floor of this spic-and-span establishment and who apparently spoke neither Arabic nor English - if he knew where the turkey (in English) or "deek roomy" (turkey in Arabic) might be. The guy happily pointed us over to the Bakery Department (!?!), saying, "Turkey! Turkey!" Miffed, we walked over to the Bakery Department where we were greeted by the Manager of the Bakery, whose name badge introduced him to us as "Mr. Al-Turki."

The second huge super market we tried to find turkey in did actually have turkey, but it was precooked ready to eat deli turkey in those huge rolls that you can have the butcher slice off a kilo or two for you to take home and make sandwiches out of. Well, I'd really rather have a real turkey, but I guess this would do if we couldn't find anything else ...

The third place we went to is also a fancy super store - they call them "hyper markets" here. In the frozen section in the far corner of one of the chests tucked away between some frozen ducks was a single 4.11 kg frozen turkey! Yay! At this store, we also got the fixings for a homemade pumpkin pie and my famous jellied cranberry salad with celery, pineapple and walnuts.

Adam and I were so happy to have the traditional Thanksgiving meal, complete with mashed potatoes and gravy and stuffing. It was quite a mission finding a turkey in a country where many of the natives I have talked to about it claim to not LIKE the taste of turkey. The funny thing is that in the months following, we have seen several stores with an abundant supply of frozen turkeys! Next holiday, we'll get an earlier start ...

Struggling With The Arabic Language

My first exposure to the Arabic language came when I met my future husband back in 1977. We were college students and I had never really been around Arabs before. Adnan and his other Arab friends would hang out, socialize, and share meals together, and of course, speak in Arabic. I used to sit back and listen to these men conversing in this alien language, with its strange guttural sounds. One surprising thing that I eventually got used to was hearing the use of the “F” word sprinkled amidst the Arabic words. The inappropriate English word actually forms the ending sound for many normal Arabic words. I would wonder how this fascinating language could often sound so harsh, crude and abrasive, yet always appear so beautifully artistic when written out in script.

I began asking Adnan how to say easy phrases in Arabic, which I wrote down in a notebook. Fawzy, a friend of Adnan’s, also took it upon himself to try to teach me some Arabic as well. He even taught me to sing a beautiful love song in Arabic, which I still remember to this day. One of the lines from the song, loosely translated, says something like “whenever I try to speak, the only sound that comes out is your name… Your name is written on my voice.” I remember being requested to sing it a few times at some gatherings the Arabs had, and boy, did that make an impression on those in attendance. Here was this young blonde American girl singing a love song in Arabic – they loved it!

Years later, when our son Adam was born, my husband began speaking to him only in Arabic. So Adam has a much better understanding of Arabic than I do. And he is learning to read and write it in school, which I am thrilled about. It is not easy to learn any language when you are in your mid-50s, and certainly not a language as difficult as Arabic. I have two books to help me learn the language and lots of human helpers as well! Everyone tries to help me with new words and phrases. I try to speak it as much as I can and I ask questions about how to say things in Arabic, but it isn’t happening as quickly as I would like. If I could get to where I would understand much of what is being said around me and be able to carry on little conversations, I would be happy.

But to make matters worse, conversational Arabic is different from classical Arabic, which is used in the Koran and by newscasters and others on TV here. All native Arabic speakers of every dialect can understand what is being said on TV and in the Koran, but it is not the way people on the street speak. I remember years ago when I went to Egypt and tried out the Arabic I had learned from Adnan and Fawzy, I thought it was funny that Egyptians would tell me that I spoke with a Saudi accent. I thought Arabic was Arabic – silly me!

Many English words are actually rooted in the Arabic language. For example, many words in the areas of food and drink come from Arabic, like alcohol, coffee, lemon, orange, sesame, spinach, and sugar. Arabic also has contributed words to the English language in other fields as well, such as geography, architecture, navigation, music, plants, sciences, sports, commerce, textiles, chemicals, colors, and minerals, to name a few.

Some sounds used in speaking Arabic are non-existent in English, and vice versa. Arabic does not use the sounds of “P” or “V,” thereby making it very difficult for Arab native speakers to pronounce these letters when speaking English. Some Arabic letters represent sounds in English that are made up of two letters like “th” and “sh.” Other sounds used in Arabic are so difficult to describe, I won’t even try. But trust me, these sounds are very difficult for English speakers to enunciate correctly.

Trying to learn how to read and write the Arabic language may be well beyond my abilities. The Arabic alphabet has 28 letters which are consonants and three vowels which can be sounded short or long. Arabic letters look nothing like the letters in the English alphabet. Many Arabic letters are squiggly, curvy and curly, some with dots above and some with dots below, some with one dot, some with two. Depending on whether the letter comes at the beginning, middle, or end of the word, its written appearance can change. This makes it all the more difficult and confusing.

Arabic is written and read from right to left, the opposite of English. Something I find fascinating is that Arabic books which were written 1,500 years ago can be read and understood by any Arabic speaking person today. English didn’t even exist back then, and other languages that were in existence like Persian, Chinese and Greek have changed so much over time that older texts in those languages can only be read by scholars. Written Arabic is so beautiful it stands on its own as lovely artwork. Many Arabian homes display gorgeous artwork consisting of Arabic calligraphy made out of a variety of mediums such as metal or paint.

Arabic numbers are written from left to right, like in English. So when there is written Arabic text with numbers inserted into the text, the words read from right to left, but the numbers read the opposite way! Help!!! Plus some of the Arabic numbers are similar looking to English numbers, but some of those are totally different numbers. Interestingly enough, true Arabic numbers are what is used in the US. In Arabia, the numbers actually come from Hindu/Indian!

I have read on several other people’s blogs about how they were unable to achieve proficiency in becoming fluent in Arabic, despite having lived in the country for twelve, fifteen or even twenty years. This was discouraging for me to read since I had high hopes of somewhat mastering Arabic in maybe a year or two…or three! I think now that maybe that was unrealistic on my part. But I will continue to strive and I will not give up.