After 5 semesters of Modern Standard Arabic at the University level you’d think I’d have a bit more confidence when speaking the language- oh, let’s not forget that I spent the better part of my early childhood in Saudi Arabia and I’ve been immersed in it my entire life since it is my father’s first language.
You’d think I was capable of slipping out a sentence or two with some ease, but that’s not how it worked out.
The only Arabic I hear these days is when I go to get my hair done at Asma’s salon, or when I decide to listen to some Nancy Ajraam or Amr Diab…and every now and then when my boyfriend is on a long-distance call to one of his relatives.
I had all but given up entirely…I thought with so many native speakers around me I’d have no trouble, but that wasn’t the case. I was learning MSA, a formal Arabic, while everyone else was using slang. My father’s side of the family all speak the Egyptian dialect (I won’t get started on how confusing that can be) and most of my friends speak the dialect of the Levant region (Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon…)so I was getting corrections all over the place which, can be very helpful, but when they start contradicting each other, well that’s just stressful.
Anyway, I’ve really been wanting to finish what I started, so yesterday I bought Rosetta Stone Arabic 1 & 2. It’s what we used in my Arabic classes at the University. I found it very helpful, although at times it was boring. And frustrating…I can remember the day we were working on learning directions; I must have gone through that lesson 7 times before the program let me move on to the next one.
But all the same, it was very helpful for listening comprehension. I’m expecting it in the mail at the end of the week, inshallah.
Let’s see if I can manage to set aside some time to actually work on it.