I learned how to understand enough spoken colloquial Arabic to have simple conversations and “get around” in a fairly short time. However, to learn to read and write it has taken me longer. I still make many mistakes, but I will learn this if it takes me the rest of my life. I want to learn to read Arabic better so I can also read and comprehend the words of Rasoul Mahomet (Muhammed) in the Holy Quran, and other works of both sacred and secular literature, insh’Allah (if G-d wants it to be, so it shall be, Amen).
I would like to apologise for many Americans who refuse to learn other languages, including Arabic. However, let me qualify for the sake of my fellow Americans and for others, who may resent our ehnocentricity, and the bigotry & arrogance which comes with it. Not all of us Americans are stubborn and foolish to refuse to learn another language. I know other Americans who also have learned Arabic, and other languages too. Americans unfortunately are often influenced by the racist attitudes of some Anglo-Saxons, some but not all of whom believe that everyone else should change to learn American English and American ways, such as eating at McDonalds and shopping at Wally World, which has done much to destroy the great old American economy and transition us into a nation of fast food workers and other service workers.
Please do not hold what some Americans do, against the United States which is still a great nation, under G-d, with liberty and freedom for all who walk within its borders. America is still changing and shall change more as a result of contact with other cultures, including Islamic culture and other Asian and African cultures.
I must add that recently, I have been diagnosed with what one psychiatrist thinks is parietal lobe syndrome, which gives me an advantage at listening and comprehending, but makes it a bit more difficult to comprehend visual cues, such as body language and maybe some written instruction or puzzles. Still, I do not do bad compared to others at reading.
For instance, I read all the Gulag Archipelago by Solzhenitsyn, and remember it quite well twenty years later. Arabic I am still studying, both colloquial and written (literary). I understand how you might not like some of the English translations. (lol). The Arabic is so much more poetical and sounds to me very beautiful. Insh’Allah you will learn more and better if you keep trying. There are little tricks you can do: some of them are called mnemnonics. Others are as simple and old fashioned as rote learning and repitition. Both work for me.
Insh’Allah you will continue to learn and will master both written and spoken Arabic. I pray you shall succeed in this, for I think both your heart and your mind can adhere to this mission, which involves some of the most pleasing and delightful tasks in study.
At least, for me, the study of Arabic has been a joy and has helped me in many ways. One of them was to assist me in understanding my brothers and sisters in other countries and cultures. I was able to teach my fellow soldiers how to understand and respect the people so we did not have such a hard time managing our missions in Kuwait and Iraq. Not a single soldier in my company was seriously injured or killed, alhamdu’lillah. (Thank G-d).
The Artist Who is formerly known as
Corporal Creighton, Alpha Company,
11th Engineers, 3rd Infantry Division,
Fort Stewart, Georgia, USA (hoooah!!!)
