I've been thinking a lot about how difficult it is going to be to master Arabic, and how I will need to do this in order to fully participate in and appreciate life in Amman, and to eventually land a job once I move there. Today, I Googled (yes, that is a verb! My husband thinks I am crazy when I use it as a verb) "how long will it take to learn Arabic fluently?" I just love Google. One article I found broke languages out into levels, Level 1 being the easiest to learn and master, and Level 4 the most difficult. Well, Arabic is a Level 4. Within those levels are 5 levels of proficiency. Oh, joy! With so much on my mind these days in terms of preparing for my big move, I still have this nagging feeling that I should probably be devoting a bit of time to trying to learn some basic Arabic. Currently, my Arabic skills are limited to favorite food dishes that my mother-in-law prepares and some other food items, basic pleasantries, who/what/why/where/when words, and the vocabulary words of a toddler. On my last trip there in February, I learned the word "ball" while playing on the floor with my one year old nephew. I'd since forgotten it, but my husband retaught me yesterday. Phew! I know I probably sound like a Neanderthal as I grunt out single words in Arabic, trying to show off my linguistic prowess. I must sound laughable!
After my first trip to Amman in 2009, I "invested" in a complete Arabic language program from Rosetta Stone. I was so excited and I sat myself down to tackle Lesson 1 on basic vocabulary. I learned a few phrases and when I shared my new skills with my husband, he said I might be better off learning colloquial Arabic as what I was speaking was the equivalent of speaking in Shakespearean English. In short, I would sound ridiculous if I went around Amman speaking in this very formal manner. So, undeterred, I purchased an audio-only CD version of colloquial Arabic lessons on my next trip to Amman, despite the fact that the set did not come with an illustrated booklet of a man in a red car, or a woman drinking a glass of milk, or a boy on a bicycle or a girl eating bread. Upon my return to the U.S., I burned the CDs onto my Mac and laptop, and saved them to iTunes, adding them as a playlist to my iPod Nano. Surely, if I surrounded myself with Arabic at least 45 minutes a day, as I did chores or walked my dog perhaps, this beautiful and poetic language would seep into my brain by osmosis, I thought. I was sure this actually might work if I could just get past the overwhelming feeling that mastering Arabic was an insurmountable task. Epic fail. Life got hectic, I put it off, and now here I am, with only a little over 3 months to renew my commitment.
According to the article I read, if a person devotes 6 hours a day, 5 days a week to learning a foreign language, in 8 weeks (240 hours), he or she could be at a 1 or 1+ proficiency level in one of the "easy" languages, and to do the same in one of the "difficult" languages, it could be accomplished in 12 weeks (360 hours). Sure, no problem! (Here is a link to the particular article I read, though there are many other sources. http://clta-gny.org/article/how_long_does_it_take_to_learn.htm). I was encouraged to read that once immersed in a particular culture and language, one could pick up passable skills in a foreign language in roughly six months time. I can DO this!
My girls and I lovingly refer to the way our family in Amman speaks as "Arablish" because most conversations are sprinkled with English words when an Arabic word equivalent is hard to come up with or simply not available, or just because the mood strikes them. I imagine I will be speaking my own form of "Engbic" myself in a short while. In the meantime, I'm sticking close to my young nieces and nephews there who are so excited if I can say even one word in Arabic, and who cheer me on enthusiastically when I do. I'm also going to be holding my sweetheart to his promise to speak to me only in Arabic...that is, until I become frustrated and it starts to tick me off! I may not be basking in the sun, eating a fig whilst reading Darwish or Gibran in Arabic or even singing along to Fairuz anytime soon, but I look forward to the day when I can!
Good night, Amman and good afternoon, Seattle!
After my first trip to Amman in 2009, I "invested" in a complete Arabic language program from Rosetta Stone. I was so excited and I sat myself down to tackle Lesson 1 on basic vocabulary. I learned a few phrases and when I shared my new skills with my husband, he said I might be better off learning colloquial Arabic as what I was speaking was the equivalent of speaking in Shakespearean English. In short, I would sound ridiculous if I went around Amman speaking in this very formal manner. So, undeterred, I purchased an audio-only CD version of colloquial Arabic lessons on my next trip to Amman, despite the fact that the set did not come with an illustrated booklet of a man in a red car, or a woman drinking a glass of milk, or a boy on a bicycle or a girl eating bread. Upon my return to the U.S., I burned the CDs onto my Mac and laptop, and saved them to iTunes, adding them as a playlist to my iPod Nano. Surely, if I surrounded myself with Arabic at least 45 minutes a day, as I did chores or walked my dog perhaps, this beautiful and poetic language would seep into my brain by osmosis, I thought. I was sure this actually might work if I could just get past the overwhelming feeling that mastering Arabic was an insurmountable task. Epic fail. Life got hectic, I put it off, and now here I am, with only a little over 3 months to renew my commitment.
 |
Good, and better. |
 |
My intentions are good! |
According to the article I read, if a person devotes 6 hours a day, 5 days a week to learning a foreign language, in 8 weeks (240 hours), he or she could be at a 1 or 1+ proficiency level in one of the "easy" languages, and to do the same in one of the "difficult" languages, it could be accomplished in 12 weeks (360 hours). Sure, no problem! (Here is a link to the particular article I read, though there are many other sources. http://clta-gny.org/article/how_long_does_it_take_to_learn.htm). I was encouraged to read that once immersed in a particular culture and language, one could pick up passable skills in a foreign language in roughly six months time. I can DO this!
My girls and I lovingly refer to the way our family in Amman speaks as "Arablish" because most conversations are sprinkled with English words when an Arabic word equivalent is hard to come up with or simply not available, or just because the mood strikes them. I imagine I will be speaking my own form of "Engbic" myself in a short while. In the meantime, I'm sticking close to my young nieces and nephews there who are so excited if I can say even one word in Arabic, and who cheer me on enthusiastically when I do. I'm also going to be holding my sweetheart to his promise to speak to me only in Arabic...that is, until I become frustrated and it starts to tick me off! I may not be basking in the sun, eating a fig whilst reading Darwish or Gibran in Arabic or even singing along to Fairuz anytime soon, but I look forward to the day when I can!
 |
Oh, to be able to read these in Arabic! |
Good night, Amman and good afternoon, Seattle!
-M.
No comments:
Post a Comment