These are just a few of my own opinions on why Arabic is a level 4 language, right up there with Russian and Mandarin:
First of all, the grammar is very difficult. Arabic is not written with vowels, but they have a very complicated word-ending vowelling system that we have to learn (because formal Arabic is vowelled, like the Quran and the Bible) that deals with case, such as genitive and accusative and nominative, and if it follows a preposition and if it is in a construct form, etc. And then they have some very confusing grammatical structures...especially in "high" Fusha (the name of the written language), that make little or no sense in English but make very beautiful Arabic.
In addition to the complicated grammar and multi-synonymic language which results in huge amounts of vocabulary words, there are several different dialects of Arabic: Fusha, which is the written language and which is the same in every Arab country, and then Amiyya, which is the name for the dialelcts. There is a different dialect for every country, and we learn Egyptian here and in Jordan we will learn, of course, Jordanian.
This is difficult not only because of the different words we learn and the different situations in which they can and cannot be used (for example, the verb "to want" is a different word in Fusha and Egyptian and Jordanian and Moroccan, etc) and the different pronounciations that each country uses of the same letters, but the grammar is completely different between Fusha and Amiyya. I pride myself on really understanding the grammar of Fusah (occasionally!), but I am unable to speak Egyptian or Jordanian because I speak too formally. All of the grammar that I studied so carefully just goes out the window with Amiyya!
In short, it is a frustrating language. It is delightful and thrilling when I understand something a grammar principle or remember my vocab, but it is distressing and upsetting when I am unable to make those connections.
It is just like learning anything, I suppose, but my biased opinion puts Arabic right up there with other incredibly difficult things.
And I can't wait until I am in country and it becomes really difficult! :)
1 comment:
My friend Greg (an Arabic major) has often joked, "if YOU had to learn Arabic verbs you would declare jihad too!"
Post a Comment