Asalam wa Allekum
Wa allekum asalam!
I started my Arabic class last night, given by the USDA Graduate School (don't ask me why the grad school is affiliated with the USDA, I have no idea). There courses during the semester are 10 weeks, but in the summer, they offer a 5 week intensive course, which means 3 hours every Monday and Wednesday evening until the beginning of September. I know it, I'm crazy.
This isn't the first time I started taking Arabic. Last year, I registered to take beginner's Arabic with the Middle East Institute, but they were not so convenient to get to at 6pm, and I was finding it difficult to really learn the new letters, so I dropped it after three classes. But I realized that it would help me immensely in terms of getting a job and doing field work, so I took the plunge and registered with the USDA. Their building is at L'Enfant Plaza, so it's on the way home from work, and I heard their classes are good. And, as luck would have it, they are using the same text I needed to purchase for the MEI class.
So, I'm sitting in class last night, and halfway thru, I remember why I dropped out last year in the first place. The letters are friggin confusing!! Take the B, T, N, Th, and E sounds. They all look the same. The only difference between them is the dots above or below the letter. And then, once they are all connected when you write out words (you write only in script), it just looks like a bunch of lines and dots. There is hardly any definition to the shapes!
I'm hoping to plow thru it though. I can request a refund up until the 3rd class, so if I can force myself to showing up thru next week, I will lose all justification to drop out and will have to finish. I guess 5 weeks isn't so long anyways.
Illa Lekha! (until we meet again)
Ma asalama. (go with safety)
I started my Arabic class last night, given by the USDA Graduate School (don't ask me why the grad school is affiliated with the USDA, I have no idea). There courses during the semester are 10 weeks, but in the summer, they offer a 5 week intensive course, which means 3 hours every Monday and Wednesday evening until the beginning of September. I know it, I'm crazy.
This isn't the first time I started taking Arabic. Last year, I registered to take beginner's Arabic with the Middle East Institute, but they were not so convenient to get to at 6pm, and I was finding it difficult to really learn the new letters, so I dropped it after three classes. But I realized that it would help me immensely in terms of getting a job and doing field work, so I took the plunge and registered with the USDA. Their building is at L'Enfant Plaza, so it's on the way home from work, and I heard their classes are good. And, as luck would have it, they are using the same text I needed to purchase for the MEI class.
So, I'm sitting in class last night, and halfway thru, I remember why I dropped out last year in the first place. The letters are friggin confusing!! Take the B, T, N, Th, and E sounds. They all look the same. The only difference between them is the dots above or below the letter. And then, once they are all connected when you write out words (you write only in script), it just looks like a bunch of lines and dots. There is hardly any definition to the shapes!
I'm hoping to plow thru it though. I can request a refund up until the 3rd class, so if I can force myself to showing up thru next week, I will lose all justification to drop out and will have to finish. I guess 5 weeks isn't so long anyways.
Illa Lekha! (until we meet again)
Ma asalama. (go with safety)
posted by elanit | 8:53 AM
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