My first blog
I read these things all the time, and find them delicious...there's something wonderful about the Internet that makes ordinary people feel like posting their inner-most thoughts publicly, when they would rarely do such a thing in 'real life'. But here I am, joining them...
I am a graduate student on the west coast. I don't really feel like saying which school on the west coast, that seems a bit too personal and I don't want one of my classmates to find this thing and start sniggering at me. Anyways, I study the Middle East, which is completely fascinating and frustrating all at the same time. I tell people that when I go to seminars, we don't discuss, we yell. I mean, how can you talk about the war in Iraq, the status of Palestinians, and the countless other issues that make headlines everyday, and not feel your blood pressure start to jump just a little bit? Perhaps this only shows how nerdy I am. Another frustrating aspect of the Middle East (at least for me at this point) is the Arabic language. Don't kid yourself, it is not easy, not like learning French or Spanish. Not only do you have to learn an entirely new alphabet, you read backwards. The grammatical rules are entirely different from any other language I have tried to learn. Actually, the grammer doesn't frustrate me that much, I kind of feel like grammer is more like learning the rules of a puzzle than an obstacle to be overcome, but given the million things going on in my life, I just don't have the time to focus on language, which leads to frustration and lackluster grades. Which is why I am very excited about going to Lebanon this summer to study Arabic for 6 weeks. I figure devoting all of my time to learning the language has to help, ensha'allah (God willing), otherwise I will have to resign myself to sounding like a moron when I speak.
Speaking of Arabic, I have a "quiz" (more like an inquisition) tomorrow, so I must go off and study for it. More to follow, though I'm sure I have left absolutely no one hanging at this point. -C
I am a graduate student on the west coast. I don't really feel like saying which school on the west coast, that seems a bit too personal and I don't want one of my classmates to find this thing and start sniggering at me. Anyways, I study the Middle East, which is completely fascinating and frustrating all at the same time. I tell people that when I go to seminars, we don't discuss, we yell. I mean, how can you talk about the war in Iraq, the status of Palestinians, and the countless other issues that make headlines everyday, and not feel your blood pressure start to jump just a little bit? Perhaps this only shows how nerdy I am. Another frustrating aspect of the Middle East (at least for me at this point) is the Arabic language. Don't kid yourself, it is not easy, not like learning French or Spanish. Not only do you have to learn an entirely new alphabet, you read backwards. The grammatical rules are entirely different from any other language I have tried to learn. Actually, the grammer doesn't frustrate me that much, I kind of feel like grammer is more like learning the rules of a puzzle than an obstacle to be overcome, but given the million things going on in my life, I just don't have the time to focus on language, which leads to frustration and lackluster grades. Which is why I am very excited about going to Lebanon this summer to study Arabic for 6 weeks. I figure devoting all of my time to learning the language has to help, ensha'allah (God willing), otherwise I will have to resign myself to sounding like a moron when I speak.
Speaking of Arabic, I have a "quiz" (more like an inquisition) tomorrow, so I must go off and study for it. More to follow, though I'm sure I have left absolutely no one hanging at this point. -C
posted by Courtney at 7:43 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home