The first half of my life was spent in Europe with American parents, which has made me highly sensitive to cultural and linguistic differences between people and regions. This has translated into studying 5 separate languages seriously (6 more less so) and a thirst for experiencing cultures unlike those familiar to me. Basically, I’m a linguaphile (i like languages and, especially, words).
- I learned Dutch by living in Holland until I was 9. My comprehension is pretty good and grammar still comes easy, but I need practice.
- French was an easy pick. My parents speak it, it was offered in school, so I took it from Middle School on.
- German was the same. Dutch helped with that.
- Then, Arabic. I initially picked it because I was curious.
Somehow, I got it into my head that I needed a serious challenge to kick off my secondary school career and so I marched in to Modern Standard 1 the first day of freshman year. Not only were my classmates and I faced with learning a new alphabet, but it became clear that the grammatical structures we hold dear as English speakers would be, for a large part, out the window. What do you mean, there is no word for “to be”? How were we supposed to express simple sentences, as in, “I am in over my head”? As the weeks carried on, I confused my roommate by sounding out words to myself for hours, drew letters in the margins of my notes, and sat at my desk (taawila) reading (iqraa) my book (kitaab). Loop and dot, upside-down loop, bent squiggly thing: was I really writing something?
Yes, apparently.
As the semesters have passed, my confidence has increased exponentially. Though I still make many mistakes, I am able to express myself in conversation. I chose Arabic as a departure from what I was accustomed to and it has grown into a full-fledged passion. I listen to Oum Kalthoum and Nancy Ajram at the bus stop, watch Alam Simsim on YouTube…
[arithmetic in arabic--plus Grover!]
Still, sometimes, people give me double takes when I pull out my flashcards or my exercise book. Pittsburgh has been a great community in which to begin my studies of Arabic, but often I find myself explaining to others why this matters so much. It is impossible to forget that I am still a part of the generation that sat in our grade school classrooms watching 9/11 unfold, that has lived through three wars in Middle Eastern countries. Americans often have strong feelings on the topic, but I know through my studies that what we see on the news is not representative of all of the richness that is behind the frightening headlines.
My study of Arabic is a small way to prove that the headlines are not everything to see or experience about the Arabic-speaking world, as many Westerners still believe. In the future, I hope to find a way to bridge that gap through international diplomacy or nonprofit work. I am ready to be a proud ambassador for cross-cultural linguaphiles in my community and in my academic environment.
