Week 1 Recap : كيف كان اسبوع 1

So, I’ve decided to go about this whole blogging thing a bit differently than I had originally anticipated. I’m going to try to post in English and Arabic so I can keep practicing my target language skills and be understood by my non-Arabic speaking readers.                   So here goes!

Class
My Modern Standard Arabic class is taught by two male professors, one from Egypt and one from Morocco. I realized on Sunday afternoon when I met both of them during orientation that I would have a hard time understanding what my Moroccan teacher was saying. Prior to language schools, all of my Arabic professors have spoken Egyptian or Lebanese Arabic, so I’m very much accustomed to that dialect. I started writing this on Friday (#TGIF) after having had five days of class and I have had to actively work to understand what my Moroccan teacher is saying every day. This was extremely frustrating for me (especially on Monday and Tuesday) but I’ve accepted that I’ll just have to work harder. Inshallah this will pay off when I’m in Morocco in Spring 2017 and able to understand everything that is said around me. Since there’s an add/drop period to let students test out other levels, our class composition has changed every day this week. (I’m positive that I’m in the right class alhamdullilah).
Another challenge I’ve faced is that I don’t feel as if my vocabulary is as expansive as the other students’. This week’s unit was on the Arab Spring so I learned a lot of new vocab related to politics and economics. I’ve always preferred grammar lessons to memorizing vocabulary in my language study, but this class might be changing my mind though. Every night, we read one or two articles and discuss them in class the next day. Reading was probably the weakest of my four core language skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) but the professors started off the class by going over strategies for getting more out of reading and I can honestly say that I’ve improved drastically just over the past five days.
Another aspect of the program for those in the upper levels is a daily class in the Arabic dialect of our choice. Since I’ll be studying abroad in Morocco next spring inshallah I’m learning Moroccan Darija. My class is once again taught by my regular professor who is from northern Morocco and a female professor from southern Morocco. I like that the professors are from different regions because they pronounce words differently and are helping me get accustomed to different accents. One frustration I have with the class is that we’re encouraged not to take notes (they don’t actively stop us from writing things down, but you can tell they’re not thrilled). Moroccan Darija is almost unintelligible to other Arabic speakers so it feels like we’re learning an entirely different language at times.

Outside of Class

Every Saturday, the entire Arabic school gathers to watch an Arab(ic) film.  The first film we watched was called “Terrorism and Kebabs” and was funny for the first hour and then I just wanted it to end.  I was also very much distracted because the main character looked like Jimmy Fallon in disguise.  The second film we watched was a documentary in English that I didn’t enjoy at all.

On Wednesday nights everyone is required to attend a guest lecture.  This week’s lecture was about the month of Ramadan and its textual and real-life significance.  The lecturer cited passages from the Quran, Torah, and the Bible about fasting and this actually encouraged me to start listening to and reading the Bible in Arabic.

Personal

It feels great to be back in school (nerd alert lol), but I’m having trouble managing my time (example: I started writing this post on Friday and now it’s Tuesday).  Maybe it’s jetlag, but I get very tired and end up taking an hour long nap after class gets out at 3:30.  I do homework from 4:30ish to dinner, which is from 7:30 to 9:15 during Ramadan.  I like to stay for all of dinner to relax and talk with other students and teachers and then I return to my homework after.  I haven’t had time to go to the gym yet like I’d planned (most likely because of these daily naps) but inshallah I will have a better handle on my schedule next this week.

I’m not going to lie, I was pretty sad most of this week because I couldn’t stop thinking about the shootings in Orlando, but my friends have been very supportive of giving me space when I needed it and also checking in on me.   I’m excited for the next two months but also already counting down the days until I’m home (#conflicted).  We’ll see what the next few weeks bring.