This post is for all of you out there who have studied Arabic with the Georgetown University Al-Kitaab series. If you have, you’ll know that Maha is a central character of the textbook. She tells you little facts about her life, and along the way you learn new vocabulary from Maha like “United Nations”, “swimming [...]
Archive for the ‘العربية’ Category
9 Jun
I wish I may, I wish I might
Such a small word. Such big ideas.
شاء sha’a
:to want; to wish
إن شاء الله in sha’allah
:God willing; it is hoped; hopefully
ما شاء الله masha’allah
:whatever God intends/wishes; amazing!; good!
الى ما شاء الله ila masha’allah
:forever and ever; for all time
3 Jun
The Syrian Bride
Directed by Israeli filmmaker Eran Riklis, The Syrian Bride tells the story of a Druze woman, Mona, living in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The film chronicles a single day- the day she is to be married to a Druze man who lives in Syria. The central conflict is that once she crosses the border into [...]
1 Jun
Blindness
I recently finished reading José Saramago’s novel, Blindness. It is the second of his books that I have read, and I felt so moved by it I spent quite a deal of time reflecting on it and writing my own review of the novel as post for here. I later decided that would stray just [...]
20 May
The shape of my heart
If you’re looking for a basic book full of vocabulary words and pictures, look no further than First Thousand Words in Arabic by Heather Amery. It’s part of a series- they have this same book for many languages. I found it at a used book store (surprise? no.) in Vermont and I absolutely love to [...]
19 May
I asked for a room with a bath
While frequenting one of my favorite used book stores in Raleigh, the Reader’s Corner, I stumbled upon a vintage travel phrase book in Arabic. I didn’t buy it for the phrases, really (although there are some good sentences in there) but to see perspectives on travel in the Middle East during the 1970s. It’s like [...]
18 May
Graduation mania
Hello world! Remember me? I’m officially finished with my second Arabic literature course, which is actually incredibly sad for me, but it means that I have a lot more time to devote to my blogs and to other pursuits.
These past two weekends I have been doing the graduation thing. My younger brother, J, graduated from [...]
4 May
My summer vacation
It’s as official as it’s ever going to be: this summer, for the very first time, I am traveling to the Middle East. Not only am I traveling for the first time to the region whose primary language I have studied for years, I am going to the place I always meant to go. This [...]
24 Apr
French lessons
Today’s post is all about French and Arabic, in honor of my current location. I’ve found that when I try to speak French, my brain automatically remembers Arabic words first. When I first started learning Arabic, everything came out in French. What’s a girl to do?
Here are travel phrases you might find yourself in need [...]
22 Apr
Exciting news to come
I’m in Paris right now, so it’s not time to tell you the news, but I do have a surprise for you soon and I wanted to give you a hint! (If you already know, shhh!)
خيم khem
:to pitch one’s tent, to camp
خيمة khaima
:tent
دولي dauli
:international
أول owwal
:first
