Hello, friends. I know I haven’t posted much recently (this has been the busiest summer of my life, I swear!) but I wanted to let you know that today is the day I take my first trip to the Middle East. Wish me luck, and I’ll be sure to post pictures and tell stories when [...]
Archive for the ‘Jenny's Adventures’ Category
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
20 Apr
Bonjour, mes amies!
My first foreign language was not Arabic, it was actually French. I loved it so much, and was lucky enough to travel twice to France during my studies. This week I am on vacation in Paris, and hopefully, my French will emerge and I’ll stop trying to say everything in Arabic. I am, however, bringing [...]
13 Apr
I’ve got peace like a…pigeon?
I have a funny little story to share with you from my class last week. We have transitioned from novels and autobiographies to poetry, which is a fun challenge. Reading Arabic poetry maybe seem like it would be easier than following the plot of a novel, but in a lot of ways, it’s actually more [...]
10 Mar
Do I have stitches on my teeth?
I think that the universe has been alligning to make me write a post about teeth, dentists, floss, and oral hygiene. Why, you ask?
First, it started with Rose struggling to come up with a word or phrase for dental floss in Chinese. I told her I’d find out how to say it in Arabic, because [...]
9 Mar
And now, our feature presentation
Today in Arabic class I am giving an oral presentation. Here’s my question:
ما هي أهم الموضوعات التي تناولتها الرواية العربية الحديثة؟
Or, in English: What are the most important topics addressed by the modern Arabic novel?
Wish me luck!
قدم qadama
:to present
حدث hadatha
:to talk, speak, report, tell
تقديم taqdim
:presentation
مقدم muqaddin
:presenter, giver, donor
محدث muhaddith
:speaker, talker, narrator
مناقشة munaqasha
:discussion
شفاهي shifahi
:oral
