First Week at Qasid= DONE

My first week at Qasid has come to an end. Qasid is the language institute that teaches Arabic to non-native speakers. The institute is housed on the third floor of an office building that is a 5 or 10 minute cab ride from my apartment. Qasid focuses on both Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic. Modern Standard Arabic (or fousha) is formal Arabic that is used in newspapers, news broadcasts and public speeches. Classical Arabic, on the other hand, is the Arabic of the Qur'an. Classical is even more formal than Modern Standard Arabic. At Qasid, I am in the Modern Standard Arabic track. This means that from 11am to 2:30pm I am in class with the 6 other students in Level 3 using Modern Standard Arabic. I have two instructors. The first is Beyan. Beyan is maybe 24 years old and graduated from the University of Jordan with a degree in French. She knows English well enough that if we are stuck on a word or phrase she can translate it for us. She clearly loves working at Qasid. This enthusiasm permeates the way she teaches. We do debates, conversations and various games with Beyan. The second instructor is Arwa. Arwa is in her upper-20s (I am assuming) and is equally enthusiastic about teaching. Arwa speaks more quickly than does Beyan and is therefore a little harder for me to understand. Awra focuses more on grammar and the technical sides of Arabic.

After my Level 3 classes, I go to a grammar class from 2:30- 4pm. The grammar course is taught by a man in his mid 20s. He is originally from the United States and studied at Qasid himself. It is an impressive feat to study Arabic as a second language and master it well enough to teach the grammar course. This class will be the most challenging for me. It is difficult to explain why it will be so difficult. I will try. Arabic has short vowels that appear as markings above or below the letters themselves. Check out this link for a visual: Arabic Text. The hard part is that in newspapers or everyday writing, these short vowels aren't written but are simply assumed. I have been learning Arabic for the past 3 or 4 years without these vowels. This grammar class, however, requires that I use all of the short vowels, understand their placement and implications for a word. I am essentially starting Arabic grammar from its foundation. This will be good in the long run but for now it is tedious and time consuming.

My first week was long and exhausting. Language classes are so exhausting because your brain has to be tuned in all the time. Whereas in some university lectures, if you zone out for 5 minutes you can tune in again and probably sufficiently fill in the gap. This is not the case with classes entirely in a foreign language. There can be no zoning out unless you want to be completely and utterly lost. Moreover, with a class of only 7 people, any glazed over expressions are easily noticed. Beyond this, I get home from class, eat dinner and then work on homework for another few hours. I must say, however, that I notice that my Arabic recall is improving. I am better able to understand and respond. It has only been one week! I can't wait to see how I will be by December.

I am also anxious for my colloquial Arabic classes to begin. In a few weeks, I will take Levantine Arabic classes 2 or 3 days a week for 1 or 1.5 hours in the evenings. Levantine Arabic is the colloquial or "street" Arabic spoken in Jordan, Palestine, and Syria. This will be particularly useful to learn because outside of Qasid and the news, no one really uses Modern Standard Arabic. Colloquial classes will help make everyday interactions more accessible and much less embarrassing.