Learning Arabic in Damascus

For degree level foreign language courses in the UK, spending an academic year in a foreign country is often a compulsory component. For Arabic courses, the main option is Egypt (Cairo or Alexandria) but also some varying options like Morocco, Syria and Jordan. Egypt is probably the most popular option and is offered as an option in most (if not all) Universities as a country for the year abroad. As much as I love Egypt though, Syria is where I wanted to go.

Since deciding that I wanted to learn Arabic, I was pretty set on spending some time in Damascus and up until lately my heart was set on spending my year abroad there. According to this news broadcast from a few years back, Syria was becoming a popular destination for aspiring Arabic learners:

It was Egypt's dominant position in the world of Arab cinema that lead to it becoming the most recognised Arabic dialect (ergo the most popular for students to learn). However, it is also through cinema that Syrian Arabic is becoming more popular:

"Egypt has long dominated the Arab film industry and with it, the world of dubbing. But thanks to the increasing popularity of Syrian musalsalaat, or soap operas, filmed on location rather than in studios, the Syrian vernacular with its soft lilting tones is on the up. It is used in everything from "Bab al-Hara", a saga about a Damascene neighbourhood under the French mandate to programmes dealing with Islamic extremism and adultery. Even Turkish soap operas such as Gümüs—Nour in Arabic—have been been dubbed into Syrian. The Syrians have been faster on their feet commercially when it comes to dubbing, and have offered cheaper rates than the Egyptians, where much television output is still in the hands of lumbering state broadcasters. Many also think that Syrian Arabic is closer in sound to classical Arabic, so more appropriate to a pan-Arab audience." - The whole article is here on The Economist.

If the events that are currently going down in Syria don't subdue then I probably won't be spending my year abroad there. It is disappointing but I guess to the Syrian people (and indeed to me) their freedom is imperative whilst my acquisition of their dialect is not.

Doesn't change the fact that I really, really, realllllly want to study in Dimashq. Hopefully when I get there/if I ever get there I will be welcomed by a free Syria.

How I learned the Arabic Alphabet

..and every other alphabet I've ever known: through song. I guess the only reason I still remember the order of the English alphabet is because of the song. Fact is, we remember songs better than we remember monotonous repetition. I learned the alphabet in order a few years back here when I first began to get interested in the language and since then it's stuck. Knowing the alphabet order is pretty handy when you're using an Arabic dictionary although (unfortunately) there aren't many situations where singing that song is particularly handy.

Just a little google search and you'll find that there's plenty of kids songs on various topics like months, days of the week, colours and fruits which are all both incredibly useful and incredibly silly for an adult learner. But there's nothing wrong with a bit of silly especially when it gets the job done!

Arabic Calligraphy

The Dashti Pen from ArabicCalligrapher on Vimeo.

I found this video completely fascinating. I don't even want to begin to comprehend the amount of work that this man had to put in to be able to create such beautiful calligraphy. Seriously, I hated the handwriting lessons I had last year. It's hours upon hours of practice and a lot of repetition and so considering that it wasn't of much importance in the scheme of things I kind of ignored it hence I have Arabic handwriting that wouldn't look out of place in a 1st grade Syrian classroom.

If I knew that learning a new script could lead to something this stunning, I would have perhaps paid more attention in those classes.