Arabic help tips? A very difficult language, and VERY socially tricky practicewise.
05-13-2017, 12:40 AM
I spent nine months in Morocco and am now at a high intermediate level - and this was when I was mostly speaking English with other students and in my courses. I am stunned at how good I got so quickly, and I know that if I intensely focus on it for about two years, I could be near fluent before I know it.
The main problem is obvious - there is a massive cultural divide between the Islamic world and the West. Even when I was abroad and had plenty of downtime after homework, I was hesitant to make friends outside of the program, preferring to keep my distance from devout Muslims (I don't think you can just casually attend a mosque service and expect to not be asked back). I made a few friends - one an atheist who still lived at home with his Muslim relatives, and one a relaxed, indifferentist Muslim who regularly posts lefty crap all over his Facebook. However, due to being nervous about the whole thing (not to mention being an alt-right Trump fanboy), I didn't regularly hang out with locals and therefore didn't become fluent. As this was North Africa and not the Levant, it was impossible to make local friends in a non-Muslim context...the few Christian churches in the area were full of French-speaking Africans or other students that spoke English. I didn't meet one Moroccan Christian.
I am now back in America, and in a city with a limited Arab population - Milwaukee. There are a mix of Moroccans, Jordanians, and Palestinians here. I already tried looking around at the Christian churches - the one Byzantine Catholic church in the area is full of people who are DESCENDED from Levantine Arabs, so virtually none of them speak any Arabic. There is a Coptic Orthodox church in a distant suburb. I'd consider attending services there if Egyptian wasn't such a notoriously dense dialect.
What exactly do I do? I am going to be in the United States until at *least* late 2018 or 2019, and I want to maintain and build on what I've learned. I feel that if I don't practice with actual people, this language is going to slip away from me and I'll have wasted nine months, but I'm at a loss as to how to find partners - outside of attending one of the local mosques or hanging out with the Muslim Student Alliance on campus. Should I get a part-time gig at one of the Arab-owned nightclubs?
This all said, I am new to learning languages, despite having a natural talent for it. Maybe there's a way to practice without other people that I am unfamiliar with.
The main problem is obvious - there is a massive cultural divide between the Islamic world and the West. Even when I was abroad and had plenty of downtime after homework, I was hesitant to make friends outside of the program, preferring to keep my distance from devout Muslims (I don't think you can just casually attend a mosque service and expect to not be asked back). I made a few friends - one an atheist who still lived at home with his Muslim relatives, and one a relaxed, indifferentist Muslim who regularly posts lefty crap all over his Facebook. However, due to being nervous about the whole thing (not to mention being an alt-right Trump fanboy), I didn't regularly hang out with locals and therefore didn't become fluent. As this was North Africa and not the Levant, it was impossible to make local friends in a non-Muslim context...the few Christian churches in the area were full of French-speaking Africans or other students that spoke English. I didn't meet one Moroccan Christian.
I am now back in America, and in a city with a limited Arab population - Milwaukee. There are a mix of Moroccans, Jordanians, and Palestinians here. I already tried looking around at the Christian churches - the one Byzantine Catholic church in the area is full of people who are DESCENDED from Levantine Arabs, so virtually none of them speak any Arabic. There is a Coptic Orthodox church in a distant suburb. I'd consider attending services there if Egyptian wasn't such a notoriously dense dialect.
What exactly do I do? I am going to be in the United States until at *least* late 2018 or 2019, and I want to maintain and build on what I've learned. I feel that if I don't practice with actual people, this language is going to slip away from me and I'll have wasted nine months, but I'm at a loss as to how to find partners - outside of attending one of the local mosques or hanging out with the Muslim Student Alliance on campus. Should I get a part-time gig at one of the Arab-owned nightclubs?
This all said, I am new to learning languages, despite having a natural talent for it. Maybe there's a way to practice without other people that I am unfamiliar with.