Letter People

Remember the days of the "Letter People"? You know, the happy characters that helped us all learn our alphabet in Kindergarten. Well, I wish there were Arabic Letter People, with coloring sheets that I could post around my bedroom. That would make language learning more exciting. Upon returning from our trip to Syria, I’ve spent the last week and a half attempting to focus on my studies of Arabic, with a set goal of studying for at least 4 hours every day, as my simple, moderately A-D-D-ish mind can’t handle any more than that. Now, after 2 weeks of studying, I can officially say that I can read, albeit quite slow and methodically, in Arabic. Of course, I don’t have any idea of the meaning of the words coming out of my mouth, but I can at least recognize the characters and sound them out. At this point, I sound like a kindergartner attempting to master the sounds of the aforementioned "Letter People.” I long for the day that I'll move up to the lofty "first grade" level...I'm afraid it won't happen any time soon.

So, with the basis of the alphabet now established, I can begin to work on actually speaking. I’ll start with the basic greetings, important vocabulary, and present-tense conjugation of the verbs. Realistically, this is probably as far as I’ll get with Arabic here in Lebanon, as I have under 3 weeks left, assuming, Inshallah (If God wills it), I get a visa to Sudan. I’ll continue my studies in Khartoum, which is better anyway, as the Lebanese Arabic I’m currently learning is quite different from Sudanese.

I apologize that I don't have anything more exciting to report about, but this is one of those seldom occurring boring times in my life. I need to enjoy it while it last, because things will start picking up soon.