Arabic

- after two weeks we started attending our first arabic classes, and since then we`ve had lessons three hours a day, four days a week. The first lessons I didn`t really understand much, but after a while it became oh so much easier. Our teacher, Shirine, tells us that we`re doing great. I`m sure she tells all her students, but I choose to consider this irrelevant. So far we ARE doing great (in my own opinion of course), and it is a lot of fun to learn arabic. Marhaba? Ahlein. Kifik? Mniha. LHamdella! W 2enti? Lebanese is a fascinating language, and not quite like “regular” arabic, for those who might be deceived to think so. Without going in depth one could say that it is some sort of lovely mixture of arabic, french and english, and with a touch of the ancient phenexcian language (which the lebanese by the way were the “inventors” of some xx hundred years ago). The written language is however standard arabic, and the “internet language” a third version. Why make it easy? From the beginning we decided to learn both the spoken and the written language, something which I didn`t regret so far. It is fun to be able to read the signs on the buildings, and actually recognise some words. It is also fun when I can impress a few of the lebanese that cross my path with various rehersed words and sentences. Not unexpectedly there is also room for both decent and less decent words in my continuously increasing vocabulary, creating much joy for myself and the close surroundings. (Some of my new friends have even adopted a couple of expressions that clearly have a different accent than the ones they normally use) La wlo? (Nooo, really, are you kidding me??)