Learning Arabic

I started learning Arabic recently. I joined the IIUM Arabic course for the public.

I was interested to learn the language since last year.

Before this, I recite the Quran without reading its translation. After I started reading the Quran hand-in-hand with is translation, I began to realize the importance of learning the language.

Knowing the meaning makes reading the Quran more "powerful" (it's a bit hard to describe its effect). But translations are only poor substitutes of the real thing. They could never convey the true essence of the message.

So, I enrol with my sister to learn the language. Classes are held every Monday and Wednesday, 8-10pm. There are 25 sessions in all. There is an examination at the end of the course and if you passed, you may proceed to the next level.

There are 20+ students in my class. Most of them are working adults or retirees. Only a handful are still studying. I like the ustaz who's teaching my class. He is so funny. But he scares me a bit since he often bombards us with tough questions. You really have to be alert and do your homework!

I also like going to IIUM at night. The buildings look so majestic. You also see people of various ethnic backgrounds. It's so multi-cultural that it reminds me of the Musolla at Macquarie University.

I think I would like very much to further my study at IIUM one day.

2 years ago, I learnt French and German as part of the B. Ed. (TESL) Foundation requirement.

And now, I could only remember bits and pieces of the language:

J'taime, Au revoir, Oui, Bonjour, Merci

Hopefully, my foray into Arabic won't suffer a similar fate.

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From Marianne's handout:

Learners learn a language best when:

• they are treated as individuals with their own needs and interests
• they are provided with opportunities to participate in communicative use of the target language in a wide range of activities
• they are exposed to communicative data which is comprehensible and relevant to their own needs and interests
• they focus deliberately on various language forms, skills, and strategies in order to support the process of language acquisition
• they are exposed to sociocultural data and direct experience of the culture(s) embedded within the target language
  
• they become aware of the role and nature of language and culture
• they are provided with appropriate feedback about their progress
• they are provided with opportunities to manage their own learning

Taken from:
Pocket ALL: a user's guide to the teaching of languages and ESL
David Vale, Angela Scarino & Panny McKay

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From Jill Murray's handout:

A good language learner:

• attends to whether his/her performance meets the standards he/she has learnt
• enjoys grammar exercises
• begins learning in childhood
• has an above average IQ
• has good academic skills
• has a good self-image and lots of confidence
• is a willing and accurate guesser
• tries to get a message across, even if specific language knowledge is lacking
• is willing to make mistakes
• constantly looks for patterns in the language
• practices as often as possible
• analyses his/her own speech and the speech of others.

(Spada & Lightbown, 2001)