One of the reasons that I decided to study abroad in Palestine was to improve my Arabic. After five semesters or so of language study in the States, I felt like the necessary next step was to immerse myself in an Arabic-speaking environment overseas. I had some pretty clear ideas about what this would look like ahead of time, but of course my actual experience has differed in a great variety of ways [a common theme]. Overall, learning Arabic here has been a lot more challenging than I anticipated. It took me a while to begin to understand the factors contributing to this, but I have recently come to the realization that many of the difficulties of language-learning correlate in an interesting way with the general challenges of living abroad [and thus, the "life-learning" that comes along with that]. There are many facets to this comparison, a few of which I thought may be valuable to share:
Beginning with humility allows the most room to grow. Before coming to the Middle East, I felt like I had a fairly good grasp on the language; but I soon realized that I knew far less than I thought, or at least couldn't communicate as well as I had hoped. Part of this is due to the more formal variation of Arabic that I studied--called FusHa, or Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). This register of Arabic is used in scholarly work, the news, and religious texts--but not so much in every day life. Although it is understood by most, it differs pretty substantially from the Arabic dialects spoken on the street [which also differ from country to country, and even sometimes from city to city]. Therefore, in my conversations with Palestinians in their local dialect, it felt like I was starting almost from scratch. The same thing could probably be said about my general understanding of this place, which I think is actually a pretty healthy place to begin.
To learn, we must take risks. My greatest advice to any language learner [which I honestly need to listen to more myself] is to just jump in and try to use it. This involves getting over the fear of sounding stupid or making mistakes. It means intentionally choosing to be uncomfortable and unsure of yourself. Yet, I am pretty sure there is no better way to learn than to wrestle through the uncertainty and challenging moments, in regards to language and life. Thinking back to pre-living-in-Palestine days, deciding to come here felt like a risk that I wasn't sure I could handle. Although struggles did come, I can confidently say that I have learned and grown an incredible amount through immersing myself in this experience. And that has made it more than worth it.
Perseverance and patience are key in this process. Sometimes once deciding to take a risk and trying my best to communicate in Arabic, I am met with blank stares and end up reverting to English. These instances can be really disheartening. So can spending an hour reading just one Arabic news article and still not understanding half of it. At these times, I can't help but think, "Well, there is no hope I will ever be anywhere near fluent. Maybe I should just give up now..." But then, some wise person usually reminds me that learning is a process, and that I can't expect myself to have everything figured out right now. Those are really good words to hear [in relation to just about everything]. It's also so good to hear that when I reach my limit, it's okay to ask for help.
And lastly, it's good to reflect on how far we've come. Clearly, I have expressed some frustrations with my Arabic abilities here, but there have been some [if rare] "aha" moments where it feels like the pieces are finally coming together. Sometimes this comes in the form of something as simple as overhearing a conversation and realizing, "Oh hey, I just learned that word in class today!" Or sometimes it helps to remember that I couldn't even imagine reading this swiggly alphabet a few years ago, and now I am writing essays in Arabic about Orientalism and migration patterns and women's rights. I guess that is pretty cool :) Relating this to Palestine/The Middle East/Human Rights/Life in General, I am well aware that I still have a ton to learn, but also I think I have come a long way. I hope I have become more knowledgable, sensitive, and wise--and I really hope I will continue to advance in these ways in the future, inshaAllah.
I'll leave you with a final quote, a favorite of my good friend and fellow justice-seeker Rob:
Beginning with humility allows the most room to grow. Before coming to the Middle East, I felt like I had a fairly good grasp on the language; but I soon realized that I knew far less than I thought, or at least couldn't communicate as well as I had hoped. Part of this is due to the more formal variation of Arabic that I studied--called FusHa, or Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). This register of Arabic is used in scholarly work, the news, and religious texts--but not so much in every day life. Although it is understood by most, it differs pretty substantially from the Arabic dialects spoken on the street [which also differ from country to country, and even sometimes from city to city]. Therefore, in my conversations with Palestinians in their local dialect, it felt like I was starting almost from scratch. The same thing could probably be said about my general understanding of this place, which I think is actually a pretty healthy place to begin.
To learn, we must take risks. My greatest advice to any language learner [which I honestly need to listen to more myself] is to just jump in and try to use it. This involves getting over the fear of sounding stupid or making mistakes. It means intentionally choosing to be uncomfortable and unsure of yourself. Yet, I am pretty sure there is no better way to learn than to wrestle through the uncertainty and challenging moments, in regards to language and life. Thinking back to pre-living-in-Palestine days, deciding to come here felt like a risk that I wasn't sure I could handle. Although struggles did come, I can confidently say that I have learned and grown an incredible amount through immersing myself in this experience. And that has made it more than worth it.
Perseverance and patience are key in this process. Sometimes once deciding to take a risk and trying my best to communicate in Arabic, I am met with blank stares and end up reverting to English. These instances can be really disheartening. So can spending an hour reading just one Arabic news article and still not understanding half of it. At these times, I can't help but think, "Well, there is no hope I will ever be anywhere near fluent. Maybe I should just give up now..." But then, some wise person usually reminds me that learning is a process, and that I can't expect myself to have everything figured out right now. Those are really good words to hear [in relation to just about everything]. It's also so good to hear that when I reach my limit, it's okay to ask for help.
And lastly, it's good to reflect on how far we've come. Clearly, I have expressed some frustrations with my Arabic abilities here, but there have been some [if rare] "aha" moments where it feels like the pieces are finally coming together. Sometimes this comes in the form of something as simple as overhearing a conversation and realizing, "Oh hey, I just learned that word in class today!" Or sometimes it helps to remember that I couldn't even imagine reading this swiggly alphabet a few years ago, and now I am writing essays in Arabic about Orientalism and migration patterns and women's rights. I guess that is pretty cool :) Relating this to Palestine/The Middle East/Human Rights/Life in General, I am well aware that I still have a ton to learn, but also I think I have come a long way. I hope I have become more knowledgable, sensitive, and wise--and I really hope I will continue to advance in these ways in the future, inshaAllah.
I'll leave you with a final quote, a favorite of my good friend and fellow justice-seeker Rob:
"One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time." --Andre Gide
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