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October 21, 2009 | Arabic

Playing Cards—Flashcards, That Is

We play Arabic flashcard games in my English class.

I taught at the Arab American Association today. Three students and I spent part of our session playing card games with my Arabic-English flashcards. It was a great idea, I think—so much fun! The principal game was that a…

October 22, 2009 | Arabic

Audio Quality Trials and Tribulations

It is harder to learn Arabic when you can't hear it properly.

Because of poor sound quality, I am getting earaches and headaches from the Arabic III lessons I purchased from Pimsleur reseller PimsleurAudio.com. I am pissed off. I bought the lessons as downloadable files rather than in CD format; it’…

October 23, 2009 | Arabic

An “R” Rolls In

In which I acquire startling new physical powers.

PimsleurAudio.com finally sent me replacement audio files. They are better, but still not of the same quality as the dozens of Pimsleur lessons I have already done in Russian and Arabic. Nonetheless, there is no longer any danger of…

October 26, 2009 | Arabic

Arabic at the Drugstore

One of my favorite neighborhood drugstores is full of Arabic speakers. Who knew?

A few days ago I joined Facebook. I don’t know what came over me, but after years of recalcitrance, I did it on a whim while in the office. I was pleased to see that it has Arabic script…

October 29, 2009 | Arabic

Marathon Fever, and Languages Everywhere

Foreign languages and fleet-footed runners all around.

Today I went to Café Margot for my coffee. Soon after I sat down, a woman and her daughter, around five years old, came into the café. The little girl was speaking English. The mother, however, did not look American…

October 30, 2009 | Arabic

Working the New York City Marathon

I talk to runners from around the globe.

Today I woke up super early. Too early. So I got out my Pimsleur lessons and started doing one in bed, and within a few minutes I was asleep. Thanks once again to Dr. P.—who I think could be…

October 31, 2009 | Arabic

Arabic Concludes

On the last day of Arabic studies, I reflect on what I did and did not accomplish.

Although I could have allowed myself to become a lame-duck language learner on the final day of my two-month Russian and Arabic stints, I have so far been good about continuing through to the very end. Today I woke up,…