I’m happy to announce the new free Arabic teaching module co-created by myself and Laila Familiar on Khallina.org available here. In this module, we investigate transnational social issues in the Arab World through literature and graphic art. These issues include: refugees and refugee camps, fleeing violence, immigration, cultural challenges for immigrants, studying abroad, and making choices about where and how to live one’s life. IN THIS MODULE, LEARNERS WILL:
Meet an artist who addresses social issues through comix
I’m just wrapping up a late summer group read of:
The Green Bicycle By Haifaa Al Mansour This is a light, fun read if you enjoy YA literature and you have any interest in what it would be like to grow up in Saudi Arabia. The text flows easily, and the main character is a misfit, intelligent and critical of what goes on around her. In that sense, it reminds me of books like Kiffe Kiffe Tomorrow (From the perspective of an Algerian-French girl, translated from French – By the way, this book is still on my to-read list – Anyone want to read it with me?
Arabic Language Resources by Dialect ~ مصادر بالعربي I. Egyptian ~ مصري MelodyTV
I’m loving Netflix’s series, “Secret of the Nile” (the Egyptian adaptation of Spanish “Grand Hotel,” from Ramadan 2016)
Old favorite films
Egyptian units by William Fawzy – and “talk show archives“
2020 addition: a new blog & podcast called Bilmasri
II. North African ~ دارجة Painless Arabic Videos
Hespress News
III. Levantine ~ شامي One of my favorite ways to practice this dialect is مسلسل سنوات الضياع.
As a fairly recent new mother (since Aug. 2016), I am still navigating the exhilarating ups and downs of life with a young child. So when the opening of this poem appeared in a recent translation project, I snatched it to share here:
Life is fleeting, so use it to honor your parents First and foremost, your mother ## The pressures of pregnancy and breastfeeding Sustain the welfare of all human beings ## Even kings must respect and heed them: Earthly kings are merely sparkling rain – The first three lines of a six-line poem by Abu ‘Ala’ al-Ma‘arri, 973-1057,
Ready for some adventure tales? Join us in reading “101 Nights” (Miit layla wa-layla). Like its most famous cousin, “1001 Nights” (also called Arabian Nights), this medieval story collection also includes the frame tale of Shahrazad saving her life with her storytelling. However, our text is shorter, older, and likely has North African or Andalusian origins. It’s much more unified, and the translation looks excellent. I for one am looking forward to adding some fun to my reading this month!
This article translated from Moroccan press by Melanie Magidow
(Hespress April 28, 2018, Wail Bourchachene)
Abdelfattah Kilito, Moroccan writer and literary critic, deplored that his Masters students in the last several years before his retirement “really read nothing.” In an interactive lecture at Ibn Tufail University in Kénitra, he stressed that the students were not familiar with important literary references and prominent writers.
Regarding the titles of his books, Kilito said they were not determined by commercial motives.
Today I learned of Emily Nasrallah’s passing. As a student at NYU, I used to shop at the Dahesh Heritage bookshop (since closed, sadly). The kind and helpful shopkeeper, Mike Masri, is the one who first mentioned her to me, placing her book Fi l-bal / In Mind, in my outstretched hands. This book of essays about her first starts in the world of journalism endeared her to me instantly.
المقتبس التالي من صفحة ٣٤٦ من الباب المفتوح مصدر الصورة
I’m teaching a new introductory Arabic community class at The Collective. We had a great time last night at the first session! The remaining four sessions are on the following Thursdays (all 7-8 pm at The Collective): Th. 2/22, Th. 3/1, Th. 3/8, and Th. 3/15.
Here is a recent article about a beginning Arabic class for fourth graders in Bozeman, Montana. The fee-based class was organized by parents who want their children to have a chance to learn foreign languages.
This post celebrates and complements our first group read of 2018 in the Middle East North Africa Lit group on Goodreads.com: الباب المفتوح / The Open Door by Latifa al-Zayyat! This is one of the most enjoyable feminist classics in all of Arabic literature, as far as I’m concerned. As a historical novel, it transports us to a time when Cairo was part of the British empire, and Egyptians were ready for a change!
