Teaching

When I moved to Minnesota two years ago, I suddenly had a whole new world to learn and explore, from highways and county roads to social values and cultural norms. Along the way, I’ve found some books and other cultural artifacts that have enhanced the journey and I’m sharing them with you here today. The cultural diversity of the Twin Cities area that you’ll see reflected below includes Native American Indian, Hmong, Scandinavian, Somali, and other elements.

In this post, I want to bring together information and resources regarding children’s literature in Arabic. The primary impetus for this post is to inform and assist librarians and teachers, in public libraries and schools, particularly in the United States, who want to purchase and provide books in Arabic for kids and their families. Context First, we need to introduce one key linguistic concept: diglossia. Diglossia refers to the existence of multiple levels of language usage within any given language.

I lived in Cairo 2004-2005, attending the Center for Arabic Studies Abroad (CASA) program and interning at the UNESCO Cairo Office. Toward the end of my time in Cairo, a story I wrote in Arabic won first place in a writing contest. I’m sharing it with you here, with elegant English translation by Lily Sadowsky. Check out the PDF copy here for the original Arabic and the English translation together. Enjoy!

In honor of Salma Khadra Jayyusi, who passed away earlier this year, I’d like to revisit Juha the famous trickster character. I was fortunate enough to study Arabic langugage and literature during the years when Jayyusi’s PROTA project was bringing many works to the attention of readers in English. One of these works is published as Tales of Juha: Classic Arab Folk Humor (Northampton, MA: Interlink, 2007). This is a great compilation and rendition of many classic Juha stories.

Map of Morocco courtesy of David Rumsey Map Center, Stanford Libraries | Source انظروا هنا للنسخة العربية Guest Post by Meriem Sahli | In the following post, guest writer Meriem Sahli outlines important developments in education in Morocco and identifies remaining areas for improvement. INTRODUCTION The Kingdom of Morocco is situated in the North-Western part of Africa. Its geographic location makes it both an African and an Arab-Muslim country; it is a member of the African Union and the Arab League.

If you teach anything related to the region of Middle East/Southwest Asia and North Africa or you want to learn more yourself, this post is for you! Course Outline by Melanie Magidow and Christine Baker My colleague Christine Baker assisted with the design of the course outline provided here. Intended for an Introduction to the Middle East course, it provides many sources for learning about the region’s cultures, history, languages, religions, and societies.

In this chilly winter season, here’s a list of Arabic shows and movies with something for everyone to enjoy… Justice Secret of the Nile Wadjda Justice | Netflix | UAE | Crime / Courtroom TV Show | about a young woman lawyer (I liked it!) Secret of the Nile | Egypt | Netflix | Mystery, Drama, Romance | a beautiful reinvention of the Spanish telenovela Grand Hotel (one of my favorites!

This post is inspired by the many people I hear from who want to begin learning Arabic. If you’re interested in finding a program, check out my earlier post on Arabic Study Options. It includes a collection of resources. For those who just want to get their feet wet, so to speak, just taking baby steps into the alphabet and Arabic, here are some ideas for you: I have a brief Overview of the Arabic Language here.

Ghada Abdel Aal’s hilarious blog, عايزة أتجوز / I Want to Get Married was turned into a book, which has been translated into several languages. It was also adapted to an Egyptian musalsal / TV show. You can see it here. There are reviews of the book in The National here and on Muslimah Media Watch here. Hind Sabry I heard Ghada Abdel Aal speak in Austin, TX in 2010, and she seemed extremely intelligent, witty, and articulate.

In the current climate, audio and video sources are on the rise, but reading remains a key skill for language learners. For those learners who already love to read (in any language), extensive reading can be a powerhouse for their progress toward increased proficiency in Arabic. This 2-part series is based on research in language teaching, with a focus on learners of Arabic whose L1 (first language) is English. It is intended for both educators and learners of Arabic (whether in a classroom or in an independent learning environment).