After waking up early and not sleeping very well, I had a quick breakfast and walked to school. I got there 20 minutes early. I stopped at the front desk and asked what room the Arabic Level 1 class was in. I forgot that people who work in registration like to make things compliacted. First the guy asked me what the course number was. I told him I didn't have that. Then another guy made me move around to the other side of the counter. I don't know why, but I think he just wanted me to move. The first guy asked me for my DNI, which is some identification number they all use. I gave him my passport number and he looked me up on the computer, and then he gave me the course number and told me to go up to the first floor (the ground floor doesn't count in buildings here as a floor, so the first floor is really the second floor) and look to find the course number. I asked him to give me the course number for Italian too so I wouldn't have to repeat the same procedure on Wednesday.
I went up to the 2nd floor where there were printouts of all of the classes with the names and numbers of the classes. It would have been very easy for me to find Arabic 1 without knowing the course number. What made it difficult was that there were so many people all crowded in front of these printouts that it was hard to get close enough to see where my class was. Finally I squeezed in and saw I was in room 304.
I went up to the third floor (really the 4th) and found my room. There were two students and the teacher was in front of the room. She greeted me with a big smile and held up her hand in a gesture for me to move in closer, she then leaned over and we kissed. Wow! What a difference it makes to start off the first day of a new class by kissing your teacher!
Little by little students drifted in until there were 13 of us. One disappeared during the break, so we ended up with 12 - a very good number for a language class - not too big, but big enough that I could fade into the background!
The class is comprised of a mix of people. Quite a few of the students, half, are of Arabic backgrounds, either Lebanese or Syrian. A few speak some Arabic already, and others want to learn so they can communicate in Arabic with their family members. The rest of the students are simply interested in Arabic, or languages, or both. They range in age from early 20's to one guy who might be by age or a little older. I'm definitely at the upper end of the age spectrum.
The teacher is Syrian. Her name is Ybtissam Chaab. She's great. Not a great teacher, but a terrific personality. She is animated, kind, patient, and all of the things a teacher should be. She was a little disorganized in her lesson, but for me the interesting thing was being immersed in Spanish as I was introduced to this completely new and foreign language.
Arabic is VERY complicated. We did a mix of things but mostly we were being introduced to the writing system. We learned 6 letters for the sounds a, b, t, z, n and i. The complicated thing is that there are symbols for these letters generically, and then different symbols for these letters when they appear at the beginning of a word, in the middle or at the end. Then when you combine them with vowel sounds, they also change slightly.
The one older guy, who is Lebanese, asks a lot of questions. Sometimes his questions were good, but sometimes he was a pain in the butt. I was getting confused trying to keep track of all of the twists and turns in the discussion, but decided to try to keep a focus on what was most essential for me, learning how to write these new letters in the variety of possiblities they presented.
The class is going to be a really good opportunity for me to speak and hear authentic Argentine Spanish. Ybtissam has been in Argentina for 28 years, so her Spanish is perfect, with a slight hint of an Arab accent. It's more apparent that she is Arab when she gets on a roll. Her gestures and intonation are still Arabic, and I love the combination of a strong Arabic presence with the Argentinian Spanish.
By the time class was finished I was exhausted, hungry and totally stupefied. I could be in a panic about this whole thing, but I decided to just try to enjoy the experience. The other students are really nice and a few people spoke to me during class and during the break. Some of them don't know I am not from here, but during the break, those of us who were in the room were talking and we all talked about why we were here. After the break when one student complimented the teacher on her Spanish, another student said I also spoke very well (Hernan should hear that).
I think the Italian class is going to be easier for me, but if the teacher and students speak as much Spanish as what I heard today, I am really going to be getting a full immersion. The Spanish today was different from what I heard in my Spanish classes last year because this was pure, unfiltered, full speed ahead native speaker Spanish.
I have my work cut out for me this week. I went to a stationary store and got some little cards to begin making flash cards of the letters, so that I can study.
I found some websites to study a little. Here is a website with a fun song for learning the arabic alphabet. Check it out by clicking here.
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