Tonight I had my first class of Arabic phonetics, whatever that is supposed to mean. Ybti told us it would help us to read. CUI (Centro Universitario de Idiomas) offers these little extras along with the regular classes. For Arabic, we get phonetics. For Italian, there is a conversation club, but only for students at level 3 and higher. There are a ton of English conversation clubs and I think there are also some films for some of the classes. The school was buzzing with activity tonight when I showed up for the class.
Last week I went, because Ybti assured us we were having class on Friday, she even said the date, the 26th. Four of us showed up, but she didn't.
Tonight when I got there, there was another class in the room we were supposed to be in. I saw Ybti in the hallway and she led me into a different classroom. She had me sign in and I saw a note highligted with yellow saying I had to report to the department of students. I asked her what that was about and she said it was because I was absent last week. I asked her what I had to do and she said I had to tell them why I was absent. Geez!
There was a bit of confusion about our room because some other students started coming into the room we were in which is not the room we were supposed to be in and asked if it was the English Conversation Club. Eventually, the class that was in our assigned room left and we moved there.
In the regular Arabic class I am in over my head. Most of the other students already can read and write some arabic. I and the other older students are the only ones who are struggling with the alphabet. But it is supposed to be Arabic 1. There is no lower level.
She told us that this class was supposed to help us. Well, if I was over my head in the other class, this new class is Hurricane Katrina and the levees are breaking and I'm stranded on the roof with a sign that says "save me", but since I can't write in Arabic, no one can read it. It could potentially be a very horrible situation, but I am consoled by the fact that I am planning on taking Arabic 1 when I return to San Francisco and will then be the one who has a little experience and knows the alphabet.
To make matters worse, this phonetics class is not just for the Arabic 1 students, it is for all Arabic students, so there were students in there from level 2 and up. Not many, but enough to make the class lean even more away from my level and to a higher level of difficulty.
And to make matters even more complicated, when I reached into my bag for my glasses, they were not there. Ugh!
Still I persevered. I dutifully copied everything from the board and tried to write the phrases in roman letters as well and then write the Spanish pronunciation. I think the only thing that saved me is that I've been living like a monk lately and this morning my cute chripractor did an adjustment on my neck that released something and I felt so relaxed and blissful I didn't really care that I was the lowest student in the class and I was completely lost on top of being half deaf, and partially blind.
First Ybti put the alphabet on the board and then she wrote some words in Arabic - they were he is and she is. From there she wrote some sentences, like he is a student. She was going really fast and I was doing my best to keep up. She had a book with pictures and phrases such as "he is a student", "this is a door" and she passed the book around. One older guy from a higher level read some phrases and she wrote them on the board. I copied them.
The book got passed around to the other students, all of whom were able to read. Then it arrived at me. I told her I didn't have my glasses. She was about to offer me hers, but I knew that wouldn't work because I have an astigmatism and my prescription is very specific. I held the book at arms length and fortunately, there were single words and not phrases. I read the first one, "bab" which means door. That was easy, but I was proud of myself. That was the level I should have been at.
I don't recall what happened immediately after that, but then she said we were going to practice a dialogue. It was 'in a restaurant' - there was so much that was new - like everything. The word for waiter and customer, even the expressions, such as good day (sabah al ha-ir) were different. So we had to learn these new expressions, write them and we were going to practice them.
The older guy from the higher class read the dialogue. Ybti wrote it on the board. I copied.
At one point in the conversation the waiter asked the customer what he wanted to eat. The guy who was reading it said "carne asada" - well, it wasn't carne asada it was whatever grilled meat is in arabic. Actually I learned meat - it is laham (I think that might be where the English word lamb comes from, or if not, the association made it easy for me to remember). Ybti went around and asked everyone what they wanted to eat.
We have not studied this.
I tried my damndest to think of some Arab food. The only thing I could think of was baba ganoush, but I was sure my pronunciation was not correct. I blanked. I was just looking at an Arab menu yesterday when I passed by the libio-siriano (Lebanese-Syrian) Club that has a restaurant with what looks like a fabulous buffet (along with Arab cooking classes). I was trying to think of schwarma, but I blanked. I am sure I looked like a fool, but I don't really care. I know that this class and the Saturday class are too high for me and are poorly taught, and I am doing my best.
It was crazy walking home in Friday evening rush hour traffic, but I made it, stopped at the supermarket and little produce shop and whipped up a pot of chicken morrocan style (my version anyway). It is now finished simmering and I'm going to eat a little before I get ready to skype with my friend Diane.
Tomorrow I go back for more Arabic torture.
May you have a luminous evening.
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