I got a package today!! Well actually I got it yesterday, but I went to pick it up today. I got birthday presents from my family and items that I can't find here. Oh yeah, I got bacon as well!! Can't wait to cook that on Sat. morning! I got a ton of Chapstick. That brand isn't available here. The chapstick they have comes in a container that looks like a glue stick. It's ok, but I really like the Chapstick brand. So now I have a lot that will hopefully last me until I go home in July. I got Cheez-it's! Those are my favorite crackers and they aren't here either. I also got some plain Goldfish! I love those crackers, but believe it or not they have them at Lu-Lu's here. I couldn't find the plain ones at Walmart in NC, but they're in the UAE. Go figure! I can never have enough of those. I can cook now because I got measuring cups with customary units on them instead of fluid ounces or something else. I had no idea how to use them. No worries now! I got 2 beautiful pictures of MI scenery that I can't wait to hang up. They will definitely help make this apartment look and feel like home. I got all the necessary ingredients (including the pan) to make my own birthday cake! I am pretty certain that Lexi made me a sock puppet, but I guess it could have been anyone!!! I can't wait to use it when I'm talking to her! It will be difficult and different not celebrating my birthday at home, but I have a wonderful family that is helping to make this birthday special for me! Thank you for everything:) I love you all!!!
Arabic lessons. Hard. That's all that needs to be said. She's really drilling us on the sounds that aren't in English. I guess that's necessary since I don't know how to say them, but I can't say them correctly. She says with practice it'll come. Hopefully. Writing is very hard. It's hard to go from right to left. I think that's the biggest part. I'm pretty sure I could write the letters/sounds if I could go from left to right but that's not allowed since you read from right to left and the letters join. I spent a lot of time on one little wavy symbol above the /Alif/ (a). She also had us reading words (or made up words) today. That is hard as well because all the letters/sounds run together so it's hard to tell where one stops and a new one starts. I never really wanted to learn to read and write Arabic. I just wanted to understand it and maybe speak a little. But I guess I will. I will do my homework tomorrow and practice and try to memorize the words that she taught us so I will be prepared for Wednesday's class. But right now it's time for bed:)
I feel your pain with the language learning! Japanese does the same thing, where everything is mushed together, and if you can't tell the difference between the words you just get confused.
ReplyDelete私は日本にすんでいます。＝ I live in Japan. (I think.)
I took an Arabic class at Faith Action a few years back and only made it to the 3rd letter I think. Keep it going, though! When you start recognizing letters on street signs you start to feel AWESOME.
Glad things are going better. Take care!
Mushed together is right! It's very difficult to tell where one letter/sound ends and a new one begins. I was able to find a sound in a book I was reading to my class!! Today we did the /ha/ and the /kh/ sounds that have no English equivalent. She kept telling me to do the /ha/ so the air just passes up from the pharynx and doesn't touch any other part of the mouth. I'm like how do I do that???
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