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Learning Arabic as a second language
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Antonio is a student who learns Arabic as a second language. He started learn Arabic three years ago. His future planning is to become a teacher in English studies for foreign language.
Antonio who is from the United States takes Arabic classes as an optional. In another word, it is not required by his major to take such as these classes. As he became interested in learning Arabic, he traveled to Egypt for two weeks to learn more about Arabic language and Egyptian culture. In his thought, he said that Arabic is a very nice language and that is why he chose it to be his second language. He said, “Before I started learning Arabic I got lots of criticism about choosing Arabic as a second language. Lots of people just listening from somebody say that Arabic is very hard language and spread this rumor between each other without knowing any thing about it. I promise to myself if I started doing something, I have to finish it precisely and not let anybody affects me. They are almost one third of the world that is a pretty big culture”.
Antonio spends lots of time trying to achieve the hard thing that face him when learning Arabic. He said that from his experience, in order to learn somebody’s language you have to live with them. He said, “even though our instructor is from Lebanon, which is an Arabic country, but he more often speaks in class in English.” I then asked him if he knows about the Arabic club community. He said that’s what I wanted to tell you about. This community became very helpful to us because we started to know lots of native speakers from this community. I started to go every time since I know about it.
Arabic club community is published to share the Middle East culture and language. This is managed by the preside...
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... K.Samimy says that, for certain second-language learners studying Arabic, the study of Arabic as a second language is much easier than studying another language such as French:
In addition to Arabic, Mark reported that he has a reading knowledge of French. When I asked him to compare his learning experience of French with Arabic, he explained, French, for me, was confusing because it was so similar to English. With ‘false friends’ and numerous cognates, it was as if I was speaking the same language, but differently. I never felt as if I had a French personality, or a different character has spawned in my psyche. On the other hand, Mark continues, Arabic is enchanting. It is an intriguing mathematical language highly unlike English. . . . When I speak Arabic, I feel different. I relish the challenge that the language offers me. This is part of my personality.( p233)
Another challenge Moises encounters is language barrier. He knows the correct answer but cannot say it in English. His teacher is giving all directions and information verbally, she does not rephrase questions when Moises is not understanding, and she does not use simple phrases or pictures to convey meaning.
Richard Rodriguez offers an alternate yet equally profound truth: While our heritage and culture may remain forever tied to and expressed in our native or "home" language, only through the dominant language of our country (English in most cases) can we achieve a place in society that gives us a feeling that we belong amongst everyone else. The only way we can truly become a part of our community and fit in is to dominate the current spoken language. In the United States, the dominant language is Standard English. In this excerpt from "Aria," a chapter in his autobiography entitled "Hunger of Memory": The Education of Richard Rodriguez, Rodriguez discusses public and private languages, and agrees that his achievements in English separated him from his Spanish family and culture but also brought him "the belief, the calming assurance that [he] belonged in public." We as human beings want to feel we belong. We search for that place in society where we are most comfortable all our lives. One should consider the benefits of mastering the dominant language of the society they live in, but should also take into account the harm of taking your native language for granted. I will attempt to explore both of these considerations and examine Rodriguez place in life now, by stating the facts of who is now by the childhood decisions that were made.
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Rojas is the symbol of wisdom and support. This wonderful teacher has also motivated many of my peers to learn the English language to success in this country. She completely supports students to do well in all aspects of life, not only in school. Mrs. Rojas founded CLUB ELLOS (English Language Learner Opting For Success) at our school. The role of ELLOS is to fundraise and collect money for scholarships. No other teachers in high school had thought of creating a club of this type, which invokes students to work for their own best interests. Mr. Rojas has been a friendly supporter for many students. One of her students stated that Mrs. Rojas is a great support for her, because she has helped her with serious circumstances. According to this student, “I was about to leave school, because it seemed to be hard for me to learn a different language, but Mrs. Rojas told me about her experience learning the English language.” This suggests the power that Mrs. Rojas has to encourage students to continue with their education. She knows the key to succeed, and she is a role model to follow for many students. Mrs. Rojas shows students her leadership qualities in helping students to improve their academic standards. She truly cares for her students. This lady has provided her
Having been proven throughout history, younger learners are more adept to language acquisition. Although some may think “…their minds aren’t capable of learning and retaining a foreign language, it’s enough of a struggle for a child to learn one language, a native language…” (Should foreign...). It may not be easy to learn, but in actuality it will help their brains develop gradually, not only helping them in their foreign language studies, but also improving other areas as well. Cheryl Walker states this clearly, saying foreign language, “…increases listening ability, creativity, and critical ...
This United States Army handbook illustrates a number of facts on how to communicate within the Arab culture. This book is a great source as it will help me to gather supporting evidence that will be used in the body of my paper.
Arabs primarily speak Arabic with “variations in the dialects, words, and meanings in different Arab countries” (Lipson & Dubble, 2007, p. 43). Despite the different variations, most Arabs understand each other. All Muslims are required to read the Koran that is written in Arabic. While they all read this, not all speak Arabic fluently, or at all in some cases. There are some ethnic minorities that speak their own language, and are not understood by most of the surrounding populations. In the United States, nearly 600,000 people speak Arabic in their own homes; professionals and business p...
Language has pioneered many interracial relationships and historical milestones. Language is a necessity for basic communication and cultural diversity. Being multilingual is a skill proven influential to a successful future. Due to rapid globalization, countries all over the world are stressing the importance of learning a second, or even third, language. With the exception of time and lack of resources, adults have very few widely applicable disadvantages to learning multiple languages. However, language learning as a child presents more complications. Some of those include not having enough funding at the elementary school level to introduce a program for secondary language, academic overload for the youth, stress for both the parent and student parties, and the mixing of languages. Not all of these complications are true in any or all situations, however, and the absence of them provides multitudes of opportunity for future career and academic success. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the parents or the education legislation to decide whether they encourage the learning of a secondary language at the young age necessary for retention. “The general consensus is that it takes between five to seven years for an individual to achieve advanced fluency,” therefore the younger a child begins to learn, the more likely they are to benefit to the maximum potential (Robertson). Keeping the language learning in high school or beginning the process earlier is a greatly controversial discussion that is important to address because of the topic’s already lengthy suspension.
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If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his own language that goes to his heart.” ‒ Nelson Mandela. Since the 1960’s learning a second language has decreased by 30 percent in today’s society. People who wish to learn an additional language often do so to communicate with people who reside in different countries. With an increase in today’s globalization, it is forcing companies throughout the world to break the language barrier. However, with the advancement of technology, numerous citizens find it unnecessary to learn another language, as a translation is at the tip of their fingers. The methods of learning a foreign language can differentiate between people. Nevertheless it has been
I have had experience with learning two languages, Spanish and Arabic. The first time I was exposed to Spanish was when I was in kindergarten and I did not study it again until high school. I did not begin learning Arabic until my last year of high school and decided to major in Arabic once I got to college. The experiences I had learning these languages were completely different.