Arabic started up again today. It officially starts Monday, but the prof agreed to have an informal review session before the madness begins, and so we met up in the Arabic department this Saturday morning.
I'm surprised by how much I remembered and how much I forgot at the same time. Verb conjugations went alright, typical who/what/where/when/why questions were pretty good too, but really, really basic things like, "My name is..." I just completely blanked on. I guess that's because those were things we learned in class but not in the book, and so I never reviewed them this summer.
Nonetheless, I think the class should be good. I need to step up a level in my game, which is fine. I was exhausted and spaced out the entire morning, and bizarrely self-concious. Not, surprisingly, not of the 722 mistakes I made in class today, but rather of the mistakes I was making in French.
I'm not the strongest student by any means. That would normally really bother me, especially in a language class. Bt I'm trying not to let it get to me, and just concentrate on learning. Apparently one of the girls has an Arabic-speaking boyfriend, and another has studied Arabic on and off over the years, so I'm not stressing it. I'm just letting them be the leaders. It's sort of a strange feeling, but I'm learning to accept it and maybe even find some sort of enjoyment in it. No, that's not true... it always feels better to know that you're amongst the strongest students. I'm just clearly not this time.
The worst moment, though, was when the professor asked us what the capital of Syria was. And YES, under normal conditions I would know that, but I just blanked at that moment and said, "Wow... I really don't know."
But I DOOOO know!! I swear! It was the fact that you asked me in Arabic that I got all tripped out!
Well, I guess I'll never forget it now. Anyway, I'm glad our classes have gotten under way. I'm excited to learn the grammar - it looks wild!
So what IS the capital of Syria?
Damas.
Shit. Damas is the way French people say Damascus. Which I actually knew, but forgot. So yes, Damascus. I think that's how you spell it in English. And then in Arabic it's more like Da-maaaa-K. (The K is very strong and clucky sounding). I think you can understand my confusion. Or at least you just witnessed it.