assaalamu 'alaikum by Hakim

Study or Research in the Arab Region

Boren Fellowship:

Boren Fellowships provide up to $30,000 to U.S. graduate students to add an important international and language component to their graduate education through specialization in area study, language study, or increased language proficiency. Boren Fellowships support study and research in areas of the world that are critical to U.S. interests, including Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and the Middle East. For a complete list of countries, click here.

Boren Fellows represent a variety of academic and professional disciplines, but all are interested in studying less commonly taught languages, including but not limited to Arabic, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian and Swahili. For a complete list of languages, click here.

Boren Fellowships are funded by the National Security Education Program (NSEP), which focuses on geographic areas, languages, and fields of study deemed critical to U.S. national security. Applicants should identify how their projects, as well as their future academic and career goals, will contribute to U.S. national security, broadly defined.  NSEP draws on a broad definition of national security, recognizing that the scope of national security has expanded to include not only the traditional concerns of protecting and promoting American well-being, but also the challenges of global society, including sustainable development, environmental degradation, global disease and hunger, population growth and migration, and economic competitiveness.

Deadline is  January 31, 2013
Check out the application :  http://www.borenawards.org/boren_fellowship/how_apply.html 

Good luck :) 

Rap in Tunisia

As one of the students asked me about famous Rap songs in Tunisia, here some suggestions to get used to Tunisian dialect.

Pscyco-M is known for his controversial lyrics addressing various issues, such as the media blackout that Arab regimes imposed before, during, and after the revolution, the repression and torture of certain Tunisian political activists, and the current status of the Arab revolutions.  Public reactions to Psyco M’s work have varied; after presenting his song “Manipulation” on his Facebook page, the song created an uproar and drew both admiration and criticism for its censure of the state of decadence of Arab civilizations.
Tensions reached a climax when conservatives and liberals filed lawsuits and raised petitions against the young rapper.  His Facebook page was subject to hacking from “counter-revolutionaries” in late September, after its membership exceeded 200 fans. His Facebook page clearly demonstrates evidence of the young rapper’s success — it has already attracted over 100,000 members. Thus, the statement on his page certainly is salient: “In the beginning, they ignore you.  Then, they mock you.  Then, they attack you.  Then, you win.”

I recommend to listen to this song" My Tunisia" as there is less use of French words and the video shows life in Tunisia. The words generally tell about; on the one hand, the country's situation, people's suffering, daily life and on the other other hand about corruption, people in power, betrayal,..

El General is another young Tunisian rapper (one of my favorites). Unlike Psyco-M, El General has no political or religious orientation that has been shown in his songs, he depicts reality as it is and mostly concerned about social issues.
I think you should listen to this song as there are subtitles with the video and it shows real pictures and a brief sum up of what happened this last (almost) 2 years.

After releasing this song on facebook(though he has never showed his face or real name), El General was arrested and called in for questions in January 6th, 2011, just 8 days before the ex-president of Tunisia fled to Saudi Arabia. The song then became integral to the protests and he has been released from jail.
His rabble-rousing spirit is clearly descended from the lineage of American rap artists like Public Enemy and Boogie Down Productions (and especially the finger-pointing wage disparity breakdowns of The Coup’s Boots Riley). But the noir beats, minor-key melodies and Omen-ous feel seems like he’s up on the more direct-action rhymes of Harlem’s Immortal Technique and the austere grooves of Philly’s quasi-political Jedi Mind Tricks.

Check out his story and how he became famous in one month! http://www.spin.com/articles/inside-tunisias-hip-hop-revolution

 
If you'd like to know more about Tunisian Rappers, let me know so I might post more about that...


Also feel free to visit my blog if you want to learn more about Tunisia's issues and Africa in general : http://aya-chebbi.blogspot.com/

ARAB 1001, 1002, and 2001 assignment: Saudi Arabia

Watch the videos about Saudi Arabia, and write a 50 + words comment. To leave a comment, simply click on the comment button below the video, type your comment, and then click the publish button. Don't forget to write your full name and your class.

Saudi Arabia 1/5

Saudi Arabia 2/5

Saudi Arabia 3/5

Saudi Arabia 4/5

Saudi Arabia 5/5

How to do well in your Arabic language class

The Arabic language class is a group effort! We can make much more progress as a class than as individuals by creating an Arabic-speaking community of which you will be a fully participating member.  The following suggestions will help you get the most out of the course:

1-    Prepare for active participation in class.  Practice new vocabulary out loud until you can produce it easily, listen/read texts several times until you are ready to answer questions on them, practice new grammar by using them in sentences.

2-    Study out loud.  The only way to train your brain and your mouth to speak in Arabic is through performance. Reading silently is not enough.  Repeat whatever you hear, pronounce whatever you write, and learn to talk to yourself in Arabic.

3-    Think in Arabic.  While on your way from one class to another, think to yourself in Arabic.  Name all of the objects whose name you know in Arabic.  Describe their location, size, shape, color, number, adding as much detail as possible.

4-    Study in pairs/groups. This is a great way to prepare for class and review—as long as you do the work in Arabic as much as possible, of course! Language is used for communication and interaction, and you can only learn by practicing. Studying with others is more fun and more productive. Arab culture is a very interactive and participatory culture, and the best way to learn about it is to get involved.

5-    Personalize vocabulary.  Make words relevant by thinking of what you can say about yourself with them.  Write extra sentences that are meaningful to you so that the vocabulary becomes yours. 

6-    Learn to guess. Think about how you acquired your native language: you learned new words by guessing their meaning from context, and you learned how to produce sentences by imitating and using patterns.  As adult learners, we can take some shortcuts, but guessing skills remain central to language acquisition. 

7-    Good language learners learn from their own mistakes and those of others.  As adults, we have been trained not to make mistakes.  As language learners new to Arabic, mistakes are going to be made, but should not cause you undue stress.  When your classmates are speaking, be an active listener by listening both to what they are saying and how they are saying it.  Think about how you would correct their sentences.

8-    The first month of class requires an extra time investment on your part. Expect to spend an extra hour per day during the first month while we are doing the alphabet drills. This investment will pay off later

        

                                      Happy Learning

Is Arabic Hard to Learn?

The real question must be "is any language hard to learn?"
Arabic is like any language that can be learned by practice.
Learning Arabic needs your motivation, enthusiasm, practice and passion to learn the culture as well as the language, and you'll be as fluent as this American...