Arabic class is INTENSE. Wafa points to a word and we sound it out on the spot. Every letter has four styles depending on where it is in the word and nine sound variations, I think. The class back-up language is French, which caters more to the Frenchwoman and the half-Dutch, half-Moroccan girl than to me. That's okay, though. Today we learned six. Yes: six letters. And I am not even confident about them! Right now I am relying on memory tricks.
| ﺏ | ـب | ـبـ | بـ | bāʾ |
| ﺕ | ـت | ـتـ | تـ | tāʾ |
There are two dots. "Two" and "ta" sound similar.
| ﻙ | ـك | ـكـ | كـ | kāf |
The little symbol inside the big one is like a "calf" ("kaf") inside a cow. On the right, I imagine a man throwing a javelin and screaming, "Yes, I can!" "Can" reminds me of "kaf."
| ﺭ | ـر | ـر | ر | rāʾ |
That swish is a tiger tail. Tiger's say "RA-OWR!"
| ﻡ | ـم | ـمـ | مـ | mīm |
In cultural psychology we learned about "memes," which are packages of cultural information, distinct and capable of being pass to new generations, like "genes." The theory of memes is basically dead. And on the right, that letter looks like a dead person (see the head on the right?).
| ﻝ | ـل | ـلـ | لـ | lām |
On the left, you can see the cute little "lam"'s tail.
Tomorrow I'll wake up and sit at the dining room table to sound out these letters and the words they hide in. My brain is too buzzy now, after a morning of Arabic, an afternoon of walking around the old medina ("cultural activities included"), an evening of teaching, and a night of lesson planning. Rinse and repeat until Friday. WOOT! WOOT!
I think your reaching a little with the meme connection there.
ReplyDeleteAlso, memes are not dead.*
*See Internet.
-Morgan