I Finally Know What I'm Saying! (Arabic Week 23)

Yes, you read that right. I seriously just understood what I'm saying. It came to me yesterday as I was going for a run. My mind tends to wander a lot which leads to a common, "How did you think of that?" response from people when I tell them. Regardless, somehow while I was running I was just thinking about Arabic. Over the last few weeks I have been gaining a better understanding of the language including different possessive words.

مع السلامة

Go with peace (Good bye)

السلام عليكم

Peace be upon your day (Hello)

وعليكم السلام

And your day with peace (Hello response)

It may seem silly to see this written out but in Mandarin it is actually a more awkward saying. Most people are familiar with how to say hello in Mandarin but do they really understand what is being said? More importantly, when you ask how somebody is doing:

你好

You good (Hello)

你好吗

You good, yes? (How are you?)

Mainly, asking how somebody is in Mandarin can almost appear awkward. We have these types of phrases in English as well. Our typical greeting can range from, "What's up?" which likely would confuse any foreigner if that was the first question you asked them, or, "How are you doing?" How am I doing what? How am I doing in life?! Geez, the most awkward part about these questions is that when somebody asks you this, if you answer anything beyond, "I'm good." You'll get a bad response. Somehow, it is now part of our culture that we ask how we are doing but don't actually care to hear a real response.

Looking at how my Arabic has grown over the past month, I can definitely see some growth in what I can say. I may struggle at times to come up with the correct word, conjugation, tense, etc. but I know that I can say more than what I previously had done. Before, I was reciting things that I had memorized; now I am creating new sentences by combining words that I've learned and grammar that I've acquired. This has caused my speaking to slow down, but that is what I want to emphasize. I want to show the moments when I'm thinking on my feet. I don't want to prepare a nice memorized script to read to you because that doesn't really show how I would interact in a social setting.

My biggest weakness right now is my listening. I plan to attack that this week so hopefully I can have a better idea of how to actually listen to the language that I'm speaking.

Until next time!