As many of you know, I am currently a student at Saint Louis University. I am pursuing a degree in International Studies with minors in Middle Eastern Studies and Foreign Services, which has been a lifelong passion of mine. At Harvard University’s Secondary School Program, I discovered my passion for people and culture. I loved learning how a civilization’s past continues to have lasting effects on contemporary society. Even though learning to be globally aware, debate pressing issues, and how to positively impact other nations in the future is difficult, I am fully enjoying studying something that makes me truly happy.
A part of the curriculum for students in the International Studies major is the ability to develop a proficiency in a foreign language. Now, throughout middle school and high school, I took Spanish. I even went to the highest level that my high school had, International Baccalaureate (IB) Spanish. I have the ability to write, read, and speak Spanish with professional working proficiency. During my time as a teaching fellow, I even conducted a parent-teacher conference in Spanish. Though I enjoyed learning the Spanish language and culture, I knew that in college I wanted to challenge myself by learning a different language. Because of my major and my regional focus of the Middle East, I believed that it would be beneficial to learn Arabic. Unfortunately, SLU got rid of their Arabic program the summer before I entered my freshman year. Alternatively, I began taking Arabic at Washington University in Saint Louis.
People are often put off by learning Arabic because of its difficulty. However, there are both easy and difficult aspects of learning the language. In fact, one of the less difficult aspects of learning the language is writing. Though it may seem intimidating, Arabic script maybe one of the most rewarding aspects of learning Arabic and is pretty easy to learn. The Arabic alphabet only consists of 29 letters, and its spelling is phonetic making it largely self-explanatory. On the other hand, learning to speak Arabic is very difficult. This is because, in the Arab world, the majority of locals do not speak either MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) or Classical Arabic. Often times, these are the dialects of Arabic taught in the classroom.
I can truly say that learning Arabic has been one of the most rewarding yet difficult experiences in my life. For future Arabic learners, I encourage you to reflect on your reason for learning Arabic. Because Arabic is a difficult language to learn, as a student it is important that you are truly motivated to study.
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