Arabic Lessons

Me and my Arabic teacher, Sanaa

The word is out: I'm having private Arabic lessons! Not classic Arabic as many institutions and websites offer. No, the colloquial Arabic of Sudan.
To explain how this came about, I have to go back a few months. When I arrived in Khartoum in January, Miriam was so delighted to see me that she immediately phoned someone and gave me the phone. (remember, we could not communicate, everything was done by charades) The person she had called introduced himself in English as Christopher from Bahri. Now, Khartoum is called the Tri City. It is made up of three cities. Omdurman, where we live, is the oldest and largest city. Cross the Nile and you arrive in Bahri. (pronounced Ba-ghri - the g sounding as if you're clearing your throat!) Beyond Bahri is Khartoum.

But I digress. That day Christopher asked me when I had arrived back at the apartment. I told him I'd just been back for a day which information he relayed to Mirriam. Over the months during our last stint, I perdiodically phoned Christopher when I was trying to convey something to Miriam. I also found out how he knew Mirriam: Her mother is the caretaker at the building where Christopher lives.

When we came back in April, I was unsure whether Miriam had been paid while we were on leave, so I phoned Christopher... Afterwards he and I got talking. When he heard I was from South Africa, he told me he had several South African friends, teachers. He told me he ran English classes for the Sudanese and he mentioned that his wife teaches English people Arabic!

Immediately I asked him if she'd be willing to teach me, and he said "No problem" (a standard phrase in Africa!) Three days later we met Christopher and his wife, Sanaa at a coffee shop and arranged for her to teach me at our apartment.

My lessons are two hours on a Monday and two hours on a Thursday. At the moment Sanaa is teaching me objects (plate, bowl, table, chair, names of vegetables and fruit) and verbs: sit, stand, walk, run. She has taught me the various salutations. She's very encouraging but strict. She insists that I practice the words, especially the greetings. I am not to say "Hi" or "Good morning" to anyone I meet, but use the Arabic version.

The course of sixteen lessons includes practical exercises as well. Tomorrow I'll post about my first furore into the market in the wake of my wonderful teacher, Sanaa.

I'd like to thank my dear blogger friend, Misalyn from Al Ain Daily Photo for always helping me with Arabic words and phrases. Thanks Missy! If you haven't visit Misalyn's blog yet, do yourself a favour and pop in. She has beautiful photos of her city, Al Ain and her blog is informative, vibrant and colourful.

To see what bloggers like Misalyn share in their worlds click here.