When did your interest in your language start?
– I never had any chances to learn Arabic when I was younger, so I didn’t really ever think much about it before I came to Reed. Then I got here, I saw they offered Arabic, and I remembered how my dad used to say that it was the hardest language that he had ever learned (he knew English, Spanish, and Russian), so I thought I might see what it was like.
How did you decide to become a tutor?
– I was recommended by professors for three different subjects. I had wanted to tutor something ever since I saw the position, and I thought that I would probably tutor French at some point, given that it’s my major. But then I realized that there were other French speakers, and even more writing tutors, while half of my second semester Arabic class had graduated, so Arabic tutoring was the place where I was truly needed.
What’s your favorite/heart-warming memory about either being a tutor or learning your language of interest?
– I have two that really made my freshman year. The first was shortly after I chose to tutor Arabic, and I went and told the language scholar at the time, Asma. She agreed with my reasoning, and, on one of the last days of school, we went to the Spanish House (the headquarters for Arabic events as well as Spanish). She gave me some storybooks for children as well as a book for practicing the alphabet made to be used and reused with dry-erase markers, saying that she thought it might be useful for tutoring. My other precious memory is of the Arabic music night; it was one of the extracurricular language-learning events intended to supplement the constructed space of the classroom with some living, breathing culture. Because one of my classmates was interested in learning Egyptian – as opposed to the Modern Standard Arabic that makes up most of the course – they introduced us to the oldie but goodie Egyptian singer Abdel Halim Hafez. We watched a very famous video of him singing “Ahwak”, a sweet and sentimental song. It was one of those moments that you don’t cherish until it’s gone, and I almost cried when I rediscovered the “Ahwak” because it reminded (and continues to remind) me of all the people who I’ll probably never see again, but were an unforgettable part of learning Arabic. I have so many wonderful stories that I would love to share, but there’s two of the ones that I think about often.
What advice would you give to folks who are just starting to learn the language you’re tutoring?
– My advice to all learners and prospective learners: use the in-person resources. Former langlabbie and Arabic tutor Daphné posted some wonderful digital resources already on the language blog, and there’s a good reason one of them is using the language scholar’s office hours. It’s difficult to speak MSA, more so than most languages taught at Reed, simply because it isn’t often the spoken language in Arabic-speaking countries, let alone in the US, but that’s exactly why you need to persevere and take advantage of what is offered on campus, like the movie nights, cultural events, and (HINT HINT) the tutoring. I’m both a drop-in tutor and an individual tutor for Arabic, and I consider myself a very low-stakes conversationalist. If you’re feeling confident with speaking, heck, even if you feel like you have everything in the bag, I strongly encourage you to see me just to chat with a peer. I have lots of fun stories, physical textbooks for reference, and a great taste in music if I do say so myself.
Favorite/fun fact about the language you’re tutoring?
– It’s a decently well-known fact that in addition to verb conjugations for you, I, we, she, he, etc., Standard Arabic has a way to show that exactly two people are doing something – the “dual conjugation”.
