Monday, May 18, 2009

.: Accruing emancipation :.


Maintaining the decorum.

First scenario

New teacher :: Monday is pronounced as Alithnain. You know, like Alice in Wonderland. :)
Me :: LoL~ What?
New teacher :: :) Don't laugh. Repeat after me, Alithnain. :)
Second scenario

New teacher :: Supposedly, it is pronounced as Syukra and Afwa. But if you say that, most Arabs will not understand. Generally, we pronounce the tanween hence it becomes Syukran and Afwan.
Me :: So Syukran Jazeelan should be pronounced as Syukran Jazeela?
New teacher :: Yes. :)
Me :: Then what's Syukriya?

- my sis spotting a flabbergasted face -

New teacher :: That's Urdu. :)
Me :: Owh ... *like, what just happened?*
New teacher :: LoL~ It's derived from Arabic origins. :)

Home

Sis :: Syukriya? Syukriya? What were you thinking?
Me :: I uhh ... wasn't? Must have zoned out. Must have...

Can't fess up to my sister that my cousin and I have been writing romanized Urdu to one another. Reason? It began when her friend commented on FB, "Write in English or we'll start a conversation in Urdu." That eventually led to us leaving romanized Urdu on each other's applications. Yes, it's weird. By the way, I don't speak Urdu. Please do not comment in Urdu. I will reject the comment. :)

Summary of Arabic Lessons Level 1. I did the finals yesterday. Alhamdulillah!!! I'll proceed to level 2 on May 31st 09. ^^ 2 weeks break~!!! Eh ... why am I listening to Arabic Podcasts and going through my notes again?

And I've taken my knowledge into practice when I frequent Middle Eastern shops. The overall experience, reeks sheer joy. Nowadays, it's far more easier to ask for ingredients, and the communication barrier have diminished significantly. :)

مع السلامة

8.20pm Malaysian Time

12 comments:

van qif said...

salam..

people said, when u r shopping in Mecca, language is not a barrier, they can speak Malay...

My freind said, when Malay (some of them) speak arab, the arab will laugh, because our intonation when speaking arab is likely we are reciting quran..

Hajar Alwi said...

Wa'alaikumussalam.

You're right. They can speak Malay/English but not as fluent. It's like you ask them "Is this roti/bread?", they'll nod and say "Betul/Yes".

But if you were to probe further as in "Is this white/wholemeal/mixed grain/kibbled wheat/rye/gluten-free etc. kind of bread?" in Malay or English, it's unlikely for them to respond back.

One particular experience was when I asked this Arab guy about preserved fruits. He was telling me, "I don't know how to explain but I don't think you have this fruit here." After taking a swig of it, I asked "Is this mishmish? [apricot]" and the guy said, "Yes!". It helps if you know some of the language. :)

Yeah. ^^ I suppose because over here we learn classical Arabic [language of the Qur'an & classical literature], but over there they speak over 30 different varieties of colloquial/modern standard Arabic i.e. Najdi, Egyptian, Saidi etc.

My Arabic teacher has a hard time trying to understand the students that studied Arabic in religious schools. It's not just the intonation, even the words seemed alien to him. :)

Aisyah Mazelan said...

Haha. I also thought that shukriya is an arabic word. Haiya.

BTW, you're tagged.

Hajar Alwi said...

Nah, it's not. :) Albeit, we do have over 2000+ loaned Arabic words in the Malay language.

Cool~ I'll get to it over the weekend along with updating myself with the going-ons in the blogging realm. ^^

Ms.Unique said...

Lol ... Well good luck with ur second level ... N yesss ... U and Romantic Urdu .... Hajar r U all rite? Or somethings donnin on U :p ....

Hajar Alwi said...

Ms. Unique :: Insha'Allah. I'm aiming to breeze through all 10 levels. :)

Romantic? Eek~!!! Have you hacked into my FB account lately? Or do you know my cousin? :P

Not exactly. Being downright honest here, there're many things going on ... and things are beginning to become more complicated over time ... I'm getting tired of things really however, Alhamdulillah I can still retain some levels of sensibility. Y'day night I was practically kept awake till 4am because my brain simply refuses to hibernate itself ... On the bright side, it gave me ample time to reflect.

Anonymous said...

Asalaamualaikum Hajar,
Here's a link to a really great Arabic mastering class someone sent me today. Maybe it might be of interest to you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFSY0OGekvI&feature=related

Hajar Alwi said...

Wa'alaikum'as'salam sis. Thank you so much~! I'll take a peek at it for sure. :)

RedAnna said...

wow...mabruk!! u learn fusha or "amiah?

Hajar Alwi said...

Fusha. ^^ But my new teacher is the living book of linguistic knowledge so offhandedly he will share amiah terms. That works fine with me since I'm also keen in learning amiah and he's more than willing to fully elaborate on it. :)

Anonymous said...

The information here is great. I will invite my friends here.

Thanks

Hajar Alwi said...

Thank you so much. ^^