Last night we met up with a dozen people at a hotel restaraunt to learn Arabic. This time the "teacher" finally showed up, he is volunteering his time so we can't complain too much. He is from Egypt and said that most Arabic speaking people understand Egyptian Arabic since most TV shows are produced in Egypt and exported to the rest of the Arabic world and it is the language of the Kouran. 2 billion people speak Arabic.
To start, they have 28 letters but no J sound. The spelling of Arabic words are not really able to be translated into English spelling. We decided it was best to write the words the way they sound. The teacher also said it would take a very long time to be able to write in Arabic and that we didn't need to try. "Ana la atakkalam al arabia" means "I don't speak Arabic."
I needed that phrase earlier in the day when I went to turn in my resume and they wanted me to fill out an aplication that was written in Arabic. What I did understand (I think) was I would hear from them in 3 months. I am not holding my breath for getting a job here.
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