A Reprieve

Tuesday, October 13

My Arabic teacher cancelled class for Tuesday because her internet line had been cut due to some construction being done at her house. It was a nice reprieve from classes, since my Arabic class is the only one I have on Tuesdays. (And I had an entire project due the next day for another class that I had barely started on… oops!)

Thursday, October 15

We started class by people having conversations with each other, introducing ourselves, asking where we lived and where we studied, but then my professor took over and wrote out a conversation between two people. She warned us that she would be having oral exams at some point with her, where we would be having an introductory conversation with her. 

Next, we worked on conjugating present active verbs. (I was having flashbacks to Latin class in high school as I was following along.) It was fairly easy to follow along, once I got the conjugation pattern down. 

Lastly, we learned a new grammar construction called taa marbuuTa: ة. It literally means “the tied,” because it’s related to the letter taa: ت. This letter is only found at the end of a word, and it signifies that the word is feminine. An example is the word for professor. The masculine form, ustaaz, is spelled like this: أستاذ. The feminie form, ustaaza, is spelled like this: أستاذة. The taa marbutTa at the end of the ustaaza shows that the word is feminine. 

During class, all of us students were texting in the group chat. Someone suggested we do a Zoom study session at some point. I really like that idea, and I hope we’re able to do one where everyone can come. All of us feel really lost, and I personally feel like I’m drowning. I may schedule a one-on-one meeting with my professor just to talk to her about my concerns. 

Arabic Word of the Week

black (m.) / aswad / اسود