OXFORD,
Miss. – Allen Clark’s students at the University of Mississippi have
different reasons for studying Arabic. Some want to increase their
career prospects. Others want to maintain ties to their native tongue
and culture. And some are Muslims who want to read the Holy Qu’ran in
its original form.
Then again, their interest could be just plain old curiosity.
“Most
everyone in America is curious about the language and culture,” said
Clark, instructional assistant professor of modern languages.
UM began offering its first class in Arabic this fall. The course
symbolizes the launch of an intensive Arabic program that is expected
to grow into a major, following a path similar to UM’s Mandarin Chinese
program. Because both languages are considered critical to national
security efforts, UM received federal funds for both intensive language
programs.
“This is really exciting because the funding we are receiving allows us to offer another critical language,” said Donald Dyer, chair of the Department of Modern Languages. “In these times, being able to offer Chinese and Arabic is the sign of a strong and pragmatic language department, one that recognizes the national importance of these two tongues.”
Leah Nodar, a sophomore linguistics major from Mobile, Ala., has been fascinated with languages since childhood. She even attempted to learn the Elven language from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings.”
“I want to learn as much about the structure and workings of as many languages as I can,” she said. “Arabic was far too wonderful an opportunity to pass up.”
Dyer said he believes the difficulty in learning a language is determined largely by the will of the student. Even so, Arabic is often thought to be the most difficult language for English-speaking students to learn, mostly because of myriad dialects within the language, Clark said.
“In theory, learning Arabic helps to better understand the people who speak it,” he said. “The realities of learning the language are a bit different.”
Clark teaches his students modern standard Arabic, which is commonly understood throughout the 30 nations where Arabic is spoken. Yet countries, regions and cities have their own dialects. In fact, dialects often vary from one small village to another, and speaking the wrong dialect has its consequences, Clark said.
“Every regional dialect carries with it cultural and political baggage,” he said. “If you were speaking a Syrian dialect to someone from Beirut, Lebanon, it could be construed as tacitly siding with the Syria’s policies toward Lebanon, because of the history of political tensions between the two countries. You could be carrying on a normal conversation, but just speaking in that dialect might put people off.
“In the Middle East, language and culture are so enmeshed that people can draw conclusions about you just from the dialect you speak. Learning standard Arabic isn’t that difficult, but learning how and when to speak a dialect is what makes it challenging.”
Nodar said that despite the vast differences between Arabic and English, there’s a certain logic to Arabic that makes it easy to catch on.
“Picking up any small part leads immediately to greater understanding in dozens of other areas,” Nodar said. “Learning ‘sun’ also teaches you ‘sunshine,’ ‘sunny,’ and even ‘umbrella.’ In many languages, it’s hard to see connections, but in Arabic the words flow together. It’s very precise, very mathematical.”
Like any new language, Clark said the secret to mastery is “contact hours” – how much time you spend with the language, not only speaking it, but thinking it. His class meets daily, and he gives his students a lot of homework. But contact hours come in unexpected and fun ways, too.
“Watch children’s shows, sitcoms, TV shows and movies with Arabic subtitles or dubbed audio,” Clark said. “As a learner of a language, you have to think in that language. The more you can increase your contact hours with a language, the better you’ll get.”
After graduation, Nodar hopes to practice her Arabic in the Middle East as a freelance translator.
“Beyond that, I don’t know where Arabic will take me,” she said. “But I’m certain I’ll enjoy the journey.”
To learn more about the Department of Modern Languages, visit http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/modern?languages/ .