For stupid hilarity…

This has nothing to do with language-learning, but sometimes I just have to share what I find online….

Quite frankly, I’m actually quite angry that this has been on for over a year, apparently, and none of my Japanophile friends have pointed it out to me. If you know Japanese TV shows (and Japanese engurishu), it’s all the better…

Update: I can’t help it… adding more… Unicow!!!

And I guess I need to plug my new favorite actress..

Should we be studying it???

Yeah, I know… The posts on the subject of Arabic learning got pretty sparse this last semester.  The truth is that there wasn’t a whole lot to say.  Everything settled into a nice little routine.  As a class, we got a good hold on basic grammar and structure, but in early language-learning, one’s vocabulary acquisition is always playing catch-up with one’s command of grammar.  Simply put, you have the potential to say a lot, but simply don’t have the words to put in the relevant slots.  It’s very frustrating, and, to be frank, I’m convinced that this is the stage that has most people walking out on FL classes, convinced that they “can’t learn a language.”  Vocabulary acquisition simply comes down to two factors: time and effort.  Anyone who says otherwise is lying or trying to sell you something…

Anyway, that’s where I am now in my Arabic learning.  Given the vocabulary, I can say a lot, but my vocabulary is still pathetically limited.  In terms of real conversation, I can converse (with great care — and probably a fair amount of error) on a limited range of subject areas.  My reading and writing is vastly superior to my listening/speaking skills, which is just as well in Arabic, considering that oral dialects differ so considerably from the Modern Standard Arabic that I have been learning.  Reading is the area that amazes me the most.  The fact that I look at Arabic text now and see words (whether I understand them or not) instead of insane squiggles is an accomplishment in of itself.  As I believe I’ve mentioned here before, my language learning has always followed a certain pattern wherein I principally will develop written language skills in a classroom context, and I have to develop oral production and receptive skills in the target language environment (i.e., I have to go abroad to learn to speak).  I feel like I have a fairly good base now, and that if I were dropped into an Arabic-speaking country, sure I’d flounder to a certain degree, but I would be able to survive, and, more importantly, I would quickly be able to scaffold off of my learning from the past year to quickly acquire the language that I would need to live (and dare I say thrive?) in my new environment.  Towards that end, I applied for a scholarship to go to the middle east this summer, but unfortunately I did not receive it.  *Sigh.*  There’s always next year…

The big problem/issue that I face now with my Arabic learning is going to be maintenance.  I have been warned-off from taking the next sequence in Arabic learning this coming fall, due to departmental recommendations that students taking the comprehensive exams refrain from taking more than 3 hours of coursework.  That in-of-itself would be ok, but for the fact that I can only take the next course in the sequence in Fall, so I’m out of Arabic potentially until Fall, 2009!  I have to question how much I’m really going to remember by then!  What I’m planning to do is to perhaps apply again for a scholarship for summer ‘09 to take a refresher course in intro-Arabic.  A review of the subject can only do me good as it would also help to solidify what I have now.  The key during the coming year is going to be to keep up with the practice — easier said than done.  The resources exist (Arabic speaking clubs and the like), so it’s just a matter of doing it…

Regardless, I’m thankful for what I’ve learned thus far, and I do hope to keep up with Arabic (even if it’s on-again, off-again) throughout my life.  Work in the Gulf region is not uncommon in my field, so this year’s investment in language study may well pay off dividends later, and beyond all material gain, the language itself is quite interesting.  I’d easily recommend Arabic study to anyone asking!

Done with the semester!

And for that matter, I have finished up the coursework requirements for my program. Next fall, I’ll be taking the comprehensive exams, and (God willing,) then I’ll start on my dissertation.

It’s time for some celebration… Goofy. Dutch. Girl. Band. Style…. yeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaahhhh…

(I may not completely understand it, but goofy foreign parodies of cowgirls are great fun for the entire family!)

Thus upping my job-seeking chances…  Thanks USA!

The State Dept.-funded national security effort at critical languages training is bearing some fruit… Please scroll down for the state-by-state programs.

Here “at home” (in AZ), we can see a couple of interesting new programs:

At ASU, we see the infant School of International Letters and Cultures (SILC) program...

and at UofA: there is a new institute to train  and equip teachers of Mandarin…

Certainly some good indications of increased government support for those who want to study something other than Spanish/French/German…

After a longer-than-normal recess from frequent blogging due to a more-hectic-than-normal end of the semester, I’m pleased to announce that things should be coming back to normal by the end of the week.  I’ve made it to the final exams period, and I’ve got nothing more than a single research paper due this Friday.  I’m going to try to knock that out as soon as possible, so please excuse a lack of (serious) posts until then.

The other consideration in my general schedule (though shouldn’t impact my blogging ability) is that I have to report for jury duty next Monday…  Sigh!  Jury duty is simultaneously an honored trust of the American republic and the bane of modern American existence.  I can’t say that I’m looking forward to that hefty $7/day salary (on par with Bolivian peasant farmers, I believe), but I’m hoping to be recused.   Several local friends have assured me that my educational level is practically a disqualifying factor from jury duty, and I would suspect that my personal outlook on the criminal-justice system would have any defense attorney who is worth his/her salt trying to dismiss me ASAP.  Hopefully, I’ll be practically “responsibility free” from next Tuesday .