somewhat personal
February 11, 2023
Arabic week 1
I’ve been in a sort of mental (and physical) limbo for the last three months. Nothing worked, both my brain and body did not function. A few weeks ago, I started to colour in maps. It’s a soothing activity that allows my mind to go wherever it wants. It feels like focusing freedom. As I was getting better, I decided to find something mechanic but more challenging, so I thought, why not, try to learn Arabic. I tried a couple of years ago, but it only lasted two months. This time I got a book, and a few pdfs. I am learning Arabic.
There is the writing. Well, so far, it’s about tracing letters. This is as mechanic as can be, repeating the same character again and again. I’ve always found very difficult to focus on one thing only, my thoughts can only focus on the action of writing for a few moments, and after that it’s focus-free mode. Working with type and typography gives you a way of interrogating letters that is probably a bit different from non-type-aware citizens, that is, the majority of the world. I’m not sure it makes the task any easier.
Then there are sounds. This is an impossible task, repeating the sounds, listen and repeat, listen and repeat. Why there are so many glyphs that sound almost the same? Still a mystery, but this is week one, so maybe the answer will be revealed eventually.
Then there is duolingo, to match characters and sounds, and slowly to learn all the positions of the letters within the words.
Then there is a friend from work who sends me audios of words via WhatsApp. It’s so sweet. And what a privilege is working with minded people.
Then the are movies. I searched for Lebanese films on one of the streaming platforms, but somehow I ended up watching an Israeli movie filmed in Germany. Not exactly what I was looking for. Next time there will be better luck.
In English Arabic personal