The first day of class I felt so overwhelmed: a combination
of what-did-I-get-myself-into and I-absolutely-love-this, all at once. It was
new, it was exciting, and boy, would it be a challenge. This class has been the
ultimate combination of love and sheer terror.
There were a lot of stakes going into this class. This
course was going to determine which region of the world I would focus on for my
International Relations major. In the grand scheme of things, this is not the
biggest deal in the world, but at the time, it was. And it still is. I am going
to take classes for the rest of my college career with this focus, study abroad
in this region, and be potentially most qualified to work there. So I wanted to
ensure that it really was what I wanted to do. And I said to myself: “If I don’t
like this, then I am not going to focus on the Middle East. There is no point.”
Amazingly enough, I did like it from the very beginning.
العربية. Arabic 101. What an adventure this class has been! It was
hyped up to be this impossible feat. Arabic is not impossible. I can tell you
this, because after three months, I can have conversations in Arabic. I can
write in Arabic. I can hear short and long vowels. And I can understand a heck
of a lot more than I ever could have dreamed I would after a 101 class.
I said this language wasn’t impossible, but it wasn’t easy
either. Hours upon hours I spent learning the alphabet and listening to the
sounds, trying to differentiate. There were several weeks in the beginning of
the semester where I felt like all I was doing was Arabic homework. It is a
very demanding language, especially in the beginning when everything is so
foreign. And really, the only way to get past this is to be completely forced
out of your comfort zone, which my professor had no trouble doing.
I owe so much of my knowledge of Arabic to my professor.
Professor Eva Phillips is unlike any professor I have ever had. The moment she
walked into our first class, she bombarded us with Arabic, and not only that,
she made us understand what she was saying, with hand gestures and emphasizing
certain words. I couldn’t believe that I was already speaking Arabic my first
class! This set the tone for the whole semester. Whether we wanted to speak in
class or not, we were pushed out of our comfort zone to form complete sentences
and ask each other questions. It really woke me up how energetic Professor
Phillips is, and how I never quite knew when she was going to call on me.
With her dedication and hard work, we really picked up the
language quite quickly. Not only this, but she truly cares about each of us,
and every we class we had to say (in Arabic) how we were doing that day. If any
of us responded that we were sick, which happens quite often this time of year,
she would quickly transition into a motherly lecture about how we have to take
of ourselves and get enough sleep. I know for a fact that Professor Phillips is
the reason that I can speak and comprehend the amount of Arabic that I can
after one semester. And she is such an entertainer, always singing, laughing,
and joking with us. The class really was a family by the end, as she said it
would be.
I had an incredible realization today in my last Arabic
class of the semester. I realized how much I had learned in such a short amount
of time. Today in class, we each did presentations describing ourselves and our
families. I was so impressed by the amount each person knew. I couldn’t believe
that just in August we were beginning to sketch characters in our books. For a
language such as Arabic, this diligence and learning environment is necessary
to even come close to proficiency. I am so happy that I experienced Arabic 101,
and I cannot wait for the next round of Arabic 102 with Professor Phillips once
again!
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