Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

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Maiwenn
Orange Belt
Posts: 243
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 11:26 am
Location: Grand Est, France
Languages: English (N) & French
focusing on: MSA & Moroccan Arabic
backburner: German
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7321
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Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby Maiwenn » Fri Oct 29, 2021 9:51 am

Jordan was excellent! We visited Amman, Aqaba (on the Red Sea), Wadi Rum, Petra, and the Dead Sea. Jordan's reputation for hospitality is well-earned and we had a marvelous time. Did I speak a lot of Arabic? Not as much as I would have liked. Many Jordanians are rather enthusiastic about speaking English. Those who weren't generally preferred speaking to my husband in Arabic.... This also happens in Morocco. I may be the one to ask a question (in Arabic), but the person (usually a man) will respond to my husband even when he tries to redirect the conversation toward me. Given that none of these were going to be long-term acquaintances, I let it slide. If we were going to be staying in one spot a long time, I'd be more aggressive about getting people to speak to me.

Image Wadi Rum
Image The Dead Sea

We were on a quest to find Scrabble in Arabic and failed (either the shopkeeper had never heard of Scrabble or they only had copies in English). Ah well. We visited a couple bookstores in Amman and stopped by many a book kiosk (كشك). I was relatively reasonable with my purchases. :D Happily, I found the two YA books from Al Salwa I had been looking for (مصنع الذكريات لأحلام بشارات and لمن هذه الدمية لتغريد النجار). The food, of course, was excellent.

Now that we're back, I'm catching back up on coursework. I also began reading Tolstoy's آنا كارينينا (Anna Karenina) based on the forum discussion on its CEFR level. It is indeed surprisingly easy! Just very, very long. I'm enjoying it. Per usual, I also have a dozen other books I'm working on. Perhaps when I've finished the Tolstoy, I'll pause my abjjad subscription to catch up on all the paper books I've collected.

Kanewai reminded me of Les Mages by Ibrahim al-Koni which I ordered waaaaaay back when he first started reading it. I meant to start it over the summer when I was at my parents' as their local library actually has a copy of the original Arabic (!), but that did not happen. Storytel has the Arabic audiobook, so I might attempt L-R-ing down the line. I've listened to a bit of it already. The narrator is the same as for the HP series and he reuses some of his "voices" which made me feel like Dumbledore was suddenly part of the plot.

My Arabic page-count for the month will be 400-something. We're going away this weekend and I don't hold out much hope for extensive reading. Still, 400+ isn't so bad for a month where we spent most of it traveling.

I gave up on the output challenge a long time ago. I'll try again next year. Until then, I will continue writing daily, but not worry about counting words, etc.

November goals:
*Catch up on coursework.
*Intensive listening in Arabic 4-5 times a week.

Hope you're all doing well!
12 x
SC reading: 3819 / 10000 AR
SC reading: 3334 / 5000 FR
SC reading: 65 / 2500 DE :?

Corrections are always welcome. :)

jimmy
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Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby jimmy » Fri Oct 29, 2021 11:24 am

Maiwenn wrote:

Hope you're all doing well!


Hi Maiwenn;

very nice to see you once again.
(I was almost supposing that had gone away ) :)

could you mention something about covid -19 case in these countries you visited?
(for instance , any type of relevant difficulties and obligations)
will we have to get vaccinated to enter in these countries ,I wonder?

oh , by the way,I have newly passed some exams here so I presume in near future I will have some options both for concentrating on Arabic (MSA) and maybe for visit abroad.

(Do you know this association : ifia? ( link https://www.ifia.com/ )
I might consider to attend some of contests announced by this association)
mm , could you also leave a piece of information such as : in how many days have you completed your this last trip and how much Money have you spent (in dollar please ,if possible)?

lastly, may I also ask, how do you find Arabic culture as an observer (advantages , disadvantages if we were to live there )?
(Did you have an opportunity to also observe interior parts of cities (e.g. village/country life))
thank you for your nice posts.
0 x
Self Taught - Autodidactic

guyome
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Languages: French (N)
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Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby guyome » Sun Nov 28, 2021 9:33 pm

I caught part of a talk with the realisator on the radio yesterday and thought you may be interested in this movie about Muslim keepers of Jewish cemeteries and shrines in Morocco. It will be released on december, 1st. I doubt it will be widely distributed but who knows?

4 x

User avatar
Maiwenn
Orange Belt
Posts: 243
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 11:26 am
Location: Grand Est, France
Languages: English (N) & French
focusing on: MSA & Moroccan Arabic
backburner: German
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7321
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Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby Maiwenn » Sat Jan 01, 2022 6:18 pm

guyome wrote:I caught part of a talk with the realisator on the radio yesterday and thought you may be interested in this movie about Muslim keepers of Jewish cemeteries and shrines in Morocco. It will be released on december, 1st. I doubt it will be widely distributed but who knows?


I so wanted to go see this! But it only had one showing in my city and unfortunately was on a day I couldn't go. :( I'll wait until it shows up on a streaming service/DVD somewhere.

Here's another talk with the director:

1 x
SC reading: 3819 / 10000 AR
SC reading: 3334 / 5000 FR
SC reading: 65 / 2500 DE :?

Corrections are always welcome. :)

User avatar
Maiwenn
Orange Belt
Posts: 243
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 11:26 am
Location: Grand Est, France
Languages: English (N) & French
focusing on: MSA & Moroccan Arabic
backburner: German
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7321
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Maiwenn's 2021 recap/2022 goals

Postby Maiwenn » Sat Jan 01, 2022 8:03 pm

Happy 2022 everyone!

2021 Recap

2021 saw me finish 15! books in Arabic:
لا أنام
ساق البامبو
ما رأيكم في شكلي الآن؟
ستشرق الشمش ولو بعد حين
الآن نفتح الصندوق
الزواج غير تقليدي
إجاصة ميلا
فاتن
كابوتشينو
يوميات هر
سندريلات مسقط
بريد الليل
هاري بوتر وحجرة الفيلسوف
حكواتي نبته
رعب رأس السنة

and sample tens of others. Thanks abjjad!
I read 4673 pages in 2021 (6870 total for the super challenge). Given that there were a couple months in there where I read practically nothing, I feel fairly good about that.
Italki informs me I had 69 lessons with 8 different teachers.
Shahid told me I "traveled" 109.5 hours with them to Lebanon, Egypt and Morocco. Soooo I guess I completed the listening part of the super challenge as well. (I was certain I had, but had long ago quit tabulating minutes listened.)


2022 Goals
-Read at least six Arabic books I ALREADY OWN including الخبز الحافي
-Go through Essential Skills in Arabic (one module/2 weeks)
-Write 10 minutes daily
-Check reading speed the first of every month by reading the Arabic translation of 1984 for 20 minutes (January 2022: 6 pages)

Originally I was going to include finish 1 book from abjjad every month or else pause my subscription. Instead, abjjad helpfully deleted my payment information and made the decision for me. I guess this means I won't be finishing Anna Karenina just yet. After I read (at least) 2 books I already own, I'll consider resubscribing. I love abjjad, but the great amount of choice always keeps me wanting to read something new (rather than finishing what I've already begun).
10 x
SC reading: 3819 / 10000 AR
SC reading: 3334 / 5000 FR
SC reading: 65 / 2500 DE :?

Corrections are always welcome. :)

User avatar
Maiwenn
Orange Belt
Posts: 243
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 11:26 am
Location: Grand Est, France
Languages: English (N) & French
focusing on: MSA & Moroccan Arabic
backburner: German
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7321
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Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby Maiwenn » Thu Feb 03, 2022 11:41 am

Well, in January I read two Arabic books I already owned (الآن نفتح الصندوق ٢ لد. أحمد خالد توفيق و مصنع الذكريات لأحلام بشارات) but also bought 5 new books... soooooo. (To be fair, 2 of the books were ebooks with credits I needed to use asap and 1 is a play I'll be studying in class.) I wrote for at least 10 minutes every day and read daily. I also finished 2 units of Lahlali's Essential Skills in Arabic. I had my exams mid-January and have now begun the second semester. This semester will have a heavy media/journalistic focus, so I'm probably going to have to start using anki like all you cool kids.

In other news, I'm planning on visiting a friend in Colombia in September. I've got a copy of Assimil Espagnol which I'll be going through. I have some limited Spanish experience (2 years in middle school haha). It won't be a primary focus until this summer at which point I'm looking forward to telenovelas! For now, I'll be sticking to my Lebanese and Egyptian dramas.

Oh! And I've been playing Arabic wordle daily :D https://arwordle.netlify.app
7 x
SC reading: 3819 / 10000 AR
SC reading: 3334 / 5000 FR
SC reading: 65 / 2500 DE :?

Corrections are always welcome. :)

User avatar
Maiwenn
Orange Belt
Posts: 243
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 11:26 am
Location: Grand Est, France
Languages: English (N) & French
focusing on: MSA & Moroccan Arabic
backburner: German
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7321
x 777

Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby Maiwenn » Sat Apr 02, 2022 6:15 am

February and March Recap

I read a lot of Arabic these past two months, but only finished one book (أهل الكهف لتوفيق الحكيم) because I started too many books all at once. April should see me finish a few of them. I did 19 hours of conversation classes and watched a lot of shahid episodes/Arab youtubers.

We visited Paris in February. When there, I saw a post regarding an author meeting with Alia Mamdouh. I signed us up and was absolutely delighted to attend. Way back when I was first becoming interested in Arabic literature, I came across Alia Mamdouh and ordered her (widely banned in the Arab world) book, الغلامة and tried to read it. It... did not go well. At that point, I had only laboriously read a few pages out of other (easier) books. I shelved it and got the French translation (La Garçonne). For an hour, I got to listen to her discuss her writing, her life, and her philosophies all in Arabic. It was a magical experience and I got her to sign a book for me (sadly not الغلامة since I had not thought to bring it with me to Paris on the off chance I might see her :lol: ).

We also visited the Institut du monde arabe (of course), saw the Juifs d'Orient expo (fantastic! Sadly over now), attended a talk on the relationship between Jewish and Arab philosophies (a little disorganized, but still very interesting), and bought too many books (as always...).

This month, I'll be preparing for exams and hopefully finishing some of the many books I'm reading.

Have wonderful Aprils! It's snowing here and it's quite lovely. Also رمضان مبارك to those who celebrate it!
5 x
SC reading: 3819 / 10000 AR
SC reading: 3334 / 5000 FR
SC reading: 65 / 2500 DE :?

Corrections are always welcome. :)

guyome
Blue Belt
Posts: 601
Joined: Wed Jan 01, 2020 1:41 pm
Languages: French (N)
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Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby guyome » Sat Apr 02, 2022 7:35 am

Maiwenn wrote:Way back when I was first becoming interested in Arabic literature, I came across Alia Mamdouh and ordered her (widely banned in the Arab world) book, الغلامة and tried to read it. It... did not go well. At that point, I had only laboriously read a few pages out of other (easier) books. I shelved it and got the French translation (La Garçonne).
Interesting. Did she mention being aware of Victor Margueritte's novel La Garçonne (1922), which seems to touch upon similar topics?
1 x

User avatar
Maiwenn
Orange Belt
Posts: 243
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 11:26 am
Location: Grand Est, France
Languages: English (N) & French
focusing on: MSA & Moroccan Arabic
backburner: German
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7321
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Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby Maiwenn » Sat Apr 02, 2022 8:08 am

guyome wrote:
Maiwenn wrote:Way back when I was first becoming interested in Arabic literature, I came across Alia Mamdouh and ordered her (widely banned in the Arab world) book, الغلامة and tried to read it. It... did not go well. At that point, I had only laboriously read a few pages out of other (easier) books. I shelved it and got the French translation (La Garçonne).
Interesting. Did she mention being aware of Victor Margueritte's novel La Garçonne (1922), which seems to touch upon similar topics?


She mostly spoke about her novel التشهّي because its French translation, Comme un désir qui ne veut pas mourir, had just come out. I don't think she mentioned الغلامة\La Garçonne at all aside from a reference to some of her works being banned. I wish I had known about Victor Margueritte's novel -- that would have been a good question to ask! I'm not sure how similar they really are. I suspect Mamdouh's work is a bit more... violent (there's sexual assault fairly early in the story) and political. I'm also not sure that Mamdouh would have been reading French books at the time when she wrote الغلامة/would have been familiar with it. The French translator, however, must have been (or at the very least would have become familiar with it when choosing the title).
2 x
SC reading: 3819 / 10000 AR
SC reading: 3334 / 5000 FR
SC reading: 65 / 2500 DE :?

Corrections are always welcome. :)

User avatar
Maiwenn
Orange Belt
Posts: 243
Joined: Mon Jan 25, 2016 11:26 am
Location: Grand Est, France
Languages: English (N) & French
focusing on: MSA & Moroccan Arabic
backburner: German
Language Log: https://forum.language-learners.org/vie ... =15&t=7321
x 777

Re: Mostly Arabic with Maiwenn

Postby Maiwenn » Sun May 01, 2022 9:41 am

What's this? I'm doing my April recap on time? My oh my.

April Recap
- Finished 4 books in Arabic:
ساعة بغداد -- شهد الراوي
ليس لهافانا ربّ يحميها -- ياسمينة خضرا translated by حسين قبيسي
الملك أوديب - توفيق الحكيم a play (actually read it twice this month)
الآن نفتح الصندوق ٣ -- د. أحمد خالد توفيق

April was a good reading month. I finished two more books I'd bought pre-2020 and decided to re-subscribe to Abjjad (there was a really good Ramadan deal and many books on it I want to finish/read). If I keep up similar reading stats I should be able to finish the Double Super Challenge (10000 pages between May 2022 and December 2023) without too much issue. I had my exams for the academic year this past week and now I have a lot of time freed up for personal language studying.

May Goals and Beyond
I have once again signed up for the Super Challenge! Double in Arabic, a full in French, and a half in German. I find I need the encouragement of the Super Challenge to read in French for leisure (otherwise the lure of English books is too strong). I'd also like to take advantage of this time to listen to the French audiobooks which I bought a few years ago. :D This summer I will also return to working my way through Essential Skills in Arabic to make sure I continue working on professional/academic Arabic. There's also the small matter of learning some Spanish before my September Colombia trip.

*start reading Adas Raum by Sharon Dodua Otoo
*read Sur les traces d'Enayat Zayyat by Iman Mersel, translated by Richard Jacquemond
*read فرانكشتاين في بغداد by أحمد سعداوي
*complete 4 units of Essential Skills in Arabic
*complete 10 lessons of Assimil espagnol
7 x
SC reading: 3819 / 10000 AR
SC reading: 3334 / 5000 FR
SC reading: 65 / 2500 DE :?

Corrections are always welcome. :)


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