Linguistic Lessons
I've realized that when I speak Arabic I must sound like Tarzan. "Me Tarzan, you Jane." I only know 1 verb & it's 'want'. Other than that I have a verbless language. I just speak in words & can't make sentences. I have my dictionary with me everywhere I go & I've been able to communicate with people by using words, but I want to form sentences & not feel so much like a child. These are linguistic stages I'm passing through now, too. Culture shock has stages & so does language learning. I'm diagnosing myself & telling myself what I need because that's what my master's degree is in. I know that I need to learn the verb 'to be' ASAP. So I can say 'I am, he is, they are' etc. I also need to learn the simple present verbs (i.e. I go, she goes, he wants, I read, I do, I have) and simple past verbs (I went, I did, I had, I wanted). These are the stages that a person learning English goes through & I realize that that's what I need in order to learn Arabic. It's kind of like being a doctor. I have this degree & I know what I need. It makes life sooooooooooo much simpler!