Job Discussion Forums

[simrishamn]

Could you guys recommend a good phrase-book and has anyone tried to learn Arabic, if so which books or programs did you use�

[007]

[Neil McBeath]

I was part of the thread on learning Arabic that was posted in the Saudi column.

I made the mistake of saying that I had managed to learn to SPEAK Arabic by associating with Omanis, visiting them in their homes, going to weddings etc.

I was promptly flamed by VS "we can't all be as perfect as you", who raised ur-feminist objections about the different levels of freedom available to male and female expatriates in the Gulf.

I have since discovered, I must say with glee, that two of my FEMALE colleagues at SQU are following exactly the same method that I used, and are both making rapid progress.

The disadvantage with this approach is that you end up fairly fluent in certain registers only, and that you will probably remain illiterate, but that would also be true of all you did was study a phrase book.

[lotsa]

Nothing wrong with learning functional Arabic either. Its useful, demonstrates that you are not ignorant of the ways of expressing oneself verbally etc etc. I learn about a dozen new words every day in the functional sense... thats not just knowing what they mean, but actually learning from Omanis correct pronunciation. Moreover, the Omani people seem to "love it" that you are trying out their language, they encourage, they enjoy it... they laugh, I laugh.. we both learn differences... if anyone thinks there is something wrong with that concept perhaps shouldn't even attempt to learn Arabic. I do find the younger generation are very encouraging towards foreigners learning Arabic, and thats gotta be fantastic.

Finally, not all native English speakers use correct grammar nor pronunciation, but aren't mocked for it every time... Omanis don't mock me either. I'm loving the experience of it all and will wrap up by saying I will continue to learn Arabic because it is indeed the best region to learn it... for both males and females.

[lall]

Not all native English speakers use correct grammar or pronunciation, whilst speaking.

And certainly, the colloquial form of any language is less-refined than that of the written one.

And, yes, the Omanis (or members of any other nationality, for that matter) wouldn't mock a native English speaker, on that count.

However, I wonder what all the students of the teachers who post on Dave's feel about the many errors in English that creep into the posts here.

Had I been a student of EFL/ESL browsing Dave's, my judgement of my teachers' abilities to do justice to their jobs would've been a tad influenced by the quality of the English of the posters here.

However, this is not to say that all EFL/ESL teachers make errors. Why, some posters may not even be EFL/ESL teachers!

No offence meant to anybody in particular. Just a bit of constructive criticism. I hope it's taken in the right spirit.

After all, this is a board for ESL teachers, isn't it?

[007]

[zeke0606]

lall -

You are oh so truthful about the oral language and the written language! And even more correct about allowing an Arabic student to read these forums!

Instead of working together in a spirit of cooperation, I have wacthed these forums used to belittle and berate other English teachers over what I think are just typing errors. And exactly like 007 says -- understanding and communication is the whole point - isn't it?

An American friend of mine quit posting - he was attacked so severely, it seemed to me anyway, only for being American and from the 'former colonies' and everyone knows that Americans can never never understand the English grammar. He was even accused of being a spy - a Russian spy at that! It is a sad day when we attack each other over petty things and miss the big picture of 'getting along together in this tough and hard world'!

[lall]

May I add here, without prejudice and definitely without any intention to offend, that this is a forum for English language teachers, as opposed to a forum on the English language.

Teachers of any language are expected to produce relatively error-free material, when posting in that particular language.

In this era of the "spell-check" feature, typographical errors can easily be eliminated.

Justifying these errors is like justifying an accountant's error with the floating decimal in the sum total of a string of figures, on the premise that a quick, cursory look at the figures can clearly show that s/he (the accountant) made a small error in the placing of the decimal point.

Basic errors in grammar, spelling and punctuation by teachers in their posts here could indicate a lax approach towards teaching, which, I suspect, stems from the fact that they consider that they are teaching Omanis, who aren�t expected to know better.

I know that I�m treading on sensitive ground here, with the above-mentioned paragraph. Please take it in the right spirit, teachers!