Another Chance to Speak Arabic
We went into Barami, Oman today to go to the souq… which was awesome… and I got to use Arabic quite a bit there. Asking how much things cost, if the people spoke English, stuff like that. But it was after the shopping experience that I really got to practice speaking and listening in Arabic.
We went to Ryan and Colleen’s friend’s house. (I’m not going to mention their names for respect of their privacy.) She is 22 and speaks very good English, but her father, who was there also, speaks no English - save 3 words… “drink”… “and thank you.” We sat for a good hour talking to him about where we lived, what we did, if we had children and wanted children (Lord willing I told him). There was certainly quite a lot of translating that had to happen, but I was very happy about how well I understood him, even when I didn’t know some of the words… and how well HE understood me!
Since I’m learning the Egyptian dialect I sound like a “movie star” to them. Ryan and Colleen’s friend would laugh sometimes after I said something and tell me that she was very impressed by my accent. She told me I said things very clearly and correctly and was very good at language. Of course that made me feel good… and I thank her quite often for the compliments. It also reminded me of all the times I’ve spoken to non-native English speakers who are learning English and who are very wary about how well they’re doing… but, because they’re in fact doing very well, I compliment them. This time I’m the “foreigner”… the one getting complimented.
Again… I know I’m FAR from any sort of fluency… but this was another very encouraging experience!