Ahlan!
Less than a week away. With everything planned for me, I started to focus on task #1: learn some of the language. A big surprise to me, they happened to have the Pimsleur short course for Egyptian Arabic at the local library. I happily threw myself into the course with abandon and started lesson 7 today. For anyone traveling, Pimsleur is a great alternative to memorizing flashcards. Focusing on conversational fluency and listening comprehension, the idea is to stop you from feeling like an idiot when faced with a native speaker by providing a lot of practice, short response times, and phrases that are useful to anyone travelling either for business or pleasure.
This is my third Pimsleur course, and I am a huge fan. For those who wish to delve deep into a language and work towards fluency, the three-course program is for you. This is what I used when I learned Italian. Thirty minutes per lesson, it was done easily on the way to and from work. Not knowing any Italian, but being familiar with another romance language, I can say that it was a great step into the language, one I have followed up with written exercises. I also took the three-step course for German, but as a refresher. It works great in this capacity for those of us who took a language in high school but have had little to no opportunity to practice. As for Egyptian Arabic, there isn't enough time to learn the script, but I can happily report that I know how to ask for some coffee, say hello and goodbye, and say that I don't speak Egyptian Arabic well. That's a great start.
One of the best things about learning some of the native language before travelling is that when you travel internationally, you're a diplomat for your country. You may be the only person from your country these people ever encounter, and you want their lasting impression to be a good one. Taking the time to at least learn greetings, and how to say thank you, will cause a great first impression, and may possibly make you some friends that you will have for a long time to come.
Check out the Pimsleur website here:
http://www.pimsleurapproach.com/
Also, take time to visit your local library. They just might have the language for you.
About Me
- Julie Soul
- Julie lives in Portage, Michigan with her husband and her beagle. She is a three time baby loss mommy, a writer, a gamer, a lover of fantasy/sci-fi, obsessed about mythology, and a world traveler. She hopes to inspire you and bring you along for her soul trek. Her current project is Gorgon-zola!, a chick lit novel with a heavy dose of Greek mythology. When Serpentia discovers she's the reincarnated Medusa, she learns she must take sides with one of the Greek gods of mythology and control her powers or the Fates will take her sister's life. Now looking for an agent!
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