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| Hassanat Kadiri |
An Unexpected Twist
The
first meeting of Arabic 212 spring semester 2012, Ms. Rima the Arabic
instructor, gave her four prospective students a placement test. Each of us was
tested orally on simple Arabic terminologies, grammar and vocabulary. My
colleagues were tested before me and they tested well having taken the
pre-requisites for Arabic 212. With
the confidence I had from my background elementary Arabic obtained more than a
decade ago, I felt I was “prepared” enough to answer Ms. Rima’s questions. Unfortunately,
I did not meet up to Ms. Rima’s expectations and I was told to drop the class
in order to avoid a failing grade by the end of the semester. Knowing fully
well that I needed a language requirement to graduate with a Bachelor’s degree
in Economics this semester, coupled with the fact that as an international
student, my financial and psychological budget for my undergraduate education
was not to go beyond Spring 2012, I decided to do all it took to pass the class
even with at least a C-.
Our first real vocal
test was the following week, so I had just about seven days to prepare alongside
the workload of other classes having registered for 17.5 credit units. I took
advantage of resources available i.e. the Arabic tutor Ajok Deng, and also
purchased the recommended text for the class. Then came the day of the test, my
colleagues did very well as expected, and it was my turn next as I stared
across the room to where Ms. Rima sat with her grade book and a pen in her
hand:
“Arifi na bin
nafsik…” pause “Tafadha…” Ms. Rima
added as she prompted me to introduce myself briefly.
“Ana ismi Hassanat
Kadiri. Nashaatu wa wulidtu fi Nigeria…”
I started off like a
programmed robot. I did not pay much attention to my monotone; all I cared about was
regurgitating word for word all I had crammed from the previous day session
with the Arabic tutor. Finally I was done, back from whatever planet I had
crept in as I found Ms. Rima saying:
“Ma sha Allah.
Shukra!” as a compliment and expression of gratitude. “You did marvelously
well!”
I heaved a sigh of
relief, told her about my practices with the Arabic tutor and also the use of
the dvd that came along with the Arabic text. I had convinced Ms. Rima, but
most importantly, I had reaffirmed the self-confidence that made me register
for Arabic 212 to continue to the end.
Beth Jaeger will be going to Amman Jordan fall semester 2012 to complete her Arabic Area Studies minor. Her reflection on Arabic 212 follows:
My experience in studying the Arabic language has been very positive. The Arabic language is one that is complicated and different from many languages. It is one language that is beginning to be in demand. Studying Arabic is a great opportunity for future careers. Professor Rima expects her students to be eager to learn the Arabic language. Rima is interested in each one of her students and their progress in her class. She pushed me to levels that I did not know that I could reach. I am so grateful that I took Arabic at William Jewell. I encourage students who are interested in Middle Eastern studies to consider taking Arabic.
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| Beth Jaeger |
My experience in studying the Arabic language has been very positive. The Arabic language is one that is complicated and different from many languages. It is one language that is beginning to be in demand. Studying Arabic is a great opportunity for future careers. Professor Rima expects her students to be eager to learn the Arabic language. Rima is interested in each one of her students and their progress in her class. She pushed me to levels that I did not know that I could reach. I am so grateful that I took Arabic at William Jewell. I encourage students who are interested in Middle Eastern studies to consider taking Arabic.
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