Learning Arabic: Checking My Intentions

I recently posted about joining a Quranic Arabic course with the ustadha that runs the Arabic Gems website. I say recent, but before I knew it, fourteen weeks had passed and we were at the end of the first term. This meant two weeks to revise before sitting a vocabulary and grammar test.

In the past I was usually quite good at studying, but found the classical Arabic grammar we were learning quite challenging. I realised as I went along that I was not spending enough time studying and have since established a routine whereby I spend the time after fajr (dawn) practising my vocabulary and doing homework.

With the two weeks preceding the test however, I made the intention to study, but kept finding myself distracted and side-tracked. So a day before the test I was doing something I had always scoffed at: cramming.

So after two days of vocabulary practise, I sat the test and passed. After struggling with the grammar element, I spent a few hours trying to work out the relevance of case endings in classical Arabic (see here for an explanation which I found helpful). I then sat the test and...just missed the pass mark (shame face). Between the two however, I think I have just enough marks to get into the next semester which will lead up to Ramadan. This term homework is in Arabic, not English and we are expected to step up our game and work hard. But our teacher also reminded us that this term should be incredibly enjoyable as we really start to delve into the gems in the Quran in the run up to Ramadan.

In the day before the test, I felt that it was too much with four children, never ending housework, a project I am working on with my sisters and with my return to work next month. I really, really wanted to give up. So I mentioned to my husband about giving up and in his usual, sensible way, he suggested I ask myself what my purpose in learning Arabic was. If I was learning to be able to show off to people that I could understand Arabic, then maybe I should give up. I thought about it and concluded that I had wanted to understand what the Quran said as a child and was told I was too young. Now I still wanted to know what the Quran was saying without having to rely on the translation of others. It completely amazes me that the word of Allah (SWT) is on this earth, existing to guide and help us and that everyone is not rushing to learn what it says. I feel as if it exists for my benefit and that I would love to discover some of the treasures and wisdom from the Quran. I believe in making studying, understanding and implementing the Quran a life-long endeavour and learning the language is part of that. 

I think I answered his question. So I have scraped through to the next term and insh’Allah plan to work much harder. I am going through various websites and Youtube videos to find resources to supplement my learning.

For my vocabulary I have been using Memrise (this vocabulary game) and it has proved a brilliant tool, which costs nothing and makes my vocab learning easy. I heartily recommend it.

The other thing I have been thinking about is subscribing to Baiyanah TV which is the brainchild of Ustadg Nauman Ali Khan and includes his “Arabic with Husnah” video series. Have you subscribed or seen the visdeo’s? Can anyone recommend if this is a worthwhile resource. Would love to hear readers views insh’Allah.
Now back to my studies insh’Allah as term 2 starts tonight!