A New Blog to Visit & Talar bara du English?
I have posted a link to a blogger who lives in Baghdad. His blog is titled "Where Date Palms Grow" and is located right under "Treasure of Baghdad." He posted a very disturbing account of some developments in Baghdad yesterday--some of which are talked about in the American Media, but he provides a "boots on the ground" point of view that is invaluable.
A Sunni politician had his house raided last night, and some of the upheaval has to do with this. I think this blog is excellent, and would recommend it to students who are doing any of the topics for your paper. And I would recommend it to anyone else as well!
I'm struck by how many Iraqis blog in English, their great command of English (including idiomatic expressions), and how beautifully they write. I would dare say that not many of us, native non-Arab citizens, could post such blogs in Arabic (or Farsi). When a professor at our university proposed to teach Arabic (he taught in another department) to students at no extra cost, he was turned down. This decision amazed me. Arabic and Chinese are two of the languages most in demand around the world, not just for the United States' purposes. In Brazil, there are a multitude of "Chinese Language Schools," which are highly in demand, so that those in business can communicate with the Chinese, the largest growing market in the world. The same goes for Arabic. I would venture to say that besides Spanish, Arabic and Chinese would be the languages to learn, starting in either elementary or middle school. Also, those who study foreign languages do so much better in English courses--because they know the parts of speech, can see grammatical strutures that work and don't work, and in general are more savvy about language arts. And like reading, speaking another language builds the ability to understand abtractions, which helps not only in language, but in math (which is a language, only with different symbols, if you think about it).
But we don't encourage other language arts in our schools, and this is to our great detriment. If I were a Chinese business person, I would probably be more impressed with a Brazilian that spoke even elementary Chinese than an American who assumed that I either spoke English or had to have a translator. The Brazilians' efforts to learn Chinese should be a wake up call to International Business majors. . .
I have posted a link to a blogger who lives in Baghdad. His blog is titled "Where Date Palms Grow" and is located right under "Treasure of Baghdad." He posted a very disturbing account of some developments in Baghdad yesterday--some of which are talked about in the American Media, but he provides a "boots on the ground" point of view that is invaluable.
A Sunni politician had his house raided last night, and some of the upheaval has to do with this. I think this blog is excellent, and would recommend it to students who are doing any of the topics for your paper. And I would recommend it to anyone else as well!
I'm struck by how many Iraqis blog in English, their great command of English (including idiomatic expressions), and how beautifully they write. I would dare say that not many of us, native non-Arab citizens, could post such blogs in Arabic (or Farsi). When a professor at our university proposed to teach Arabic (he taught in another department) to students at no extra cost, he was turned down. This decision amazed me. Arabic and Chinese are two of the languages most in demand around the world, not just for the United States' purposes. In Brazil, there are a multitude of "Chinese Language Schools," which are highly in demand, so that those in business can communicate with the Chinese, the largest growing market in the world. The same goes for Arabic. I would venture to say that besides Spanish, Arabic and Chinese would be the languages to learn, starting in either elementary or middle school. Also, those who study foreign languages do so much better in English courses--because they know the parts of speech, can see grammatical strutures that work and don't work, and in general are more savvy about language arts. And like reading, speaking another language builds the ability to understand abtractions, which helps not only in language, but in math (which is a language, only with different symbols, if you think about it).
But we don't encourage other language arts in our schools, and this is to our great detriment. If I were a Chinese business person, I would probably be more impressed with a Brazilian that spoke even elementary Chinese than an American who assumed that I either spoke English or had to have a translator. The Brazilians' efforts to learn Chinese should be a wake up call to International Business majors. . .
posted by mariestaad at 3:33 PM
3 Comments:
That's a really tough question. No matter what, there will always be opposition to the draft. Therefore the government should use it only as a last resort. Women being drafted is another topic. As a woman, I'm not even sure which side of the debate I'm on. I don't think I could deliberately kill somebody, but if I were drafted I would do my duty and not try to seek assylum. Hopefully, however the government would account for this and try to make positions for women where they were not involved in open combat. I also think that if they do consider re-instating the draft they should not draft college students. This is not only because I am one, but because that would create a generation of uneducated people who could not find a job, when they came home from war(that is if they would make it home).
As an American living in Saudi Arabia, I have been learning Arabic and can tell you it is one tough language! Yikes! My kids, on the other hand, have picke dit up rather quickly from their Arabic-speaking friends. I agree that learning Arabic should be a national priority in the US - and am appalled that your fellow teacher had no takers for his offer. We are by nature I guess, pretty ethnocentric.
I agree we are ethnocentric, and yes, picking up Arabic as an adult is ten times harder than when you are a kid. The programs in the states that teach Chinese to young kids (Kindergarten on ) have been very successful, but there are a scant few of them--mostly in NY,NY. But learning a non-germanic/non-latinate language is incredibly tough as an adult. I applaud you! And your kids are so lucky--they have the beginnings of a great skillset.
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