When you want to learn a new language, where do you start? In my experience \u2013 and this is my fourth \u2013 it doesn\u2019t really matter.<\/p>\n
Learning a new language is like building a house. Not that I\u2019ve actually built a house. But I\u2019ve seen it done. You start with a structure and some kind of foundation. Then you add walls, eventually you have something that stands on its own. Then you make it something you can live in. Later, you maybe make it elegant.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the same with languages. Except for one difference. Don\u2019t start with a plan. Just plunge in.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not a problem today. A quick trip to Google and you\u2019ll be hit with a tidal wave of learning books, dictionaries, KID\u2019S learning books (surprisingly effective when you are starting out), plus places to listen to the language spoken on the news or on TV and more. The problem might be choosing where to start.<\/p>\n
But again, seriously, it doesn\u2019t much matter.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m in the particularly tedious stage of building a structure for Arabic. The problem is: for the first time, the tools are really unfamiliar.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not even my first exposure to the language. I spent a month in Tunisia studying Arabic a decade ago. It turns out, all I have to show for it are notebooks with lovely looking script that had obviously been copied out with great care and even more effort.<\/p>\n
This is going to be one long construction project. And I\u2019m not sure I\u2019m
\ngoing to end up with anything useful at the end.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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