A short time ago, I finished my formal Darija studies, but before I left Qalam wa LawH my classmates and I got together to share some thoughts about why we wanted to travel abroad, come to Morocco, study the local dialect and attend Qalam wa LawH.
And, after about a month of hearing my perspective on things, I thought you'd like to hear from some other voices that are sharing my experiences. So, what follows is the first half of a question-and-answer session between my classmates and I regarding our dialect course over the past month or two.
I hope this post adds some balance and outside perspective to what I've been writing over the last 30 or so days. If experience has proven me anything, it's that there's always more than one side of the story. I hope Gwyn and Gaelle's sides enrich today's post for you. And to my two co-conspirators; thank you for your honest feedback and four great weeks of class - you guys are awesome!
Please introduce yourself to the audience: Who are you? Where are you from and what do you do?
Gaëlle: My name is Gaëlle, I come from a beautiful medieval city called Gent in Belgium (the Flemish speaking part), and I have been working in hospitality for many years. First I worked as a waitress (e.g. in the restaurant of the Marriott Hotel in Gent) and recently I have started to work as a cook: in a classical gastronomical French kitchen and in two vegan macrobiotic kitchens. I am 31 years old and hospitality is my second ‘career’. Before that, I studied Law and Comparative Science of Cultures at the University of Gent and at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. I worked as a lawyer and a researcher in both fields for a short time, but I realized very soon that I needed a job which would allow me to use my hands as much as my head, and which would give me the chance to work anywhere in the world with people from all nationalities.
Gwyn: My name is Gwyneth, I'm a 32yr old American on a break from work improving some language skills I hope to use on future work projects. I'm from Indianapolis, Indiana and I have been working as a consultant in intercultural communication and conflict resolution for the past few years. I have taught French, Spanish, and Haitian Kreyol at the highschool and college level and lecture in linguistic anthropology at the graduate level from time to time. From my experience working with Teachers of Foreign Languages on curricular development and methodology, I think I am very critical of language instruction. At the same time, I tried to expect a minimum adherence to what was laid out in detail by the program on the website because I am not on the job!
Jay: By this point most of you know me pretty well, but to recap: I'm an Army Officer studying abroad for the next couple years. This program was my first experience with the Moroccan education system, which will conclude in the summer of 2013. I already studied Modern Standard Arabic for about a year and a half; this is my second Arabic dialect (Iraqi being the first), but first formally studied.
Ok, Why'd you decide to come to Morocco and study Darija?
Gaëlle: In November 2010 a friend of mine called me to go on a short winter break to Morocco. I fell in love with the country immediately, especially with the city of Rabat. I have traveled a lot in the past ten years, but I never found a country so close to Europe, so different, so welcoming, so safe, with such good food . So I came back – in between two jobs – for three projects: to study the language, to cook, and to get to know the traditional and modern music scene in Morocco.
I chose Darija rather than Fusha, because I only have a short amount of time, and I wanted to be able to talk with the locals asap.
Gwyn: I decided to come to Morocco to study Darija because it is a nexus of several languages which I already know as well as the gateway between the Arab world and Europe. I am learning Darija because I am interested in working in a position which addresses the cultural conflicts which arise across this bridge.
Jay: I came to Morocco as part of my scholarship and decided to study Darija for one main reason: most people in the cities that I'll live in or travel to speak Darija. Though I don't want to become an expert in the dialect, I want to be able to tell when responses mix between Modern Standard Arabic (Fusha) and the Dialect. Being able to use it in cabs, restaurants and souqs (shopping areas) should also help me fit in a little more too.
So, why did you choose Al Qalam wu LuwH in Rabat?
Gaëlle: I chose Qalam wa Lawh - after some comparative research on the internet- because it is located in Rabat, because of the facilities of the school (excursions, restaurant, tutoring, accommodation) and because of the credentials of the teachers.
Gwyn: I first chose to come to the capital city. Among the programs here, I was convinced by the website that this program offered the most hours of intensive learning(including excursions) and most experienced staff with well thought out materials.
Jay: I chose this school because it was in Rabat (where I wanted to spend my initial time in Morocco), it appeared professional and, most importantly, it was flexible. I had the opportunity to start on any Monday, as opposed to other places that I looked at in Rabat and elsewhere. Also, the school advertised weekly trips around Rabat, offered various clubs (cooking, film, caligraphy, etc) and planned monthly trips to famous destinations in the country. Further, I could do one week, one month, or longer. All looked good to me!
How long have you been in the course, and how long will you stay in it?
Gaëlle: I have been in the school for 5 weeks, and I have one more week to go.
Gwyn: I have been in the course for 6weeks and will remain for at least 2 more weeks.
Jay: I was in the course for about 4 weeks and have ended my tenure on schedule (1 month).
Prior to beginning the course, what were your expectations?
Gaëlle: I hoped to be able speak a little bit of Darija with the cab driver, in the bus, in the grocery store, and in the kitchen. And I can already!
I also wanted to be immersed in an international environment and this expectation has been met more than I hoped for. I am in a school with people from all over the world from different backgrounds: language students, diplomats, people who work for Médecins Sans Frontièrers, people who study Arabic as a hobby or a passion, people who work with immigrants in their home country, militaries. Most people are well traveled, speak many languages and have a nomadic lifestyle full of intense experiences. All these people seem to feel the miracle of life, the beauty of The Difference, the power of open mindedness, the big gap between on the one hand the political realities and discourses of today and on the other hand the willingness and the kindness of people all over the world to communicate and work towards peace and understanding.
Gwyn: I expected prepared course materials with distinct goals for each level. I also expected organized class trips twice a week in addition to 4hours of classtime each morning.
Jay: My expectations were mixed. Having worked with Arabs in the past, I expected some differences between US educational standards and those administered elsewhere. As such, I expected a very loose course curriculum and for it to change quite a bit. I wasn't disappointed in either expectation. I expected the staff to be less professional than where I studied Arabic before primarily because of the former staff's location and affiliation with the American government. I was wrong here, as the staff were always willing to help. They were motivated and mostly did what they said they would do (and if they didn't, there was usually a good reason why).
And did the course meet your expectations? Please explain.
Gaëlle: See my answer to your question about goals being met!
Gwyn: The course has not met my expectations. Based on the price and what is promised, I would not recommend this course at all. Since it is very likely that there would not be enough students to fill a class, it is better to pay for private instruction.
Jay: It met my expectations, and I felt that I got what I signed up for. Unfortunately, those expectations weren't extremely high and there were a fair amount of frustrating moments. At the top of my list was when we had 5 or so instructors in the course of a week. If a curriculum were present and they adhered to one trascription system, this wouldn't have been an issue. However, there wasn't and they didn't and a week was essentially lost (which the administration credited me for). On a positive note, the trips and the availability of extracurriculars was top-notch. Did some cooking, saw most of the sites in and around Rabat, and got to go to Tangier / Chefchaouen on the cheap!
So we've got answers to your expectations. How about your goals; what were they before beginning the course?
Gaëlle: To learn enough Darija to
-be able to work in a traditional Moroccan kitchen
-to have small conversations with people in the street
-to meet people from all over the world
-to let my brain jeuje. This is a variation of the verb ‘to jeuje’ (to voluminize your hair). It is a ‘new’ word created by Gwyn, Jay and me in class: spread the word !
Gwyn: My goals were intermediate fluency. Because the program titled "flex-program' suggested that you could advance or remain at whatever level suited your abilities and goals, I presumed both that there were distinct level to move between and also that the intensity you brought to your study would impact how successfully you met your goals.
Jay: My goals were to understand the basic fundamentals of Darija: the system for verbs, sentence structures and common expressions. Also, I really wanted to begin to identify some of the differences between Fusha (foos-ha) and Darija. Out of class, I wanted to go on each of the two weekly Rabat trips, attend at least one session for each club and go on an excursion to another city. I did not want to learn the dialect or be very proficient in it. If I wanted that, I would've signed up for a longer course. As a result, I intend to predominantly use Modern Standard Arabic during my time in Morocco.
Have your goals been met? If not, do you see them being met at the course's conclusion?
Gaëlle: My goals have been met, although I do feel that the teaching system in the school is not as efficient as it could be. I think that I could have learned more in a shorter time with a more ‘Western’ way of teaching: more analytical grammar, more drill exercises, more consistency in transcription and teaching methods, more ambitious course outlines, the availability of dictionaries and other didactical material, more preparation of the course by the teachers. That ‘Darija is not a written language’ does not count as a good excuse for me…
Gwyn: In fact, there is no discernible Darija program at this center. There are not enough students during the winter or even spring months (maybe summer?) to sustain the staff or motivate the administration to devote their attention to this part of the center. It is hard to think of any part of the website's description of the program which has been delivered upon. My goals have mostly not been met. At the end of the first day, another student had to ask whether or not we were going to have a book and where we could obtain this book. The center uses the Peace Corps manual which I could have gotten without coming to Morocco. By reading the book, listing to the tv, and speaking with my host family, I have learned a great deal. The time I paid for each day in the classroom was very frustrating. The teacher did not plan lessons or prepare materials which structured the acquisition of a new language. There was no frame, no system, no method. And only a few teachers were open to discussion of how the students would like to use the classtime.
Jay: My goals were met, but I could've studied the vocabulary a lot more and learned more common expressions. A lot of words differ between Fusha and Darija, if ever so slightly. Being a verbal language without an official written component, I think this makes knowing the vocabulary more important. I feel pretty confident that I understand the verb system and sentence structure, but I have a ways to go with the common expressions. Regarding extracurriculars, I got out a lot and the course exceeded my expectations in every way!
Have you set any new goals since joining the course? If so, what were they, and what prompted them?
Gaëlle: When I first came to the school, I was not sure whether I would like the language and whether I would have the courage and the motivation to study this language for more than two weeks. But soon enough I discovered that I like Darija a lot, the sound of it and also the mixture of languages that it contains (Berber, Spanish, French, Fusha, slang). In the future I want to continue this study and I also hope to study fusha at some point, as a lifelong project and hobby. In the world of today, for people of my generation I think that learning Arabic is the best way to try to build bridges and understanding between two worlds who are losing touch and who are becoming more and more separated and hostile.
Gwyn: I had to discard the notion of levels, but then all the students were left to figure out what we should learn. We might notice one day that we had never learned a certain grammar tense and there were things we would like to say in which we would need to use it. During the second month (and second level) our class became more discursive and was directed more on addressing specific student questions about grammar and vocabulary with tailored exercises for reinforcement. While not as organized as I had originally hoped, this new flexibility has allowed the class to direct the course. The goal adjustment has been to accept that we as students have to design the course we want and can't expect a program.
Jay: Nah - no new goals, except not to distract my classmates too much during class when I needed a break.
Speaking of breaks, seems we're at a good spot to take one. We'll wrap this session up tomorrow. In the meantime, if you want to check out pictures and more about Qalam wa LawH, click here.
And, after about a month of hearing my perspective on things, I thought you'd like to hear from some other voices that are sharing my experiences. So, what follows is the first half of a question-and-answer session between my classmates and I regarding our dialect course over the past month or two.
I hope this post adds some balance and outside perspective to what I've been writing over the last 30 or so days. If experience has proven me anything, it's that there's always more than one side of the story. I hope Gwyn and Gaelle's sides enrich today's post for you. And to my two co-conspirators; thank you for your honest feedback and four great weeks of class - you guys are awesome!
Please introduce yourself to the audience: Who are you? Where are you from and what do you do?
Gaëlle: My name is Gaëlle, I come from a beautiful medieval city called Gent in Belgium (the Flemish speaking part), and I have been working in hospitality for many years. First I worked as a waitress (e.g. in the restaurant of the Marriott Hotel in Gent) and recently I have started to work as a cook: in a classical gastronomical French kitchen and in two vegan macrobiotic kitchens. I am 31 years old and hospitality is my second ‘career’. Before that, I studied Law and Comparative Science of Cultures at the University of Gent and at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. I worked as a lawyer and a researcher in both fields for a short time, but I realized very soon that I needed a job which would allow me to use my hands as much as my head, and which would give me the chance to work anywhere in the world with people from all nationalities.
Gwyn: My name is Gwyneth, I'm a 32yr old American on a break from work improving some language skills I hope to use on future work projects. I'm from Indianapolis, Indiana and I have been working as a consultant in intercultural communication and conflict resolution for the past few years. I have taught French, Spanish, and Haitian Kreyol at the highschool and college level and lecture in linguistic anthropology at the graduate level from time to time. From my experience working with Teachers of Foreign Languages on curricular development and methodology, I think I am very critical of language instruction. At the same time, I tried to expect a minimum adherence to what was laid out in detail by the program on the website because I am not on the job!
Jay: By this point most of you know me pretty well, but to recap: I'm an Army Officer studying abroad for the next couple years. This program was my first experience with the Moroccan education system, which will conclude in the summer of 2013. I already studied Modern Standard Arabic for about a year and a half; this is my second Arabic dialect (Iraqi being the first), but first formally studied.
Ok, Why'd you decide to come to Morocco and study Darija?
Gaëlle: In November 2010 a friend of mine called me to go on a short winter break to Morocco. I fell in love with the country immediately, especially with the city of Rabat. I have traveled a lot in the past ten years, but I never found a country so close to Europe, so different, so welcoming, so safe, with such good food . So I came back – in between two jobs – for three projects: to study the language, to cook, and to get to know the traditional and modern music scene in Morocco.
I chose Darija rather than Fusha, because I only have a short amount of time, and I wanted to be able to talk with the locals asap.
Gwyn: I decided to come to Morocco to study Darija because it is a nexus of several languages which I already know as well as the gateway between the Arab world and Europe. I am learning Darija because I am interested in working in a position which addresses the cultural conflicts which arise across this bridge.
Jay: I came to Morocco as part of my scholarship and decided to study Darija for one main reason: most people in the cities that I'll live in or travel to speak Darija. Though I don't want to become an expert in the dialect, I want to be able to tell when responses mix between Modern Standard Arabic (Fusha) and the Dialect. Being able to use it in cabs, restaurants and souqs (shopping areas) should also help me fit in a little more too.
So, why did you choose Al Qalam wu LuwH in Rabat?
Gaëlle: I chose Qalam wa Lawh - after some comparative research on the internet- because it is located in Rabat, because of the facilities of the school (excursions, restaurant, tutoring, accommodation) and because of the credentials of the teachers.
Gwyn: I first chose to come to the capital city. Among the programs here, I was convinced by the website that this program offered the most hours of intensive learning(including excursions) and most experienced staff with well thought out materials.
Jay: I chose this school because it was in Rabat (where I wanted to spend my initial time in Morocco), it appeared professional and, most importantly, it was flexible. I had the opportunity to start on any Monday, as opposed to other places that I looked at in Rabat and elsewhere. Also, the school advertised weekly trips around Rabat, offered various clubs (cooking, film, caligraphy, etc) and planned monthly trips to famous destinations in the country. Further, I could do one week, one month, or longer. All looked good to me!
How long have you been in the course, and how long will you stay in it?
Gaëlle: I have been in the school for 5 weeks, and I have one more week to go.
Gwyn: I have been in the course for 6weeks and will remain for at least 2 more weeks.
Jay: I was in the course for about 4 weeks and have ended my tenure on schedule (1 month).
Prior to beginning the course, what were your expectations?
Gaëlle: I hoped to be able speak a little bit of Darija with the cab driver, in the bus, in the grocery store, and in the kitchen. And I can already!
I also wanted to be immersed in an international environment and this expectation has been met more than I hoped for. I am in a school with people from all over the world from different backgrounds: language students, diplomats, people who work for Médecins Sans Frontièrers, people who study Arabic as a hobby or a passion, people who work with immigrants in their home country, militaries. Most people are well traveled, speak many languages and have a nomadic lifestyle full of intense experiences. All these people seem to feel the miracle of life, the beauty of The Difference, the power of open mindedness, the big gap between on the one hand the political realities and discourses of today and on the other hand the willingness and the kindness of people all over the world to communicate and work towards peace and understanding.
Gwyn: I expected prepared course materials with distinct goals for each level. I also expected organized class trips twice a week in addition to 4hours of classtime each morning.
Jay: My expectations were mixed. Having worked with Arabs in the past, I expected some differences between US educational standards and those administered elsewhere. As such, I expected a very loose course curriculum and for it to change quite a bit. I wasn't disappointed in either expectation. I expected the staff to be less professional than where I studied Arabic before primarily because of the former staff's location and affiliation with the American government. I was wrong here, as the staff were always willing to help. They were motivated and mostly did what they said they would do (and if they didn't, there was usually a good reason why).
And did the course meet your expectations? Please explain.
Gaëlle: See my answer to your question about goals being met!
Gwyn: The course has not met my expectations. Based on the price and what is promised, I would not recommend this course at all. Since it is very likely that there would not be enough students to fill a class, it is better to pay for private instruction.
Jay: It met my expectations, and I felt that I got what I signed up for. Unfortunately, those expectations weren't extremely high and there were a fair amount of frustrating moments. At the top of my list was when we had 5 or so instructors in the course of a week. If a curriculum were present and they adhered to one trascription system, this wouldn't have been an issue. However, there wasn't and they didn't and a week was essentially lost (which the administration credited me for). On a positive note, the trips and the availability of extracurriculars was top-notch. Did some cooking, saw most of the sites in and around Rabat, and got to go to Tangier / Chefchaouen on the cheap!
So we've got answers to your expectations. How about your goals; what were they before beginning the course?
Gaëlle: To learn enough Darija to
-be able to work in a traditional Moroccan kitchen
-to have small conversations with people in the street
-to meet people from all over the world
-to let my brain jeuje. This is a variation of the verb ‘to jeuje’ (to voluminize your hair). It is a ‘new’ word created by Gwyn, Jay and me in class: spread the word !
Gwyn: My goals were intermediate fluency. Because the program titled "flex-program' suggested that you could advance or remain at whatever level suited your abilities and goals, I presumed both that there were distinct level to move between and also that the intensity you brought to your study would impact how successfully you met your goals.
Jay: My goals were to understand the basic fundamentals of Darija: the system for verbs, sentence structures and common expressions. Also, I really wanted to begin to identify some of the differences between Fusha (foos-ha) and Darija. Out of class, I wanted to go on each of the two weekly Rabat trips, attend at least one session for each club and go on an excursion to another city. I did not want to learn the dialect or be very proficient in it. If I wanted that, I would've signed up for a longer course. As a result, I intend to predominantly use Modern Standard Arabic during my time in Morocco.
Have your goals been met? If not, do you see them being met at the course's conclusion?
Gaëlle: My goals have been met, although I do feel that the teaching system in the school is not as efficient as it could be. I think that I could have learned more in a shorter time with a more ‘Western’ way of teaching: more analytical grammar, more drill exercises, more consistency in transcription and teaching methods, more ambitious course outlines, the availability of dictionaries and other didactical material, more preparation of the course by the teachers. That ‘Darija is not a written language’ does not count as a good excuse for me…
Gwyn: In fact, there is no discernible Darija program at this center. There are not enough students during the winter or even spring months (maybe summer?) to sustain the staff or motivate the administration to devote their attention to this part of the center. It is hard to think of any part of the website's description of the program which has been delivered upon. My goals have mostly not been met. At the end of the first day, another student had to ask whether or not we were going to have a book and where we could obtain this book. The center uses the Peace Corps manual which I could have gotten without coming to Morocco. By reading the book, listing to the tv, and speaking with my host family, I have learned a great deal. The time I paid for each day in the classroom was very frustrating. The teacher did not plan lessons or prepare materials which structured the acquisition of a new language. There was no frame, no system, no method. And only a few teachers were open to discussion of how the students would like to use the classtime.
Jay: My goals were met, but I could've studied the vocabulary a lot more and learned more common expressions. A lot of words differ between Fusha and Darija, if ever so slightly. Being a verbal language without an official written component, I think this makes knowing the vocabulary more important. I feel pretty confident that I understand the verb system and sentence structure, but I have a ways to go with the common expressions. Regarding extracurriculars, I got out a lot and the course exceeded my expectations in every way!
Have you set any new goals since joining the course? If so, what were they, and what prompted them?
Gaëlle: When I first came to the school, I was not sure whether I would like the language and whether I would have the courage and the motivation to study this language for more than two weeks. But soon enough I discovered that I like Darija a lot, the sound of it and also the mixture of languages that it contains (Berber, Spanish, French, Fusha, slang). In the future I want to continue this study and I also hope to study fusha at some point, as a lifelong project and hobby. In the world of today, for people of my generation I think that learning Arabic is the best way to try to build bridges and understanding between two worlds who are losing touch and who are becoming more and more separated and hostile.
Gwyn: I had to discard the notion of levels, but then all the students were left to figure out what we should learn. We might notice one day that we had never learned a certain grammar tense and there were things we would like to say in which we would need to use it. During the second month (and second level) our class became more discursive and was directed more on addressing specific student questions about grammar and vocabulary with tailored exercises for reinforcement. While not as organized as I had originally hoped, this new flexibility has allowed the class to direct the course. The goal adjustment has been to accept that we as students have to design the course we want and can't expect a program.
Jay: Nah - no new goals, except not to distract my classmates too much during class when I needed a break.
Speaking of breaks, seems we're at a good spot to take one. We'll wrap this session up tomorrow. In the meantime, if you want to check out pictures and more about Qalam wa LawH, click here.
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