I am seated on the long couch in the living room, adjacent to the chair in which my host mother, Hana, is sitting, with both feet planted on the floor so as not to offend her by exposing my soles. I have my notebook and pencil in hand and I am intently watching the TV. I hear the mini fan tirelessly spinning and the bubbles from the fish tank circulating. I smell faint cigarette smoke from my host brother’s presence five minutes earlier, but it doesn’t bother me anymore. The rest of the house is quiet because Hana warned that between 7 and 8 p.m. she is not to be disturbed while she watches her favorite Turkish soap opera. I decided that watching the show would be an ideal way to demonstrate to Hana and the family that I wished to be a part of their daily routines.

In this moment, I am desperately trying to keep up with the plot, or even just one conversation, but the characters’ voices are dubbed in another dialect and they are speaking quickly. I try to hold onto one word in my mind, but am soon overwhelmed by the speed at which all of the other words have passed. I have many questions about the culture portrayed on the show, details of the plotline, and the translation of words, but I am also hesitant to disturb Hana during her one hour of relaxation. For me to comprehend that one word, she would have to translate from the dialect on the show to Ammya (Jordanian dialect), and then to Modern Standard Arabic just.

I learned to appreciate the exaggeration of the music and the acting. Thinking back now, watching a soap opera is a great way to learn a language, because all of the show’s hyperboles made it easier for me to track the emotions of the story. Seeing the old man yelling angrily at the teenage boy and girl, paired with the fact that the young girl was holding her stomach, gave me an “aha!” moment one night—her the father must be angry that his daughter is pregnant and he does not approve of the match! Even if that wasn’t correct, it was the story I ran with.

I eventually overcame my the fear of annoying Hana by reminding myself that I am in Jordan to learn a foreign language, so I shouldn’t feel ashamed by my curiosity. Luckily, Hana often noticed my struggled look and was helpful in guiding me; she was even the one who suggested I have my notebook with me to jot down vocabulary. One of the best parts of evenings with my host mom and that silly soap opera was that I learned a new set of words dealing with the show that I was then able to use in class.

My biggest challenges in learning Arabic is that it takes me a while to feel comfortable speaking up. Experiences like watching a soap opera with my host mother really helped me to ask questions; I discovered the importance in of recognizing when I did not understand a phrase or key word, and having the strength to ask about it. I have found that a huge part of learning a language is trying, and with that will always come mistakes, but they will be mistakes to learn from and to commit to memory.

Photo © Eleana Thompson. All rights reserved.

Eleana Thompson’s home environment was strongly influenced by her mother’s Greek heritage, and she grew up with an appreciation and yearning for exposure to other cultures. As a Psychology major and Middle Eastern Studies minor, she envisions a career path working with people from an array of cultural and intellectual backgrounds. She hopes that her growing knowledge of Arabic and Greek, along with her skills she is learning in her major, will allow her to achieve this goal.

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