Archive for May, 2011
Cultural Awareness الوعي الثقافي Posted by Fisal on May 28, 2011
Just like American cultures, Arab customs are rooted deep in tradition. Many Arab values affect how Arabs communicate with each other and with non-Arabs. Today, we are going to look at some facts about the Arab culture that foreigners should be well-aware of when visiting any Arab country or when dealing with Arabs. Arab…
This Day in History: Rifa’ah At-Tahtawy رفاعة الطهطاوي Posted by Fisal on May 27, 2011
Rifa’ah Rafi’ At-Tahtawy (1801 – 1873) Like today and on 27th May 1873, Rifa’ah At-Tahtawy passed away تُوفِى . Tahtawy was an Egyptian writer, teacher, translator, Egyptologist and renaissance thinker. He was among the first Egyptian scholars to write about Western cultures. In all his writings, he attempted to reach a common ground and…
Non verbal communication – actions and reactions Posted by aziza on May 26, 2011
Following on with the topic of non-verbal communication, sometimes we communicate by doing things, e.g. knocking on the door or ringing the bell is a way of communicating that one needs or wants to enter or speak with someone inside. Also, at school, the bell tells students when to start the lesson and finish it…
Weak (Sick) Verbs: The Mithaal Verb الفعل المِثال Posted by Fisal on May 25, 2011
We have previously discussed the three types of the Healthy (Sound/strong) Verbs الأفعال الصحيحة . Today, will start looking at Unhealthy (Sick/weak) Verbs الأفعال المعتلة. A sick/weak verb is that which has one or two sick letters in its base (root). The letters that make a verb sick/weak are: Waw (و ), Alif (ا )…
Basic Cultural Values القيم الثقافية الأساسية Posted by Fisal on May 24, 2011
Arab societies share so many values that include: endurance, loyalty, dignity, generosity, self-respect, pride and revenge. Today, we are going to discuss three basic values that are still prevalent in most Arab societies. Collectivism الجماعية : It is an approach to life among Arabs which is opposed to the individual centered approach in Western…
Arab Culture الثقافة العربية Posted by Fisal on May 23, 2011
In previous posts, we defined what is meant by communication, context and culture. Today, we are going to look at the term “Arab” and we will try to define it. What do we mean by “Arab”? This term is as hard to define exactly as the term “American”. Arabs were the people living…
Communication, Context & Culture الاتصال و السياق و الثقافة Posted by Fisal on May 22, 2011
Today we are going to define some important terms. In a previous post, we have spoken about the term of communication and its different forms. Communication transactions always take place within different contexts. what do we mean by Contexts? Definition : Contexts mean the different environments where the communication takes place. There are four…