Archive for July, 2015
The Makings of the U.S.-Iran Nuclear Deal Hours Before It Happened (2) Posted by jesa on Jul 18, 2015
Marhaba! I still cannot believe that the world’s greatest powers and Iran have reached a historic deal! Let’s hope it is the beginning of a long journey of peace between all nations around the world. As you all know, this is an extremely important moment for millions living in the Middle East and will most…
Happy Eid Posted by aziza on Jul 17, 2015
Yesterday was the last day of Ramadan (رمضان), and today is the Eid (عيد الفطر). Today, Muslims celebrate the end of their fasting, and enjoy the pleasures that they have given up for a month. It is a very happy time indeed! Most people celebrate the Eid in similar ways. In this post, I will…
The Makings of the U.S.-Iran Nuclear Deal Hours Before It Happened Posted by jesa on Jul 14, 2015
Marhaba! I am pretty sure most, if not all of you, have come across an infinite number of news articles and TV broadcasts that focus on day-to-day updates of the negotiations between Iran, the United States, and other major players on a possible framework to halt Iran’s nuclear program. Today, almost all TV networks, news…
Irregular verbs in Arabic Posted by aziza on Jul 13, 2015
Verbs that begin with waw (و) or yaa (ي) as root letters are called weak verbs (الفِعْل المِثَال). When weak verbs are conjugated in the present tense, the first letter of the verb disappears, but when they are conjugated in the past tense, the first letter remains. Examples of weak verbs are وصل = arrived…
Ramadan in Morocco – Answer Posted by aziza on Jul 10, 2015
In this post, I present the answers of the questions presented in my previous post. A) Transcribe the first sentence of the report. تسعة وتسعون في المئة من سكان المملكة المغربية الذين يقارب عددهم الآربعين مليوناً هم من المسلمين. B) Answer the following questions in English: 1- What is the population of Morocco? The…
Ramadan in Morocco – listening Posted by aziza on Jul 10, 2015
Listen to the news report and answer the questions that follow. You can use the useful vocabulary at the end of the post to aid your comprehension. A) Transcribe the first sentence of the report. B) Answer the following questions in English: 1- What is the population of Morocco? 2- What does the government do…
Think of Others Posted by aziza on Jul 6, 2015
Mahmoud Darwish (Arabic: محمود درويش, 13 March 1942 – 9 August 2008) is a Palestinian poet and author who won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded as the Palestinian national poet. In his work, Palestine became a metaphor for the loss of Eden, birth and resurrection, and the anguish of dispossession and…