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Some confusing words Posted by aziza on Mar 27, 2011
One day Katherine protested, I will never know the difference between mosque and university in Arabic! Why are they so confusing? Later on the same day, another student translated modern as event, and again he was very frustrated with the similarity between both words! Arabic is a highly derivational language where most content words, i.e…
Irregular verbs – again Posted by aziza on Mar 25, 2011
In this post, I respond to a query from a reader who noticed that the second person masculine plural form is not included in the table. The table presented below is complete. Doubled verbs (الفعل المضعف) in Arabic end in a doubled letter, i.e. one with shadda (ـّ), e.g. (شدّ) ‘pulled’, (ظنّ) ‘thought’, (استعدّ) ‘got…
Jewellery Posted by aziza on Mar 23, 2011
This post aims to introduce some vocabulary items related to jewellery (المجوهرات). A jeweler (الصائغ) is the person who makes or sells them. In the West, it is said that diamonds are a woman’s best friends, and wedding rings often have diamond (الماس/الألماس) stones. In the Arab world, women particularly love gold (الذهب), and they…
A note about the imperative Posted by aziza on Mar 20, 2011
In this post, I give a useful note about the imperative (الأمر). I taught the imperative to my students recently, and as I explained before that the imperative of regular form I verbs (that do not have vowels) is formed by following the pattern (افعل). It is sometimes vowels with a short /o/ on the…
Nancy Ajram: One of the Most Recognized Faces in the Arab World Posted by aziza on Mar 10, 2011
Nancy Ajram (نانسي عجرم ) is one of the most famous singers and one of the most recognized faces on Arab screens. She is young, innovative, lively and fun! Her glamour never ends, and she only gains more and more fans all the time. Nancy Ajram (born 16, 1973) is a multi-platinum Lebanese singer and…
Listening comprehension exercise Posted by aziza on Mar 6, 2011
In this post, I present a listening comprehension exercise. Please listen to the news item and answer the following exercise based on the information presented in it: 1- Which newspaper does the report quote? 2- What is the name of the first Saudi female pilot? 3- Where will she work? 4- How old is she?…
Obesity in the Arab World Posted by aziza on Mar 3, 2011
Obesity is considered a major problem in today’s world. Statistics show that there are around 1.5 billion obese people around the world nowadays. Some Arab countries are on the top ten countries in terms of the prevalence of obesity among their populations. Statistics show that 20-30% of all Saudi adults are obese, with 60% of…