Our church family is trying to include us more into their culture, which is a good sign that they have accepted us. (not that we were worried about that) One of the things that they wanted to do is to teach us some of their songs in Arabic. We had our first 'lesson' this past Sunday. Now, if this had been Spanish, or French... you know, something that used the same letters as English.... I wouldn't have had such a hard time. But I can't read Arabic at all! It all looks like a bunch of cursive 'i's, 'j's, & 'u's to me. What do you think?
The man who was trying to teach us this song would have us repeat after him what he had said. For the life of me, I could not hear it! I had to watch his mouth to try to understand. Then the 'test' came. He wanted to hear us sing it by ourself!! I am so thankful that the Lord has 'cured' me of my shyness! Instead of being extremely embarrassed, I just took this as an opportunity for a good laugh. And boy was I right! I wish I had some way to record our feeble attempts at this language so that you all could join in on the joke. When I got done I was accused of butchering the Arabic language! It was very funny though, we had a hard time stopping our laughter. I am so glad that we can be surrounded with loving brethren at church and have such a fun time of fellowship and praise. Before church was over, we were given the verses written phonetically in English and told to practice for next week. I'm actually getting much better now that I know what I'm supposed to be saying. Now, if I can only remember what it means!!
If you would like another quick smile, then head over to my daughter's blog. She and my son wrote a poem today that I thought was cute enough to share with you all. Enjoy!
11 comments:
I would have loved seeing this...
I butcher the English language as it is..and I am truly typo queen...
How did the kids do? Sometimes they can pick things up easier.
Deby
Oh wish I'd been there! Couldn't be any worse than my French singing! By time they are on the next stanza..I'm still saying the first few words!
I always wonder how WE sound to others? seems their languages speak sooo fast? But then...our SOUTHERN language is one all in itself..and sloooow.
Hey...........ya'........ll ;)
Hey Pam,
This blog looks great, I don't see anything that needs fixing.
Lookin' Good!
Oh, Pam what a blessing to learn songs in another language. One day we will all sing in the " heavenly language." We will all know the songs then when we sing "Amazing Grace," I wish I could hear you all sing and learn along with you.
I visited your children's blog and that was a real blessing. :) Have a happy day, dear friend. connie from Texas
I wish we could hear it! I could relate to this post soooo much!
Pam,
I watched the entire presentation on their blog and there wasn't anything wrong with it. What did you see and was it in the post about their presentation? I'm totally confused!
Any help would be appreciated.
I had an Arabic class a few years ago, nice language but certainly not an easy one.
Do you have any Hebrew speakers in your church?
No, Din, nobody at our church speaks Hebrew. Our church is on the East side of Jerusalem, so unfortunately not many Jewish people feel comfortable going over there. I do hear plenty of Hebrew in my neighborhood though.
Oh Pam, I'm glad you're not terribly shy! That would have been so hard for me. I'm glad that you all were able to have a good laugh about it.
Learning Arabic, how awesome!
Keep it up!
And I thought learning German was hard!!! :)
Just so you know, I'm still reading (and enjoying!) this blog! I'm afraid I'm just not a good commenter. :-s
Jess
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