Every culture and every society has its stories. The Grimm brothers, Charles Perrault, Božena Němcová and others have collected and written down the fairy tales and stories of their countries. These often somehow have some things in common and also differ in interesting nuances. This also applies to Tunisia but with the exception that these…
It’s now been over a year since I started learning Tunisian Arabic. A year with many interruptions and various difficulties, but a good year, all in all! A breakthrough has not happened yet: everything is slow. That being said, I can’t work more than 10 hours a week on language learning because I just don’t…
“He has his hands behind his back” – in German or English, I could also say: “He has the hands behind the back.” I do not need to refer to the subject. In Arabic, this is not possible, “his” is mandatory both times. Maybe it’s because Arabic needs no explicit subject, so that the reference…
I have now done 60 hours of language learning with my language helper. That means that I have probably heard another 60 hours of my recordings. My vocabulary in Tunisian Arabic might be around 500 words. But, that’s difficult to know as the number of words I can say is far smaller than the number…
I feel so stupid. And I have to say a lot of things that I don’t know how to say. The story is about a bear and a goat. They meet. The bear has old clothing and is proud of it. Normally, he wears nothing, now he is dressed. Then, the goat comes by in…
We are entering phase 2, according to the method. This means that we are using small picture books, little stories, to talk. For example, we start with the story of a bear who finds a shoe in a wood. He loves it and manages to put it over his left foot. Later he finds a…
I am talking! That’s already something. But, of course, the sentences are very simple, very basic and sometimes very stupid. And it’s very rare that I manage to get some kind of noise out of my mouth that my friend doesn’t have to correct. There is always something that is different from what he likes…
I have started speaking! Wow, what a change! It’s quite a different feeling. Of course, I was already speaking in some situations every day. I have to greet people and say good-bye, I have to tell taxi-drivers directions, though they often understand some French, but with Tounsi, I am sure they get it. But, there…
There is some progress, no doubt. But, there is still a long, very long, way to go. As I am moving forward and learning new words, I notice how much there is that I don’t understand and have no idea how to say it. Well, that’s normal in the beginning, but you may know that…
To be open right at the beginning: my language helper is getting bored with me. The beginning is so difficult. The method says I should not talk but only listen in the beginning. That means that he talks a lot more. Then, quite often, I don’t get it, as so many words are new and…