(indeed, in many Middle-Eastern countries), but nothing stares at me
so much in the face as the clear difference between Fus-ha (classical)
and ' Amiyyah (colloquial) Arabic.
My father once related a funny incident that happened when he was a
student in Cairo (paraphrased by me):
I was a young soldier out with my group when we suddenly got lost.
Now, because we were international students/soldiers under thewing of
the Egyptian Army,we were not yet fully exposed to normal Egyptian
life nor were we exposed to the intricate subtleties of the common
man's language! So anyway, the group got lost. We searched for a
wayback but it was hopeless. Then, alhamdulillah we saw an Egyptian
and decided to ask him for directions. The group put forward their
best student who spoke Arabic the best… but oh dear, he spoke only
fus-ha (classical Arabic) and so he stepped forward to the
unsuspecting Egyptian and said to him with a spur of confidence:
نَحنُ ضلَلَنا إلى الطريق
فهَلْ تُرشِدُنا إلي الصِرَاطِ المُسْتقِيمِ
We have gotten lost on ourway
So will you thus guide us to the Straight Path?
Lol, when I first heard this, I almost died of laughter. In a land
where the streets and general life is dominated by the colloquial
Arabic ('Amiyyah), a group of young soldiers coming out with such a
statement can only be described as being 'classical' (pun totally
intended). What was even funnier is that the studentsdidn't even give
the name of the place they were intending – they could've said "direct
us to the Kulliyat al-Harb (Military Faculty)" etc, but no, it had to
be the Straight Path!
This incident is an interesting one because it shows something that
many of us students encounter and struggle with when we first learn
Arabic – the war between fus-ha and 'amiyyah . You might find yourself
spending months and months learning the classical tongue only to find
that you can't use it in daily life because the general public don't
speak that way in their general affairs. I must admit, in the
beginning of my studies when I was just a teen, I was a staunch
advocate forthe fus-ha Arabic, almost militant in my stubbornness and
outright refusal to speak 'Amiyyah and let it taint my progress. I
remember whenever I went shopping,or popped down to the grocers, I
used to battle with the poor grocer. Oftenmy conversations with him(or
whoever I'd interact with in the market/various places) went something
like this:
Grocer : $*%^%$&^%&*#& [throws sentences at me in'amiyyah]
Me : Sorry, I can't understand you. Can you speak Arabic, please?
Grocer : I am speaking Arabic!
Me (ever so zealous): No, you are not! Speak Arabic!
Grocer (in 'amiyyah): Wallahil-'Azim I am speaking it! %#&%%^$%£#^&*#
[Repeats everything again in 'amiyyah]
Me : **Frustration point**
In reality, it need not be a war (although yeah, it tookme a while to
soften up and retract from my hard-line fus-ha views!) As a student,
you'll probably only be staying a few months and understandably most
of your effort will need to go towards your studies and learning the
fus-ha tongue as much as time will allow you. In the beginning, you
might find that people will advise you with different things; some
will say to learn Fus-ha only, others will say that you should learn
'amiyyah alongside the fus-ha and yet others will say something
completely different. It can be quite confusing. Looking back now, I
don't really regret the way I did things, although I ignored the
'amiyyah completely atfirst (except for some words that I eventually
learnt out of mercy for thatold grocer man lol) but once my fus-ha was
stable,I actually turned my attention to the 'amiyyah and began taking
it in too.
So what to do?
Well, it's really up to you todo what you think it's best for your own
personal circumstance. But I would perhaps advise anyone studying
Arabic to put their main primary effort into the fusha and learn that
really well because studying the 'amiyyah beforehand (or alongside)
the fus-ha can have detrimental affects on yourlearning and progress
of the fusha.
--
:-> :->
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