Academic Arabic

Time enables you to have a better perspective on the past.  Having completed my graduate studies at The University of Virginia, I can reflect upon and better appreciate the Arabic instruction that I received at the Defense Language Institute.

The program at DLI, for all of its faults and frustrations, did teach me Arabic, and to a very high level.  Looking back, I marvel at the amount of Arabic that I knew and the ease with which I could use it.  I was able to be conversant on a variety of topics, comprehend television news broadcasts, and was on the cusp of understanding interviews.  Though not an 'immersive' environment, the intensity of DLI kept my language in top shape.

Studying Arabic at a civilian university presented a host of new challenges.  Time away from DLI atrophied my ability.  Good intentions aside, I found it impossible to replicate the daily pressure to improve my language.  It was a humbling experience and it forced me to make a mental recalculation of my Arabic ability.  I also found that, in an academic setting, there is much more emphasis on understanding grammar.  Gone was the simple military objective of 'comprehension'.  I was being asked to know grammatical terms and understand voweling for the different grammatical cases.  This caused me much frustration and a realization that in order to reach that level linguistically, I need to put in a lot of time studying on my own.

My course at DLI may not have had much focus on grammar, but it did give me a solid foundation in Arabic.  I'm confident that if I apply myself, a fuller understanding of Arabic is within reach.