Since I can remember, I have wanted to study Arabic. The Arab world has always had some inexplicable draw for me: I am fascinated by its culture, food, and history. So when I chose to attend Georgetown, I immediately enrolled in Intensive Modern Standard Arabic.
For the first two years of my college career I was a slave to Arabic spending hours learning a new alphabet, grammatical structure, and vocabulary. Having previously only studied Romance languages, I have found that Arabic is a horse of a completely different color. I tend to be good at learning languages, and thus have been continually frustrated by my inability to grasp Arabic these past three years.
Despite focusing all of my efforts on the intricacies of the language, I still find myself afloat in a sea of fatHas with no life raft in sight. Every time my Arabic teacher says, “Khalas there is the grammatical rule that never changes,” I know that in two weeks I will learn that there are at least twelve exceptions. Fundamentally, I have come to realize in my past three years of study that while my study habits are sometimes questionable, the bigger issue lies in the way in which we learn Arabic here at Georgetown.
Our university has arguably the best Arabic program in the country, with the exception of the University of Texas at Austin. The textbook that is used by Arabic programs across the country is published by Georgetown University Press, and even within GU, Arabic is one of the most popular languages of study. With so many interested students, it would make sense that Georgetown would live up to the high standards that have been attributed to it. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. As most Arabic students will tell you, the department is incredibly disorganized ,and the way in which we learn the language is often not conducive to life in an Arabic-speaking country.
An important factor in determining the quality of an academic program is looking at how organized it is. Programs with fantastic professors and resources can be hindered by an inability to set clear syllabi and disseminate information to students. This is exactly the issue that the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies faces. While professors are dedicated to their students and extremely knowledgeable, it is also undeniable that there is a complete disconnect when it comes to administration. I have never had an Arabic class that followed the syllabus. Inevitably, the professor changes it in class and then is frustrated when students do the homework according to what was said in class and not what was written on the syllabus. As an Arabic student, you are constantly running from classmate to classmate trying to figure out what exactly is due for the next class.
When you finally figure out what is due, you realize that the amount of homework that you have been given will take you at least the next four hours. And Arabic is every day. Imagine the amount of time that Arabic students spend working on their homework, on top of the time they spend figuring out what it is. Homework, of course, is only half of it. When exams come around, you have no idea what will be tested and more likely than not at least half of it will never have been covered in class. The students you see walking out of class with dazed looks on their faces? Arabic students. As a classmate of mine said, “We all got 20s out of 100 last semester because we had no idea what was going on.” It’s one thing for one person to perform poorly on a test, but quite another for an entire class to do so.
The worst part of the lack of communication is that it often prevents students from moving on in the language. A friend that came back from studying abroad in Jordan told me that the department failed to contact her about a placement test. When she began to worry and contacted them, she was told that she had two hours to complete it. I will likely not receive Arabic proficiency because I was told in Spring 2012 that I could take Arabic Media and then receive proficiency, but when I walked into class in January I was told that this was not the case. I know that I am not alone in this issue.
Fundamentally, many Arabic students that enter Georgetown in love with the culture and the language find themselves disillusioned. This is a direct result of the lack of organization and clear expectations within the Arabic department. For a language that demands so much investment, it is unacceptable that students are not given clear direction. The quality of our Arabic education is unparalleled, but if the department doesn’t get its act together, it’s bound to lose students to Chinese, cementing their world domination.
Dear Sara,
I’m very sorry to hear about your negative perception of the Arabic department. As a senior Arabic major, I too have spent countless hours wrestling with the language, and occasionally, with administrative or logistical problems. That being said, I don’t think the image you paint of the department in this piece is entirely accurate.
You mention that you were taught a grammatical rule, and then told a few weeks later that there were exceptions. This was not meant to be deceptive, but if we were given all of the exceptions from the beginning, we would not be able to internalize any rules. This is also how the textbook al-kitab is designed. The way we learn Arabic here at Georgetown is greatly dictated by this textbook, which for better or for worse, is the most widely accepted Arabic textbook for English speakers. It has its weak points, but I believe it is the best method available at this time. It is possible that some of your frustration should be directed towards those who designed the textbook, and not to our faculty.
You say that you would expect Georgetown to live up to the high standards that have been attributed to it, but you say that this is not always the case. During the year I spent abroad in programs with students from other universities, the majority of the time my fellow Georgetown students and myself were the best prepared and most knowledgeable students within the program. We have a reputation in both the academic and the professional world, and we do not disappoint.
The issue of syllabi is a difficult one, particularly when you’re in a class that meets five days a week. I have appreciated my professors’ flexibility with regards to the syllabus, particularly when the schedule must be changed because we are not yet ready for new material. My professors have always been sensitive to the difficulties that we face as students, both academically and personally. Your anecdote about the test is unfamiliar to me, and I would like to add that I have always been graded according to my effort in the end, and in fact, some of my peers would say that they receive higher grades than they deserve.
Arabic has given me more grief than I can describe. I have felt your frustrations and spent many an hour in Lau banging my head against al-kitab, hoping I would learn through osmosis. My Arabic professors have always been supportive and understanding. It is important to remember that the majority of these professors have not been given the option of tenure and are here anyway. Teaching five days a week is an incredible burden which many professors at this university do not have to bear. They may see us more than they see their children or their spouses. A department is not a machine, but rather a collection of individuals with different personalities, and occasionally, different cultural values. We have some incredible educators in the Arabic department who are among the best in their field. That should always be recognized and appreciated.
As for Georgetown taking second place to University of Texas at Austin, I’d like to see proof. Hoya saxa.
Best regards,
Ariana