During
this academic year we will complete making the transition, begun
last year during LG-598-0, from Egyptian Colloquial and Modern
Standard to fully Classical Arabic.
It is difficult to
learn any language when contact with the Professor occurs only
once per week. Accordingly, students will be asked to complete
homework assignments by the Monday following each class;
these may be sent to the Professor by fax or by email (the latter,
of course, assumes access to an Arabic font and word processing
program). Assignments will be reviewed, returned to the student by
Tuesday, along with a new assignment, which can be handed in the
following class time.
In effect, the attempt
will be made to combine traditional "contact" with
"distance learning" aspects of education in this course.
Textbook:
An Introduction to Koranic and Classical Arabic by W. M.
Thackston
Dictionaries:
A Dictionary and Glossary of the Kor-an by John Penrice OR
A Dictionary of
Modern Written Arabic (Wehr), edited by J M. Cowan
Homework
assignments will be graded; cumulatively they will account
for 25% of the final mark. Chapter tests will also amount to 25%;
the Final Exam alone will also count for 25% of the semester’s
grade; the remaining 25% will be based on attendance and class
participation.
While ANY syllabus is
tentative, every effort will be made to adhere to the following schedule:
Thursday, Sep 12
Grammar Review; vocabulary assignment
Thursday, Sep 19
Lesson 8
Thursday, Sep 26
Lesson 9
Thursday, Oct 3 Exam
on Lessons 8&9; Lesson 10
Thursday, Oct 10
Lesson 11
Thursday, Oct 17 Exam
on Lessons 10&11; Lesson 12
Thursday, Oct 24
Lesson 13
Thursday, Oct 31 Exam
on Lessons 12&13; Lesson 14
Thursday, Nov 7
Lesson 15
Thursday, Nov 14 Exam
on Lessons 14&15
Thursday, Nov 21
Lesson 16
Thursday, Nov 28
THANKSGIVING DAY (no class)
Thursday, Dec 5
Review
Thursday, Dec 12
FINAL EXAM
NB: When learning a
language, it is (infinitely?) better to work a little each day
than to cram on weekends or over large chunks of time. In other
words, an hour each day of review and preparation during the week
is to be preferred over spending the entirety of a Saturday or
Sunday trying to catch-up.
Also, in learning a
language, it is better to use your out-of-class time to work on
material that has already been presented in class, rather than to
"work ahead". Working ahead risks internalizing faulty
linguistic input, since this is NOT a "teach yourself"
course.
As you already know,
"I’m not here to hand out bad grades" is my own motto.
Every effort will be made to keep all of you up to speed, that
being one of the luxuries of having a small class.
Most importantly: HAVE
FUN! Even though you’ve learned by this point that Arabic is NOT
an easy language, it CAN be enjoyable. I’ll continue trying to
make it that way; if you work, there is that much more chance of
making it that way for yourself.
