Markaz al-laurat

Markaz al-laurat: the Language Centre at the University of Jordan where I am studying the Arabic Language for the spring semester (February - May 2014).

Time flies...when you realize you are already at the point in the semester when you need to worry about midterms and now finals! Although I recently read - well perused might be more accurate - an article that was saying that if you keep doing the same thing (i.e. living the same "humdrum" life) time will seem to "flyby" as your brain merely "loses track" of the same activity. However, if you change what you are doing - nothing particularly drastic - time will seem to move more leisurely. This phenomenon might explain why I felt as if I had so much more time while I was travelling in Spain and Morocco - and yes that's part of the reason there was no backlog of blog entries.

This week we ended up having a bunch of exams: reading & writing, grammar, listening, and speaking. It wasn't particularly amazing - results pending - but I think the majority of us would agree that this semester is less about acing our exams than it is about making improvements upon our skills. For some this is perfecting and adhering to all grammatical and formal language standards, for me this is not quite the case. Partially because grammar has never been my strong suit, in any language; but mainly because my main goal for coming to Jordan was to use the local resources - a.k.a local, native speakers who hopefully do not want to practice their English solely (ha!) - and environment to the fullest potential. As in many a yoga class, I set my intentions at the beginning of the semester, which were the following: read and write in Modern Standard Arabic (fousha) and speak in Levant dialect (amiya). Although these seem like two very different goals, they are nonetheless interconnected.

View of the Main Gate of the University of Jordan

One of the garden areas on campus

Studying outside in UofJ campus

Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is what is taught to non-Arabic speakers through any university and many other organizations (there are those who specialize in dialect only as well). It is used by the media in both print and speech; however, newspapers come without "short vowels". For those who know anything about Arabic, this is a large handicap as words differ in meaning when even one of the short vowels is altered. Therefore not only do you need to be able to read basic words, but also decipher from context, which of the meanings it ought to be. MSA is not only "proper" Arabic (as English speakers might compare it to), it is exceedingly formal language - think legal terminology, or any other formal, professional jargon; the structure of scholars, intellects, and previous generations; and the awkwardness of speaking school-taught French (or whichever language you were taught in high school, but never mastered). Instead of saying "Hi, how's it going?", one typically sounds like "Hello my good sir, how do you fair on this fine day?", until you are able to pick up on dialect. That being said, there are connections between the two languages - at least here in the Levant (I can't say the same about other regions) - so with a little "translation" between the two, one can adapt their MSA Arabic into dialect. That is until you get to words like "go": in MSA "thahaba", in amiya "roh".

Example of the Language Centre classrooms

What the board usually ends of looking like during classes

Our class has had cake and other goodies more times than all the other ones put together!

Once I finally made my way to the University at the beginning of the semester, I was able to confirm my registration into the Centre; then came the headache-inducing parts. In order to confirm my registration into the Centre (my first teacher was very adamant you needed to be on the "official" list, despite our explanations), I needed to pay the tuition fees (~1800 USD); which shouldn't have been a major issue. However, when I tried to withdraw money from an ATM, I couldn't. After much stress (certain people can attest to my state), I managed to get the money with a Western Union transfer (to myself!) and going to one of the HSBC branches for three days in a row. Once I had acquired the funds, I need to go pay and then get a "student proof" signed; that latter I would need for a visa extension. Compared to Canada, registration is not a straightforward process - and definitely not online - as I went around to a variety of offices (in the same building, win!) to get various receipts, signatures, and stamps. At one point, I had to exchange my initial receipt for a different one. Thankfully by this time I had made enough friends that one of them was willing to point me in the right direction.

After all the running around, my student proof looks quite colourful.

After taking my placement test at the beginning of the semester - reading and writing exam on a computer, and oral one-on-one with professor - I ended up in level 3 (of 9). I had originally fretted I might be in level 1 or 2, but alas I didn't make it to level 4 (which I technically should have after studying Arabic at university). It took a few days for people to finally settle into their respective classes, there was lots of people moving up and down levels as the placement test was a good initially assessment, but it was definitely not completely accurate. I think this is due in part to the fact that regardless of level, each student is stronger or weaker in different areas. When I was doing my oral, placement test, the professor kept looking at my written score as I was unable to squeak out as many sentences as I should have been to be on par with my other score. Whereas others scored quite low on their written portion, but could speak quite well. Eventually our level was divided into two classes as we eventually grew to double our initial size.

Our class ended up being a decent mix of Korea (6), Swiss (1), Danish (1), Turkish (1), Spanish (1), Italian (1), Ukrainian (1), and British (1). It has been interesting during the semester as international news, outside of the Middle East was brought closer by having people from the affected countries in our class - for example the conflict in Ukraine, elections in Turkey, and ferry in Korea. Our main teacher has a good deal of experience and received many positive reviews from those who attended her fall semester class. It has been a pleasure for all of us to be her students as she pushes us further, but also is able to teach in a positive and motivational manner. We were all a little sadden when she had to be absent for a couple weeks in order to recover from surgery as our secondary teacher lacks experience, fails to comprehend our questions or opinions, and makes for a mundane, lackluster lesson to say the least. Overall, most students who come to the Language Centre seem to be disappointed in their instruction, it seems to be a hit-or-miss depending on the teacher.

Our group from level during our break between classes - Korea, Switzerland, and Italy represented. 

"Heart Attack" our health-conscious snack spot

After having a few turkish coffees during a study session

Sunday to Tuesday, we have class from 0900 - 1040 and 1100 - 1240, and on Wednesday and Thursday, we have class from 0900 - 1040 only. They vary from reading, talking, writing, and listening with some subjects being more interesting than others (e.g. magic and marriage weren't on the top of our wish list). Between class we go to the main gate - the university is "guarded" with dedicated gates for entry and exit with your student card (swipe system) - where we usually get a Turkish coffee and a snack. Drip coffee and coffee with milk are not common here, unless you're at a western (i.e. pricey) shop so I've gotten accustomed to a small, dairy-less, strong coffee with the grains at the bottom. Now that I've been drinking it for a while, I've almost weaned myself off the sugar too!

During student elections, the campus was covered in posters of all sizes and styles

In addition to our mandatory classes - absences allowed in small amounts (i.e. extra long weekends) - the Centre offers "clubs". Basically, theses are extra classes in the afternoon that professors share responsibility and focus on: dialect, grammar, and speaking. After testing out all the clubs, I settled on only taking the dialect class; although I could come and go as I please on a weekly basis. I really wish there were other clubs offered including calligraphy, culture, and religion as the other clubs are not always the most useful or well laid out.

Tre track of the sports complex

The outside of the University restaurant and the lawn in front of it. 

Sitting on the lawn one day when one of the stray cats (many, everywhere) decided to come hangout around me. 

Two samples of lunches at the school cafeteria. 

As I mentioned the University campus is fenced in with quite a few entry points that have varying levels of strictness; for example at the North Gate I use daily, I only needed to use my card during the student-elections week whereas at the Main Gate you almost always need it. Thankfully, during the first couple weeks of class, we were able to mumble our way through "markaz al-laurat" to get ourselves let in sans student card. The most exciting part of life on campus has been during the week preceeding student elections. They are taken very seriously and seem to entail a lot of fights and opposing sides. Not only were there posters all throughout the campus, but they were also handing out business cards and supporters wore pictures of their candidate around their necks. I ended up missing the actual election day as I went away to Petra, but from what I heard it was a quite intense day, as it is every year.

Within the confines of the campus, there are all the department buildings, plenty of Nestle coffee stands, a restaurant, snack bars, a library, a sports complex, and other amenities. We spend most of our time in the Language Centre, the restaurant, and the library. The restaurant doesn't offer a huge variety, but is very cheap (I think it is subsidized) and decent for lunch. It offers a selection including: hummus, salad, bread, dessert, yogurt, rice, vegetable stews, and meat. You can choose from whatever they are offering that day so I typically end up with yogurt, rice, and veggie stew, and share a combo of hummus, dessert, or meat. The library is an okay facility although there is much construction going on and not a lot of seats available, which is surprising as most students seem to hangout outside all day. Nevertheless, it does offer a quiet place to study. The Sports Complex is slightly disappointing as it is only open Sunday to Thursday 0800 - 1600, and it's facilities aren't well maintained or many. In any case, I have been playing squash with one of the German girls on a semi-regular basis, which is a good change of pace and rather fun. Outside of the buildings, there are quite a few trees and greenery (especially for Amman), wide walkways, and grassy areas to sit.

Main Library in the University of Jordan

One of the many study sessions in the library

View of the book  shelves in te library

Another example of study areas in the library

Compared to my semesters of 2013, this has not  been my most productive semester, but at least I initially spent a good deal of time studying. Unfortunately, that has fizzled out after the midway point and I am working on getting it back to make the most of the last month! I will still be taking some weekend and day trips as I want to make the most of my time here and join in on group trips that might be harder on my own.