I’m not a poetic kind of person. I never was and i really don’t think i will be. I mean i can appreciate poetry for what it is, but i still dont like it. And what i really hate is having to memorize poetry. Especially if its not in my own language.
I’m taking a literature class here at Al-Imam University in Riyadh K.S.A., (the class is just 3 of the 24 grueling credits i’m taking this semester) and since i’m studying in the faculty of Arabic you could probably guess that all the classes here are taught in arabic. The class is Pre-Islamic Literature (before 600 a.d). And whats more, im the only foreigner in a class full of Saudis. But thats not my complaint. My complaint is: why do i have to memorize 45 lines of poetry by this wednesday??? Can you imagine 45 lines of poetry looking like this:
أشباب الصغير و أفنى الكبير مرورالغداة و كر العشي
I mean dont get me wrong… I love studying arabic. I just hate memorizing. I’ve tried writing it over and over. I’ve tried reading it out loud over and over. Nothing seems to work. (Just to be fair, my memory is pretty bad. It took me almost a week to memorize my phone number, so you can imagine what i’m going through trying to memorize this.)
When my professor gave this assignment to us i foolishly asked, “why do we have to do something so tedious and pointless?”. His reply was pretty much “do it or fail”.
Soooo…..it looks like im going to be busy for the next couple days.
January 19, 2008 at 10:22 pm
aw but love , its all the beauty of it .
I’m assuming you have to be able to speak the poem ? Or is it that you have to write it down ..
either way
find some way to help you remember it .
haha you’ll do wonderful .
January 19, 2008 at 11:03 pm
I just have to regurgitate it onto a piece of paper using a no.2 pencil. ah…what fun. =)
January 20, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Oh sounds like a brilliant exercise haha .
Well best of luck
January 20, 2008 at 10:03 pm
A no.2 pencil no less! What’s wrong with a no.3 pencil?
It’s the ground rule of Arabic teaching I understand: memorize éverything by heart. So I imagine there will be a lot more of this!
March 17, 2008 at 7:12 am
Assalamu ‘alaykum
I think you meant to write: أشاب الصغير instead of أشباب الصغير .
Anyhow, about 20 years ago I found myself in a similar situation like you’re in. My advice 20 years hence, is to try and be on top of your adab classes. Adab is and always has been the most difficult subject for foreign students, because of its sheer magnitude. You just have to find a way to enjoy it. See memorising Arabic poetry as a way of becoming established and gaining a foothold in it. You’ll be surprised that these things stick with you even after a very long interval of 20 years. Now that I’m revisting all of my university Arabic, including Adab ‘Arabi I wished that I had learnt more poetry. I’ll give you the addresses to my websites (a blog and a discussion forum, both of which are about Arabic), and you might see my point in the spirit of the following famous line:
ألا ليت الشباب يعود يوماً * فأخبره بما فعل المشيبُ
Here are the addresses:
http://www.lisanularab.org/forums/
&
http://www.lisanularab.blogspot.com/
Feel free to comment.
Ibn Uthman
March 20, 2008 at 8:17 am
Salams
thanx for the advice. It actually means a lot coming from someone who’s been in my shoes. I saw your websites and they were quite impressive. You’ll be seeing my comments quite often inshallah. By the way for all of you wondering how i did on my poetry exam…. I regret to inform you that i am one of 85% of students who failed the class. This was a huge shock to me since it was the first class i failed in my whole life. And just to give you guys some insight in the world renowned Arabic Bachelors program at al imam university, we started with about 380 students in our first year; our second year we have 85. The majority of the students either failed or dropped out. The last three years the graduating class hasn’t exceeded 70 students. soooo….i think i’ll start studying for my finals a little earlier this semester