Details

Description

xvi, 318 pages ; 24 cm

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references.

Summary

If you've ever studied a foreign language, you know what happens when you first truly and clearly communicate with another person. As Zora O'Neill recalls, you feel like a magician. They say that Arabic takes seven years to learn and a lifetime to master. Steeped in grammar tomes and outdated textbooks, O'Neill faced an increasing certainty that she was not only failing to master Arabic, but also driving herself crazy. She took a decade-long hiatus, but couldn't shake her fascination with the language or the cultures it had opened up to her. So she decided to jump back in--this time with a new approach. Join O'Neill for a grand tour through the Middle East. You will laugh with her in Egypt, delight in the stories she passes on from the United Arab Emirates, and find yourself transformed by her experiences in Lebanon and Morocco. She's packed her dictionaries, her unsinkable sense of humor, and her talent for making fast friends of strangers. From quiet streets to crowded medinas, from families' homes to local hotspots, she brings a part of the world that is thousands of miles away right to your door, reminding us that learning another tongue leaves you rich with so much more than words.--Adapted from dust jacket.

Contents

Egypt. Empty talk ; Inside the word factory ; A prophecy ; Two tongues ; See what we did ; Where's your ear? ; Days of rage ; Hidden fingers ; Illuminating the house ; Graduation day -- The Gulf. Knowledge village ; Practical, fashion, extreme ; When your ear hears ; Eau de Facebook ; What he did not know ; Heritage club ; The best people ; Supreme poets ; Develop! -- Lebanon. The new Beirut ; What is the rule? ; We don't talk about politics here ; Almost a dead language ; Your mother ; Easy--but not good ; The weird uncle ; Pierre and his friends ; We have not taught the Prophet the price ; Land of thorns -- Morocco. Daddy, Mommy, Gramps ; The place where the sun sets ; You pour the tea ; God is beautiful ; Speaking Mexican ; Let's chat in Arabic ; Sweet sensation ; Up in the old hotel ; What is the name of this? ; Crossing the bridge.

Subject

O'Neill, Zora.

Women journalists -- United States -- Biography.

Travel writers -- United States -- Biography.

Arabic language -- Study and teaching -- Foreign speakers.

O'Neill, Zora -- Travel -- Arab countries.

Arab countries -- Description and travel.

ISBN

9780547853185 (hardcover)

0547853181 (hardcover)

9780547853192 (electronic book)