Today’s post will focus on some interesting current events related to the Middle East.

First, a note on following news from the Middle East: English language-reporting can be inaccurate and severely lacking, even in major news outlets. This isn’t meant to disparage anyone; it’s just that anyone who doesn’t speak Arabic will miss things, little subtleties and nuances that can make a world of difference. We’ll go into this in a separate post, but for now suffice to say that I take any reporting or analysis of the Middle East by those who don’t speak Arabic with a grain of salt and often disregard it completely.
If you can, it is always best to access primary source-information (much easier in this age of social media), compare several articles, and, above all, form your own conclusions.

Continue reading Arabic out of this world (literally) →

Today’s post is based on an item in the Israeli news that caught my eye a while ago.

Three Palestinians Detained After Supposedly Being Overheard Saying ‘Terror Attack’ – Israel News – Haaretz.com

Continue reading Context: How the Same Word Can Have (Very) Different Meanings in Arabic →

Today’s post is dedicated to a linguistic difference any students of the Arabic language lucky enough to have the chance to interact with native speakers will undoubtedly notice – the sparse use of punctuation in colloquial Arabic texting.

I’ll take advantage of the opportunity to introduce some key terms readers unfamiliar with Arabic will need introduction to and to underscore the point that learning a new language is much more than just learning vocabulary and grammar; it is essential to be aware of basic differences.

Continue reading Confusing, period: On punctuation (or the lack thereof) in colloquial Arabic text messages →