Comments on: The Politics of White People Speaking Arabic

By: dwilmsen

dwilmsen — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 10:45:19 +0000

My greatest triumph came when someone asked me if I was from Alexandria. I got a lot of others: Tunisia, Damascus, Albania (!!). Now that I live in Lebanon, people just think that I’m Egyptian, even though I have acquired all of the usual Levantinisms and lost the Egyptian ones (for the most part – the demonstratives are still sometimes Egyptian and an occasional giim slips out). But even if I just say one word, like shu or heek, people will still spot the accent. Don’t know why.

By: The politics of being white in a brown domain | From Alif to Omega

The politics of being white in a brown domain | From Alif to Omega — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 07:02:25 +0000

[…] the rest of “The Politics of White People Speaking Arabic” at #TeamMaha […]

By: andrewdempsey

andrewdempsey — Sat, 09 May 2015 08:49:30 +0000

Haha! Great post… I get this stuff all the time. Enjoyed reading it!

By: Marc

Marc — Mon, 06 Apr 2015 13:54:04 +0000

Post 9/11, I find that one thing you will also get is accusations of being in the CIA or Israeli intelligence. I am not fluent, but I speak with a hijazi accent and am now learning Sana’ani. The other kick I get is when you speak Arabic to someone in the West and it takes a second for their mind to click to the idea that you are speaking to them in Arabic because they dont expect it to be coming out of your mouth. I found out how they feel once….I was in line at a bookstore and I started speaking to a couple of Lebanese guys in front of me. After they left a white guy behind me said something and I couldnt figure out what he was saying….until it clicked in my mind that he was speaking to me in Arabic. Turns out he was in the Army and spent a couple of years in Iraq/Khalij and spoke some Arabic.

By: playst4ti0n

playst4ti0n — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 15:12:28 +0000

The totality of English language hegemony came into its sharpest definition for me in my professional life. I live and work in Jordan, but nobody expects me to speak it perfectly, even if I’m answering phones at the office. I don’t imagine someone ever get off the phone with me and cursed at foreigners who don’t speak Arabic the way Americans mutter about fast foot employees who don’t speak English to their standards.

By: c

Wed, 18 Mar 2015 12:02:23 +0000

I have dealt with this a lot, too, but one interesting divergence — I have always been universally and emphatically instructed to pretend I don’t speak Arabic when dealing with the bureaucracy. The implication being that a helpless blond girl will get better and more efficient outcomes.

By: "Linda" bil arabi

"Linda" bil arabi — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 18:25:25 +0000

As a white, Jewish woman who has learned fluent Palestinian Arabic – I deal with this quite often. So glad to know there are others like me in this world!

By: salah

salah — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 06:58:33 +0000

Hey I absolutely understand you dear, but I think it’s not only about Arabic, cause that’s very similar to what I witnessed with my polish, which sounds much better than what it really is. Regards

By: Shayna

Shayna — Tue, 17 Mar 2015 00:44:03 +0000

I’ve been thinking about moving to Egypt to get better at Arabic. What is your job there? I heard I might be limited to teaching English, which is fine for a while but I don’t want to do that forever. Also, how long have you been studying Arabic?

By: Andrew Reid

Andrew Reid — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 11:18:26 +0000

I hear you, sister. Those comments from locals can either tear you down – “You’ve been here this long and your Arabic is still this bad?” – or make you feel like Rocky. My best ever encouragement was when a weary airport policeman was searching through people’s luggage at the X-Ray machine. He had just dealt with a large group of European tourists, trying in his broken English to get them to open bags and show him particular things. Then he turned to me and asked “You have battery?” I replied in Arabic:
عايز تشوف البطارية اللي في الكاميرا؟
To which he gave me the biggest smile, and said with relief: “3rabi, ya salaam!”