We were talking about this the other day in my Arabic class. My teacher is making a point of teaching us both spoken Eastern Arabic and the written Modern Standard Arabic; a lot of classes will only teach you Modern Standard Arabic, which is actually just Classical Arabic with a new name. :P She says speaking to a modern Arab in MSA is about the equivalent of a foreigner speaking to an American in Middle English and expecting him to understand it. The vast majority will just go, "Huh?"
The fact that we've been broadcasting in MSA is yet another piece of evidence that us westerners Just Don't Get It. Fortunately the news programs at least have started broadcasting in a mix of MSA and the local languages. Still, there's a long way to go even within their own countries. We should be setting an example, especially since we're trying to win the hearts and minds of the common folk. But, of course, we can't be fucked to acknowledge the vastly different Middle-Eastern cultures and languages, so we keep broadcasting in their version of Middle English. *headdesks*
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2005-02-22 10:23 pm (UTC)The fact that we've been broadcasting in MSA is yet another piece of evidence that us westerners Just Don't Get It. Fortunately the news programs at least have started broadcasting in a mix of MSA and the local languages. Still, there's a long way to go even within their own countries. We should be setting an example, especially since we're trying to win the hearts and minds of the common folk. But, of course, we can't be fucked to acknowledge the vastly different Middle-Eastern cultures and languages, so we keep broadcasting in their version of Middle English. *headdesks*