The Department of English in the Faculty of Arts at the Islamic University held a meeting with Ms. Phoebe Graham, a graduate of the University of Cambridge, so she could talk to a group of interested students about how she learned Arabic. The meeting was held using Zoom technology in the presence of Dr. Mahmoud Baroud, Head of the English Department.
Dr. Baroud welcomed Ms. Graham and thanked her for accepting the invitation to talk to the students about her experience. He addressed how important it is to have extracurricular activities to help students learn about different cultures and improve their skills.
Ms. Graham started the meeting with an activity that got everyone involved. She presented well-known English idioms, and the attendees there answered what they meant, which helped her know their meaning in Arabic.
Ms. Graham demonstrated the difficulties she faced in her journey to learn the Arabic language, such as diacritics and the way some sounds are pronounced in Arabic. As a closing activity, the students of the English Department taught her some Arabic words and how to pronounce them.
Ms. Graham thanked everyone who was there and said that she wanted to continue cooperating with the Islamic University in the future. She also said that she would finish learning Arabic in a serious and positive way because this meeting had inspired her to do so.
