Studying Arabic

Now I’ve been studying Arabic for almost two semesters, and I must say it’s still not an easy language. But at least it has an alphabet with just 28 letters, instead of the thousands of characters in Japanese. The pronunciation of Arabic, on the other hand, is much more difficult than Japanese, even though it’s fun to produce sounds that I never thought I could produce.

But such technicalities are not the main reason why I wanted to learn the language. I wanted to know more about that huge region and all those people and all those religions and cultures that are so often and simplistically referred to as “Arabic”. Among others the many people from that region who now live in the Netherlands and France made me curious about their background and their history. Taking a course in Business Arabic instead of Intensive Elementary Arabic 2 (which would be more appropriate for my level) enabled me to learn about Islamic banking, traffic laws, employment, tourism and technology in the region. Reading texts about the different countries, I became more aware of the many differences and practical implications of local customs, religious norms and national policies.

Of course, in order to really learn about the countries, the people and the economic, political, social and cultural situation I'll have to go there. And even then I'll still see only one small part of the region. Initially I was very interested in Northern Africa, because many people who now live in Europe come from that region. But the rapid economic development of the United Arab Emirates also made me curious about those states, and at the same time I met several people from Lebanon here and heard great stories about Beirut.

So I had to find a way to go there - for a longer period of time and while doing something usefull, like taking classes in Arabic or - even better - work on my skills in financial analysis. I ended up applying for internships at microfinance organizations in the Middle East/North African (MENA) region. I received feedback from maybe a dozen of them, and a few where interested in having me over for the summer. Al Majmoua, a microfinance organization in Lebanon that was one of the first that responded, eventually offered me an internship as Junior Financial Analyst at their head-office in Beirut, where I will work on Activity Based Costing, historical ratio analysis, the development of new financial services and research on islamic banking (among others).

I still can't believe it's really going to happen.

What I heard from my friends, Beirut must be an amazing city, and Lebanon must be a beautiful country. It will be the first time I visit the Middle East, so I think visiting any place there would be a totally new and amazing experience, but to think that I'll go to one of the most beautiful countries in the region where my friends are from is very exciting.

At the same time, I don't really know what to expect: how will people treat me? Will I be able to speak Arabic at all? What will it be like to work for a microfinance organization? Will I have an opportunity to meet their clients? What is it like to live in Lebanon? I think I will learn a lot, about daily life, harsh reality, beautiful surroundings, social engagement, economic development, financial empowerment, history, politics, ideologies and many more things I can't even think about now. It will be a whole different world, and I am grateful that I can now learn the language that will enable me to step into that world.