The biggest challenge when learning is the pronunciation of Arabic sounds and their interpretation, because we do not have similar sounds in our language

Dijana Marković

The Middle East is slowly but surely becoming the new Western Europe or the new America for people from the former Yugoslavia. As a result, interest in learning the Arabic language is growing.

Finding a good professor who will teach you Arabic is a big challenge, especially since in the Balkans, this language was not the focus of students’ interest, as it is the case with English, German, French, and in recent years, the Chinese language.

The knowledge of those who have mastered the Arabic language to the smallest detail is all the more valuable. Although it may seem that Arabic is easier than Serbian, because it has only three cases compared to our seven, it would be good to “break the language” and, more importantly, to penetrate into its soul so that you can easily talk to those who are native speakers of Arabic.

Diana Marković, a translator and professor of Arabic language and literature, acquired this gift for a long time. Diana is well known to our community in the desert as the “Arabic teacher”, as most of her “students” affectionately call her. By going to the United Arab Emirates and other countries of the Middle East and being employed in local companies, people from the area of the former Yugoslavia returned again and again to “school desks”, aware that mastering Arabic brings them a number of advantages in this climate. That’s why they call themselves “students” and Professor Marković “the Arabic teacher”, because she teaches them this language just like the teachers introduced us to the alphabet when we started the first grade of elementary school.

To those who follow Professor Marković on social networks, reading her stories from the rich history, tradition and culture of the Arab people, this young woman with a lot of love and dedication opens the door to the wonderful Arab world.

In an interview with Naš BIRO, Diana Marković reveals why she chose to study Arabic, rather than one of the more commercial languages, talks about the culture of the people that is becoming closer to us and the secrets of the Arabic language, which, without a doubt, will be the language of the future.

– Just as in my life I was always attracted to unusual and different things, so choosing the Arabic language as my life’s vocation, I felt that through its authenticity I would discover things that go beyond the usual – says Diana Marković for Naš BIRO.

The Arabic script, language and culture are fundamentally the most beautiful parts of esotericism, which require depth and commitment and seeing things from multiple angles in order to reach the ultimate truth. Even today, as at the very beginning, I am driven by love and the desire to constantly discover new beauties of this other part of the world, the unsuspected depths of the beauty of the language, the exotic culture of the Orient and the fusion of East and West.

How difficult was it for someone who was born and raised in Serbia to “dive” into the “Arab world”, understand the rules that apply there and master the Arabic language as a mother tongue?

– In order to enter a completely different world like the Arab one, great love is necessary. The differences between life and culture in our climate and the climate of the Arab world are huge, in some parts seemingly irreconcilable. Arab culture itself, due to the great division within it, is very diverse; therefore, for example, it is not easy for Arabs from the Gulf countries to understand the customs that prevail in the countries of the Maghreb.

When entering the world of Arabic language and culture, it is necessary to be completely open to different rules and ways of life. What is very characteristic of Muslim Arabs, who make up the majority of the Arab population, is that Islam guides their lives from morning to night and from birth to death. Consequently, education and study of religion as a way of life is necessary to open the door to a better understanding of this world.

Furthermore, complete mastery of the Arabic language requires constant additional studies, because Arabic, like any other language, is very alive, especially due to diglossia, which is more pronounced here than in any other language.

The biggest challenge in learning is the very weak environment of this language in our area, as well as any kind of Arabic art, things like films or music. If we were at least partially exposed to the Arabic language like English, it would be much easier to master the voice system and melody, which is a great relief for the beginning of learning the language.

What was the most difficult thing for you to master in Arabic, what are the laws of this language?

– The Arabic language belongs to the group of Semitic languages with a pronounced inflection. The rules are completely different compared to our language, but by using certain formulas with a small degree of deviation, we create the most diverse types of words. The morphology of this language is complex, with unsuspected possibilities of derivation, and what is characteristic are three-consonantal verbs that carry the idea of a word that, by adding suffixes within it, expands to unsuspected heights. Therefore, the Arabic language is considered a very rich language.

When did you start teaching Arabic and who were your first students?

– I started teaching Arabic in my final years of study. The students were of different ages, professions and interests, and I had the pleasure of teaching people who were truly in love with the Arabic language and learned it on their own initiative, to people who needed a job, as well as students whom I helped prepare for exams.

What is the most difficult thing for our people to learn when they start to learn the Arabic language?

– People from our areas are very good at mastering foreign languages and learn them with ease. The biggest challenge they face when learning Arabic is the pronunciation of Arabic sounds and their interpretation, since we do not have similar sounds in our language and it takes time and practice to adjust our speech apparatus.

Also, at the very beginning it is not possible to understand Arabs easily, because they speak very fast, and in the language itself there are many similar voices that are difficult to distinguish.

The corona virus pandemic has strengthened distance learning and taught us that the whole world is one big market that is accessible to everyone if we have the Internet.

– The number of participants of the online Arabic language course increased visibly at the beginning of the pandemic, and it seems to me that people are also aware that the whole world is one market. This is supported by the fact that in these two years more than 250 people attended my online group Arabic language courses. It is interesting that the two groups that started learning at the very beginning of the epidemic are still on the course, and their level of knowledge is already at a very high level, and I am extremely proud of that. The largest number of participants are people from the ex-Yu area who live and work in the Middle East.

How long does it take for someone to learn Arabic enough to be able to use it when they arrive in any Arab country?

– If we are talking about mastering the Arabic alphabet, it takes several months to master writing, while reading requires a little more time. If you are surrounded by people who speak Arabic, learning conversation is significantly easier. In the countries of the Middle East, there are bilingual signs (Arabic-English), which is a great relief, because if you know how to read a word in Arabic, and below is the English translation, you automatically remember a large number of words.

What is important to emphasize is that the Arabic language is known for diglossia, i.e. a multitude of visibly different dialects, due to the large number of countries in which it is spoken. Since it is very difficult to master all the dialects, because they are very different (for example, the Emiratis understand the Tunisians very poorly), as the basis of all the dialects, the literary Arabic language is learned, so-called. “Al-fusha”.

Until recently, Chinese was considered to be the most useful language in the near future, and now this is true for Arabic. Is there an initiative to propose the Arabic language at least as an optional language in schools in the ex-Yu, considering that the ties between the Middle Eastern countries and the countries of the former Yugoslavia are getting stronger and will probably be even stronger in the future?

– What used to be Libya and Iraq, today are the countries of the Middle East. They have become a home for many people from the former Yugoslavia and our community is growing every day, which is especially true for the United Arab Emirates. There is no indication yet that Arabic could be taught in schools, except in madrasahs (schools that provide general and religious knowledge and are characteristic of areas where Muslims live).

For a certain period of time, I have been growing the desire to establish an Arab center which, apart from teaching the Arabic language and culture, would give people the opportunity to make business connections, and certainly education and the merging of East and West would be one of the main topics, all for the purpose of celebrating diversity, and in at the same time of finding oneness with this part of the world.

What fascinated you the most in Arab culture, and what could you possibly not understand and accept?

– Arab culture is very different, however, the matter of acceptance and understanding is again closely related to education and deeper study of the Koran as the Holy Book of Islam, Sharia Law which is an integral part of the Islamic faith and consists of a series of religious regulations that also apply to everyday life, The Sunnah, which represents the behavior and deeds of the Prophet Muhammad, and refer to a collection of hadiths and represent “instructions” for life to believers, then the study of Qiyas, which represents the solutions derived by Islamic jurists based on analogy, as well as the Urf adat, which represent folk legal customs.

Arab business etiquette is particularly interesting, which represents a series of rules of conduct in the business world, and its knowledge is very important if you want to make a good impression and succeed with your business. What people from our area have the hardest time accepting is a certain kind of placidness and leaving things and outcomes to Allah (the name for God in Islam) through the famous phrase “Inshallah” which means “If God wills”.

Have you had Arabs come to you to teach them Serbian?

– Yes, a large number of Arabs are married to women from our area and decided to learn the Serbian language for the sake of love, mostly Syrians and Lebanese. Teaching Arabs the Serbian language, I can say that our sound system is very challenging for them, since there are sounds that they encounter for the first time. There are only three cases in the Arabic language, so they also represent a great challenge when learning.

What books would you recommend to people who do not yet speak Arabic, which will best introduce them to the mentality and customs in the Arab world?

– The book that describes the culture of the Arab world in a very concise way is the “History of the Arab Peoples” by Albert Hourani and represents a synthesis and a comprehensive view of the history of the Arabs that goes back to Late Antiquity.

Also, the work “History of Arabic Literature” by Francesco Gabrieli is the basis of understanding the first appearance of literature and customs of the pre-Islamic Arabs, as well as a comparison of contemporary Arabic literature and the culture it brought to the Arab world.

Professor Darko Tanasković’s books are certainly indispensable, such as the work “Islam – Dogma and Life”, which represents a synthesis of basic knowledge, concepts and phenomena of the Islamic religion, culture and history and their influence on the life of past and present peoples not only in Islamic countries, but also in whole world.

Naš BIRO

Photo: Private archive