Recently, a clever person has solved a ton of my „language problems“ by introducing the 24 hour challenge on Facebook. The idea is simple: spend 24 hours on learning a new language. 24 hours only! A great idea I immediately had to pick up!
Why???
I’m interested in a lot of languages, like for example Arabic. I’ve always wanted to learn the script and learn just a few words. If I decide to pick up a new language, I’m really serious about it, so obviously I can’t start all the languages I’m interested in. And so this challenge solves a huge problem for me. I can spend 24 hours = a weekend, that is devoted to this one language and simply enjoy diving into this new world. After 24 hours, I won’t know a lot but I will definitely know more than before. I can simply enjoy the great feeling of starting a new language.
Also, I want to do more theoretical research about various languages for a language-related project I have in mind. Of course, I can find a lot of this information online but I think it makes a difference if you speak about a language you have never worked on or a language in which you already know a few words.
That’s why I really like the idea and I want to try my first 24 hour challenge. If I like it, I will do more of them in the future. There are a few rules/guidelines for this challenge in this very facebook group but I adapted them to my personal interests and goals.
Project goals
What I really want to learn is the Arabic script – this is the main goal of this project. I want to be able to read words (I know there is this tricky thing about the non-written vowels but at least I want to be able to read what is written) and I want to be able to write in the sense of using the correct letter for a sound. After 24 hours, I assume, I won’t be a very good reader and writer but that doesn’t matter here. The most important thing is to get started!
I also want to learn a few words and I will concentrate on words of daily life. As you might know, I’m interested in teaching German as a foreign language to migrants and as outlined in this post, it’s difficult to teach German via German. So I hope that knowing just a few words in Arabic can help me get a better access to Arabic-speaking students.
I also want to get to know the grammar but I don’t really want to study it. My goal is to understand some important characteristics of the Arabic grammar and understand differences to languages I already know. Again, I hope this is going to be helpful in my work with migrants.
Material
I’ve already prepared all the material I’m going to use:
Langenscheidt Praktischer Sprachlehrgang Arabisch: I took it from the library and already made copies of relevant parts, for example the writing section, so that I can take notes.
Kauderwelsch: Palästinensisch – Syrisch – Arabisch: This is a popular phrase book serial in German. I found the e-version in the library and it focuses on the Arabic spoken around Syria. This is particularly interesting for me because due to the worldwide wide events I happen to work a lot with people from Syria.
Bildwörterbuch Deutsch – Arabisch: I will use this picture dictionary to practise writing (by copying words) and learning some important words.
Picture of Arabic keyboard: I’ve already printed a picture of the Arabic keyboard. Maybe I will try to type in Arabic and learn how to look up words in online dictionaries.
Google Translate: The online dictionaries I usually use don’t have an Arabic option, so I will use Google Translate. I don’t like it very much but I guess for this purpose it will be sufficient.
Forvo: I can’t learn without Forvo anymore 
It should help me sound at least a little bit Arabic.
Maybe I will also listen to some online radio while studying, just to get a feeling for the sound. But usually I don’t listen to the radio, so it might distract me too much. We shall see.
Time frame
I have reserved the whole weekend for this project and I won’t be disturbed: I sent my boyfriend on vacation and made no other plans for the weekend. I will simply enjoy a “weekend off” with a good breakfast (croissants already bought), a lot of coffee, pizza, chocolate… Other people go on a wellness weekend - I learn Arabic
I didn’t make a specific plan on how I will distribute my 24 hours. I will start with the script and then I’ll see how everything goes. Once I’m tired from all the new input, I will switch to reading about the grammar etc.
I will write a summary about the weekend and publish it as soon as possible!
Your turn!
Which language would you learn for 24 hours and why? What do you think about the idea of a 24 hour challenge?
