Why Arabic and Spanish...?

My name in Arabic calligraphy

A question I get asked all the time is: "why do you study Arabic?!" (and it's always accompanied with furrowing of brows and a hint of surprise. It seems that people never really question the Spanish-side of my degree, but whenever anyone asks me what I do they always ask the question above. Lots of people study European languages, the majority of which study French and Spanish, but much fewer study the "wacky" languages, such as Arabic, Russian and Chinese (all of which are offered at Durham University).

So, I'm going to start with the easy part first: why Spanish?

• I started studying it at the age of 12, in secondary school. I had already started learning French the previous year, and was practically forced by my school (thank you, Hanley Castle High School!) to learn a second foreign language. I had the choice between German and Spanish. The thought of learning German did not attract me in the slightest (no offence to the German linguists among you!), so Spanish it was. It was probably one of the best decisions of my life and led me to travel to my now-favourite country in the world- Peru!
• Initially, I was besotted with the French language, the French culture, and the food. I didn't have nearly the same enthusiasm for Spanish. But when I chose to continue Spanish, as well as French to A Level standard I started to enjoy it more.
• When it came to choosing a degree path, I decided to keep up with French and Spanish (and pick up Arabic- but that'll be discussed later on!).  
• My first year of university proved that Spanish was indeed the language for me, and so my French studies were brought to an end. I still try and use French when I can, even though it feels like swimming through custard trying not to let Spanish (and sometimes Arabic) words come out of my mouth!
• I recently lived in Peru for just over four months as part of my Year Abroad and it was one of the best times of my life so far! My grasp on the Spanish language improved greatly, picking up a lot of slang on the way.
• Spanish is the second most natively spoken language in the world (after Chinese), with over 400 million native speakers, and is the official language of 20 countries.

Okay, now to answer the harder question: why Arabic?

• As I previously mentioned, I chose to study French and Spanish to degree level. Alongside these two languages I also decided to learn Arabic from scratch.
• This may sound like a slightly odd choice, and a difficult one, based on the fact that Arabic isn't written using the same script as English, French and Spanish. But, in fact, learning the Arabic alphabet is not as difficult as you'd imagine- it only took two weeks until I could start writing in the new script (and it still impresses people that I can write it!).
• When I was studying for my A Levels in Sixth Form, all the A Level language students got to listen to a talk given by GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters). The representatives discussed graduate jobs and the advantages of learning the less popular languages among students, such as Arabic, Chinese and Farsi (which I have also had the privilege to study at Durham). We had taster language classes in each language and I instantly knew that Arabic was a language I wanted to pursue. 
• From the period between the talk and arriving at University for Freshers' Week, I panicked a few times about my decision to study Arabic. I tried teaching myself the alphabet and gave up quite quickly, wondering how I could ever learn this crazy language. But I kept with my decision, and here I am today, writing this blog post from Oman, having achieved more than I anticipated in my Arabic studies. 
• Another reason for learning Arabic is of course its relevance nowadays. The Middle East is no doubt a huge focus for the media attention and with good reason. It is a region struck by war, conflict and violence; a region that people are both fascinated with and scared of. Arabists are therefore in hot demand. 
• In addition to the political situation, the role of women in the Middle East is a topic that is present in the media. I wanted the opportunity to see for myself how Arab society is, and a chance to know more about the truths, rather than relying on Western media.
• So far during my studies of the Arabic language, I have had the opportunity to live in the Middle East, learn first-hand about the culture and have even participated in a live radio interview in Arabic on Omani radio.
• There are over 290 million native speakers of Arabic, and it is the official language of 27 states.

Here are some articles to prove why learning Arabic is not a waste of time (and also why it's not as difficult as people originally think):

• http://www.britishcouncil.org/blog/arabic-more-accessible-you-think 
• http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/08/why-learn-arabic/
• https://www.languagetrainers.co.uk/blog/2014/05/01/top-5-reasons-you-should-study-arabic/

Moral of the story: study a "wacky language"; it's fun, rewarding, and when you write people's names for them in another script they are mega impressed! ;)