In all my four years living in Abu Dhabi, I’ve never felt a burning need to throw myself into an Arabic language course. I always figured that once I knew how to tell the taxi driver to continue straight, turn right, left and stop (or at least sign-language those points across to him) I could hold my own.

Written by: Kara Martin

Besides, everyone in Abu Dhabi already speaks English anyway ... to some interesting extent. I also felt that the Arabic language – with the heavy pronunciation of certain letters – sounded rather impossible; beautiful but like an unrequited love.

It was only when I made an Arabic friend that I stumbled upon an opportunity to learn the language firsthand and put all my excuses for not learning aside. And after just a couple of coffees and lunches together I discovered that the language started opening up to me like that magical cave of wonders before Ali Baba – except in my case ‘Salam Aleykum’ was the ‘Open Sesame’ equivalent.

After two months of funny part English/part Arabic bickering over where the best falafel really is, or why the English language was so deceiving with its ‘presents’ and ‘presence’, ‘patients’ and ‘patience’, I could pretty much piece together the argument he was having with his sister on the phone, intervene when I heard his friends making fun of me, stun the taxi driver an inch off his seat with my choppy non-English request to go to the beach, and tell another to scram when he tried to trick me by saying his meter didn’t work.

Understandably pleased with myself, I couldn’t believe it took a whole agonising secondary school existence to achieve intermediate Spanish and French and then never have to use it but just two light, fun months with a new friend to bridge gaps with the people in this city, as well as discover it with fresh eyes. Strangely since learning a few phrases, more people have been approaching me in Arabic even before I’ve begun to speak. And this time I can actually answer; although I’ll still most likely say ‘mish fahma’ (I don’t understand).

I’ve still got a long way to go, of course, but I’m absolutely convinced that there is nothing quite like experience when it comes to learning a language; or anything else, for that matter.