mirrorbird(21:57:18)
script vs language... so... what is your learning story? cause i know you are already educated enough to teach at a high level
Oldchap(21:57:07)
I'm living in Kurdistan now. I've got a good teacher.
mirrorbird(21:56:52)
i've seen the dude who runs the newsagent down the road reading "arabic" newspaper, obviously that one is Urdu
Oldchap(21:56:44)
A lot of that is testosterone combined with fundamentalist religiosity...
mirrorbird(21:55:43)
OC: who is teaching you Kurdish?
mirrorbird(21:55:23)
yes, we saw some nasty dynamiting of sculpture in the headlines. i suppose this was hyper-quranic enthusiasm, but who fucking know, when you've got kids and ammo
Oldchap(21:55:05)
I've been learning Kurdish lately which has been interesting, in regard to learning about minor differences in the Persian script, which Kurdish uses (Persian script being based on Arabic script).
Oldchap(21:54:19)
Yeah, it is. Because the depiction of human/animal form was forbidden in shari'a law, artistic energy in many Muslim societies for many centuries was channeled into calligraphy and script styles.
mirrorbird(21:51:33)
forgotten all the vocab. but i can still parse the text, that was what i wanted. it's beautiful, arabic writing, gorgeous
mirrorbird(21:50:57)
when i learned the most basic beginner arabic (as extra credit at a brit university) the teacher was a libyan