When you're riding, it's life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting.

[euphonius]

You can even see it inside the firewall!!

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/N3vG17v6GVI/

[jape]

Aye and at least 300 dead and many seriously injured. Freedom is so expensive, and we take it for granted in so many places.
I have been watching a TV series, 'Generation Kill', which shows how many innocents were wiped out and maimed, nearly half a million so far, in Afghanistan and Iraq as they are 'freed'.
I suppose 300 is a small price?
How many more to come?
Killing people is so easy to do, call in an air strike or aim, breath, press trigger. then go and have a cuppa. Been there, done that.

I wish there was another way. In all honesty, and after decades of reflection, I know of no other.

[slabo]

0:17 I went down to the streets, vowing not to return
0:21 And wrote with my blood on every street
0:25 Our voices reached those who could not hear them
0:30 And we broke through all barriers
0:34 Our weapon was our dreams
0:38 And tomorrow is looking as bright as it seems
0:42 For ages we've been waiting
0:46 Searching but unable to find our place
0:51 In every street in my country The sound of freedom is calling
1:24 We held our head up high to the sky
1:28 And hunger didn't matter to us anymore
1:32 The most important thing is our rights
1:36 And write our history with our blood
1:40 If you were one of us
1:44 Don’t blather and tell us
1:49 To leave and abandon our dream
1:53 And stop saying the word ‘I’
1:57 In every street in my country The sound of freedom is calling
2:13 Dark Egyptian Hands; against discrimination, rise Outstretched amid roars of might O Novel Youth, Into spring the autumn weaves
2:26 Awakening the murdered by a miracle achieved Kill me, the dead shall not retreat your country
2:36 With the ink of blood, I write the future of my country Is that my blood or spring?
2:42 Both are in green I smile from happiness not grief
2:48 In every street in my country The sound of freedom is calling

Found the transcript on the on youtube


It's still not clear what's going on, let's hope this changes the region positively instead of being just one hopeful day in history.

[slabo]

I'd love to understand the lyrics (help us here, Slabo!) but I doubt anyone will miss the meaning.



cheers!

0:17 I went down to the streets, vowing not to return
0:21 And wrote with my blood on every street
0:25 Our voices reached those who could not hear them
0:30 And we broke through all barriers
0:34 Our weapon was our dreams
0:38 And tomorrow is looking as bright as it seems
0:42 For ages we've been waiting
0:46 Searching but unable to find our place
0:51 In every street in my country The sound of freedom is calling
1:24 We held our head up high to the sky
1:28 And hunger didn't matter to us anymore
1:32 The most important thing is our rights
1:36 And write our history with our blood
1:40 If you were one of us
1:44 Don’t blather and tell us
1:49 To leave and abandon our dream
1:53 And stop saying the word ‘I’
1:57 In every street in my country The sound of freedom is calling
2:13 Dark Egyptian Hands; against discrimination, rise Outstretched amid roars of might O Novel Youth, Into spring the autumn weaves
2:26 Awakening the murdered by a miracle achieved Kill me, the dead shall not retreat your country
2:36 With the ink of blood, I write the future of my country Is that my blood or spring?
2:42 Both are in green I smile from happiness not grief
2:48 In every street in my country The sound of freedom is calling

Found the transcript on the on youtube


It's still not clear what's going on, let's hope this changes the region positively instead of being just one hopeful day in history.

[jape]

[It's still not clear what's going on, let's hope this changes the region positively instead of being just one hopeful day in history.

+1

كل شدة وتهون،الصبر مفتاح الفرج

[euphonius]

+1

الأمل في مستقبل أفضل ، على استعداد للأسوأ

[jape]

لا تلقوا بأيديكم إلى التهلكة

[slabo]

I will start chrging for lessons soon. If anyone's interested, it's not too difficult. English and Arabic have almost identical syntax structure. The Arabic alphabet is 28 letters, but writing is slightly more complex than English, with accentuation and tone marks.

[euphonius]

tempting, slabo. I must say I've been extremely impressed with the quality of the English of many young Egyptians interviewed on the streets of Cairo.

Is it true that, like Chinese, everyone can read a relatively standard Arabic script, though they may pronounce the words in ways that may be almost unintelligible to speakers of other dialects? Also, I've heard there's perhaps a classical form that omits some of the diacritics so you are left guessing about vowel sounds?

Fascinating time. I wonder if there will now be a spike in Arabic language studies in the west in the same way that many young people have been flocking to Chinese.

cheers

[slabo]

I went to London in 1999 to study. I remember being totally isolated, listening to two languages I was supposed to understand: British English, and Gulf accent Arabic. I was very funny, the only two languages I was supposed to understand, yet it took me 2 months to understand the many British accents. I gave up on the Arabic, for reasons better discussed over many beers .. just to get the facts straight :wink:

The most common Arabic variant is the Levantine Arabic. That's the formal tone/accent for Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt(slightly different in Egypt). That's very different from the classical variant. I use the term variant, because it's not only the tone that differs from classical Arabic, it's also the choice of words. Classical Arabic is still used in Saudi Arabia and the gulf region. Think 16th century English and before. Most Arabs now can't read the Quraan. Hence the need to 'interpreters'. Not much different than the Bible if you think about it. There's only one text, one edition, but it's written in an archaic language so it's up the interpreters to dictate the meaning suitable for them.

Like Chinese, to study Arabic one must learn the formal tone, even for natives. Unlike the Chinese, you will only hear politicians, lawyers, and news-cast readers speak that formally. Now if you were to learn how to speak Arabic, the Levantine tone, that would be useless to converse to in real life situations. The people who understand you're saying are probably well educated and speak English well, but they never use official tone to speak and would find it awkward to speak to you. They would much prefer speaking in English. I spoke to the Chinese ambassador in Lebanon once, he refused to speak in English, but it was so funny to hear him speak, even though he spoke almost perfect Arabic.
All written Arabic omit most of the diacritics, it's only included for students or when the meaning is not obvious without the marks.

I didn't know half of this before I started teaching in China. Actually, this is how I got into teaching. Someone asked for an Arabic teacher on a local Kunming forum. I figured I should try, probably being the only person who speaks Arabic here. Oops, never thought I could teach anything. Then I got a job teaching English.