OUR EXPERIENCE

MIMI MAZLINA MOHAMAD

I was very young when I started to learn Arabic. It was a compulsory subject in my school and I have no choice about it. My parents made me learn the language and I can still remember how I always tried to find excuses to skip the Arabic class and the school. Little that I know about the importance of the language during those days. Different people have different intellectual processing. I don’t know why but I am so bad with Arabic even until now. The Arabic teachers were unprofessional. I have to memorise all the vocabulary and grammar even when I have no idea about it. They forced me to understand about what have been taught and whenever I admitted that I could not understand it, they made me stood on the chair. All of these have made me become demoralized and I never bothered to learn and understand Arabic when I was at school.

IIUM however, has different techniques and approaches in teaching Arabic. The professors here are very professional and full of patience in giving instructions and educate us. There are so many workshops held throughout the semester that can enable me to enhance my Arabic skills specifically in reading and writing. Friends here are also very helpful and generous in sharing their knowledge.I no longer regard Arabic as a burden but a language to be continuously learned since it helps me in at least, understanding the literal meaning of Qur’an. There is no word to describe my satisfaction and happiness if I manage to understand some of Arabic words while reciting the Qur'an. I believe that learning Arabic is not just for the sake of passing your exams but is should be taught and learned because it is the most beautiful language,the language of our Prophet and his companions, the language of heaven.

MASTURA MAHTAR

I was a dummy in Arabic. Yes, I could read the Quran quite nice but I never understood the meaning. I had zero vocabulary of Arabic in mind except for the Arabic words which have been absorbed into Malay. I only learned Arabic when I was 19 and IIUM Matriculation was the first place where I began being exposed to the Arabic...

Based on my on-going experience learning Arabic, I found that Arabic has an interesting set of rules which differ from Malay and English. For a dummy like me, of course it was very difficult initially. The most thing I feared was that to compete with the students whose already had a basic in Arabic. I felt really small as compared to them when being in the Arabic classes. I couldn’t understand and respond to what the lecturer said. When the exam was around the corner, I felt like giving up when seeing all the friends whose had had a basic in Arabic performed well in the class. In my mind, I was thinking that this was unfair, putting myself in the same class with those who were already good in Arabic. I thought, I definitely was going to lose. But then I realized, that was a very negative thought that should never came across the mind of IIUM student like me. I should take the challenge. I should prove to myself that I could do good in Arabic.

From that point, I put an extra effort in the Arabic subject. My initial intention was to compete with my friends but later after having through one sem to another sems being in the Islamic environment of IIUM matriculation, I changed because I realized that as a Muslim, learning Arabic is a requirement in order to understand the teaching of the Quran. I began to like this language and I began to pay more attention listening to other students whose native language was Arabic.
I agree with a research that said, the greater difference between the first and the target language, the easier the acquisition of the target language will be. I learned a totally new vocabulary as well new rules and grammar. I believed that people were more aware if they learned something that are totally different from what they already knew. Thus, I found that I had improved in this language from time to time! Undeniably, it was because of my lecturer too. She was the one who was motivating me toward this language. And now I could say that I’m may be not a proficient Arabic speaker, but I am not a dummy anymore. I could understand Arabic and when reading the Quran, I could catch up the words. As my Arabic is still in an on-going process of learning, it is going to improve and improve until I can read a book in Arabic without translation. This is what I promise to myself.

MUNA SAMSUDIN

My first experience learning Arabic was when I was in my first year in matriculation back in 2004. That was my first time learning the language. At first, I was afraid and worried that I cannot get along studying Arabic as one of the course in my study plan. I do not see any relevance of learning the language until I discover that after I learned Arabic, it helped me to have a better understanding in Qur’anic text.

As the first time learner that has zero knowledge about Arabic language, I faced challenges and difficulties to understand the words and the usage. The grammatical structure of Arabic language is complicated as compared to English. Thank God that my lecturer at that time was very good and patience to teach us, especially me. She taught us the easy way to remember the principles and the use of the right word in the right context.

Even now, I am trying hard to put the right word in the right context and I still make the same mistakes. I have forgotten the entire lesson that I have learned during my matriculation day as I have left the lesson for about one and a half year after I entered the main campus. Until now, it is still hard for me to score high in Arabic language course. Lastly, I really hope that I can get a good result in my Arabic course this semester.

LIYANA SUHIMI

I began studying Arabic 4 years ago when I started my matriculation year in Matriculation Center of International Islamic University Malaysia. I remember entering my first Arabic class feeling so worried that I might not be able to cope with the subject. I learned that many of those who enrolled in MCIIUM came from religious school and that they studied Arabic at school before.

The fact did not demotivate me however. i continued studying Arabic trying as best as I could. I was frustrated I only managed to get B+ for Arabic 1 but that did not stop me there. I knew i had to prove to my friends and my parents especially that I could do with Arabic. I wanted to prove to them I could master any language I wanted.

I improved a lot in my second level of Arabic. I could see a big progress in my study. Since then, I set my own goal not to get worse than A- in future Arabic courses. Alhamdulillah, I achieved my goal so far. Now that I'm doing the 6th level of Arabic, the final one, I hope I will pass the subject with flying colours.