Bagdad Iraq Female Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Bagdad Iraq Female Conversation

Conversation

Most people tell me that I don't have an Iraqi accent or an Arab accent, so I think there's a reason why. I might know the reason. So--

Female: Why?

You want me to tell you first about my accent? Okay. I'm from Baghdad, Iraq, but I'm originally a Kurd and my family would speak Kurdish and Arabic around me so I guess that's why my English accent's a bit between both of them. I don't know. I have a different accent somehow.

And I've lived in Baghdad for a long time, but like I-- after the war we started switching neighborhoods. Like, I moved three times before I came to the U.S. First I, like, stayed in Jordan for like less than a month then I came here. I went to three different high schools here in Houston: Westbury, Westside and Langham Creek was the last one and I graduated from there. I've been here for almost five years as I told you.

My favorite thing about here is-- I love many things about here like I feel less restricted. Back in Iraq, it's not like it wasn't-- They were not like bad to girls and such as you hear in the media but like, over here no one tries to push their beliefs on you. So I feel more comfortable with that. I can say whatever I want without worrying about people judging me or my family for it.

I have a lot of aunts and only two uncles from both sides. So I have like five aunts from my mom's side and nine aunts from my dad's side, and that makes, you know, a lot of cousins. Many of them were of my age, most of them are like my best friends. I never-- Like when I was over there I never needed to, you know, make friends at school. I didn't even try to because I already had a lot, you know?

Well, my family doesn't like, like really don't like turkey. So instead, my mom made like chicken barbecue.

I spend most of my break at home. I only got to buy boots and they like-- they-- I forgot what they are called. You know, like buttons and whatever. They were broken so I need to get new ones now.

Actually, like I said that I never had pets but as a group-- Because, like, you know, whenever people here talked about pets I thought, I thought, like I always thought about puppies and cats and such, but when I actually thought about it I really had pets when I was younger, like. But they were baby chickens, or they call them chicks, right? Yeah. And they always ended up dying early. You could never grow them, they die. It's hard to grow them. So yeah.

I don't know, because like they would always sell them in winter. And they are really little and, you know, most families buy them for their kids. And as a little child, you know it's really hard take care of, you know, chicks. So it was really hard take care of them.

The only time I had one that it grew was after giving it to my aunt to grow it for me.

I love to dance. And all different types of dance as well, like mostly belly dance, Kolbasti Hilperke, and like Dabke, all of these are like Middle Eastern dances. They are different. And like the best thing about Kolbastian Hilperke, like the Kurdish dance, and Dabke like the Arabic one, is you get to jump a lot. So it's really a good workout.

And I love soccer. I used to play soccer in high school.

Jeddah Saudi Arabia Female Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Jeddah Saudi Arabia Female Conversation

Conversation

I'm from Saudi Arabia, specifically I'm from Jeddah. I don't know if you know Saudi Arabia, but Jeddah is on the Red Sea and they call Jeddah like the Bride of the Red Sea. Yeah. because it's so beautiful; we have many resorts there; we have- the beach there is so nice. We can swim there, we can go fishing, we can do anything there.

Jeddah is a very nice city. My family, all of them there except my aunt. She is-- She lives in Riyadh, it's the capitol of Saudi Arabia. Actually, I don't like Riyadh. Yeah. Riyadh, it's--you know--the people very strict. Like New York here in America. They're not like-- they're not flexible like the people in Jeddah. And so thanks God I'm from Jeddah.

I was born in nineteen eighty-two, so you know my old now is twenty five. I finished my degree in Saudi Arabia in Bachelor degree; I finished Nutrition. My major was Nutrition. And I worked-- I was working in a bank for two years, two years and a half. I got a good experience there. I loved working and like to deal with people. After this I decide to come to America to start to my Master degree and get – and transfer my majors from Nutrition to MBA. And I came here for a year and a half before. I started taking English as a Second Language in Language Culture Center.

I love American people. They're so friendly, they're so nice. Really, I'm-- I never seen like this people, like-- They're-- Whatever you ask them, whenever you ask them, they will answer you. Specifically, like the people who work in like institutions or kinds of banks or whatever. They are so kind, they are-- They give you the help, so they elaborate anything you want also.

I'm the youngest in my family. We are six siblings; four daughters and two sons. My father passed away two-and-a-half, two years ago. And I lived with my mother alone. She's from Syria, by the way. Yeah. But she has a Saudi passport so it's okay. She's Saudi now.

My role model in my life is my father. I'm trying to stick with her-- with his rules. What he told me, what he gave me to-- How he raised me. And I'm trying to just taking his rule to reach my goals and to have a-- to be in a, like a good place in my life.

Saudi Arabia 2F Conversation

Conversation

Female1: How was your day?

Female2: Pretty good. I went to Kaplan. I stayed there for like four hours. I studied for--

Female1: Four hours in Kaplan? Too much.

Female2: Yeah. That was the minimum that I do. Yeah, I stay-- I studied for the TOFL because I'm preparing myself to take the TOFL test on twelfth of December.

Female1: Which kind of TOFL?

Female2: IBT, the internet based.

Female1: Oh, the internet based. Oh.

Female2: Yeah. So, wish me luck.

Female1: Sure, good luck. How much do the universities want from you?

Female2: Oh, well the average is eighty for--

Female1: Eighty. Oh. It's looks like it's good.

Female2: Yeah. It's in between, it's not--

Female1: It's not hard for you.

Female2: No, it's not hard.

Female1: You are smarter than I. You can do it.

Female2: Oh no, you don't know.

Female1: Don't worry.

Female2: What about you?

Female1: Oh, I'm also struggling in my Masters because I'm go-- I'm planning to take my MBA and concentration in Human Resource. And also I need to take the GMAT. No-- Yeah-- No university-- None of the universities can accept me without the GMAT course. So, yeah. I'm also preparing for the GMAT and, you know, it's horrible.

Female2: Have you tried to apply for any university or not yet?

Female1: No, actually, I'm -- Because I haven't taken the--

Female2: GMAT?

Female1: --the GMAT yet, so I'm--

Female2: Waiting.

Female1: I'm waiting, yeah.

Female2: But some universities still can accept you before you take the GMAT.

Female1: But I think this kind of university, either they are so strict and they're, you know, like their grades and they don't accept like Cs-- only As and Bs.

Female2: Oh, no, no, no. You know, maybe because of that--

Female1: Or maybe it's not a strong university, you know?

Female2: No. Maybe in my situation it's different because my Bachelor degree was in different major.

Female1: Yeah, yeah.

Female2: So, I would have to take the foundation courses of business as an undergraduate student. So they accept me with the TOFL first, and then while taking those courses I can prepare myself for the GMAT, and then apply for the Masters. So I still can't get an--

Female1: Oh, so still you have time?

Female2: Yeah, so it's--

Female1: Oh really? I wish you luck. It's hard for you, yeah, isn't it?

Female2: Life in America is so hard.

Female1: Yeah, really, actually, life in America.

Female2: Yeah, you cannot-- You have to struggle and--

Female1: Struggle.

Female2: - -work hard to get--

Female1: You know, as her-- When I-- Since I came to America I thought like I'm-- But-- You know, the smartest girl on here because I took like a high grade in my university and after I came here I feel like, oh my God.

Female2: Yeah, I felt that also.

Female1: I felt like frustrated, like, ohhh... You know?

Female2: It was nothing.

Female1: It was nothing, yeah.

Female2: Yeah.

Female1: I need to work harder to get-- to earn the good degrees from here.

Female2: And what else? What do you do for the rest of your day?

Female1: Oh, I subscribe to-- in the gym.

Female2: Oh, really?

Female1: So, yeah. I'm building weight.

Female2: Muscles?

Female1: Yeah, muscles. Weight? Muscles. Yeah, I'm building muscles.

Female2: Wow. Yeah, I can see. I can tell.

Female1: You can touch.

Female2: I can tell, yeah. Which gym?

Female1: It's near to Kaplan also, to the--

Female2: Don't tell me Bally.

Female1: Yeah!

Female2: Oh!

Female1: Bally. It's--

Female2: I go there sometimes, but not every day.

Female1: No. You know, I need to lose-- to lose weight. So.

Female2: Oh, that's good.

Female1: What else? So what about you? Have you seen the movie, The Christmas?

Female2: Oh, no. But I want to see it. I really want to see it.

Female1: Let's go together to see it.

Female2: Okay.

Female1: I heard that it's really nice movie. And you know, I love drama movie.

Female2: Yeah, someone told me about it also. Let's-- Whenever you're free. Maybe, what do you think about next weekend?

Female1: Next weekend?

Female2: Saturday or--?

Female1: Let me see my schedule first. Okay, that's good.

Female2: Saturday?

Female1: Sounds good to me.

Female2: Okay.

Female1: Okay.

Female2: When do you prefer, afternoon or evening or--?

Female1: Actually, I don't like to go out, like out of my home at evening. So it's better let's do it like at five o'clock after

Female2: Okay.

Female1: Yeah, at five.

Female2: Sounds good to me.

Female1: Sounds good to you?

Female2: Yeah, it sounds good.

Female1: Great, great.

Zarqa Jordan Male Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Zarqa Jordan Male Conversation

Conversation

I was born in Jordan, specifically in a town called Zarqa, where I spent the first sixteen years of my life. Zarqa's the kind of city where your parents doesn't want you to play in the streets in. It's not like it's not that safe, it's just not like the safest for children in general.

When I was really young I was like sort of the introvert kind so I kind of spent most of the time in the public library of that city. And I was sort of obsessed about philosophy so I started reading philosophy at like a very young age, which kind of made me like quite a bit different than most of the surrounding people around me as this kind of topic like is not the kind of thing that, like, schools teach at my country in general. And after that, I moved to Ahman, which is the capitol, and I've been living there ever since which marks another like 9 years as I'm 25 at this moment.

I have studied Computer Science at my university, which like was not like my personal choice. I kind of wanted to study philosophy also at the university, but like everybody knows like there is no field of work, like in philosophy in general, unless you want to work as a teacher or like a professor at the university. Which is not quite famous in-- around the world, I guess, not just in Jordan.

But I started also working at young age. I started working in bookshops and like coffee shops, and from there started my career as a translator, actually. As I started meeting people who need, like freelance translators. And so, yeah, my-- most of my-- like my main career now started like seven years ago as a translator. But like even though I like my job as a translator, I also like doing mobile applications. So I've been also like developing mobile applications with a couple of friends of mine for the past three years. And like it's also kind of working well as now we have like a user base of three to four million people using our mobile applications in both, like stores-- the Google Play and the iTunes. And once again, this is not also my passion. My passion is actually sports and travelling. I love sports. I'm kind of a freak about cycling. So I kind of keep doing like long distance cycling trips, like across country. Especially, in Jordan as it's not really that easy to leave the country because Jordanians need, like, a Visa almost to every single country in the world. And yeah, so the question is how did I -- if I travelled or not, and actually I quite did. Like, I travelled a lot. I used, like, I used to apply for European programs and then I started travelling on my own. And I've, like, I think my most favorite part of the world is East Asia at the moment. Like, at some point I thought it's Europe but, like-- Then after I saw East Asia, I'm like quite fascinated about India, specifically. So I'm gonna, like, planning my year in a way that allows me to stay in India for at least one or two months every year.

And aside from that, I also like reading and writing, like obviously. But, yeah-- Like, this is at the moment the most competitive career in the world, I guess. But still, like, you don't always do the things you want to do because they'll make you money. They-- You just follow your passion, You follow the things that you want. And yeah, I'm quite the kind that gets bored really fast with any kind of activity that he starts with. Like, I can't keep up with any kind of routine; I have to keep changing. I have-- I can't, like, keep in-- stay in a steady job for like more than six months. It's like my top limit. And I can't stay in the country for more than six months as well. I need to leave.

Actually, I'm gonna leaving in-- around-- like in seven days from now. Like, doing a Balkan trips with my friend, whom actually I met in Europe, which is like quite amazing.

Life at the moment is like, I guess, like everybody at this age go through like this quarter-age crisis, I guess. But, yeah. Obviously, it's not something that people end up solving. It's the kind of phase that passes on its own. Or like when a person reaches the realization that there is really nothing to figure out. You're just like crossing or passing by life, observing. You're like-- It's sort of like-- I have this tendency to be a pre-deterministic person sometimes. Like, believing that everything is pre-determined. But like the thing is regardless of what you believe, you'll keep on doing your life as if you're like-- as if you believe in free will and as you believe you are actually making those decisions on daily basis.

But now, the fact that quantum mechanics actually, like, follows the uncertainty principle, it gives me also kind of hope that we might actually be doing the choices that we do at the moment. I kind of had this crazy idea the other day about how, like in quantum mechanics, like they say, like things can be like happening, not happening, or happening at the same time, and like parallel universes. And I was like, yeah, but it kind of depends on observation. So the fact that like I'm standing like now, like talking to my smartphone, like this is really happening and also like all the other options in life that I'm like-- of the things that I might be doing are also happening. Like, in every single parallel universe that exists. But the fact that it is happening now the way I see, it's because I observe it. The moment that I stop observing, things like it is actually happening, like with all the infinite options that could exist. Which quite is something that I don't understand. It's just like I'm really fascinated more what-- by why-- what I don't understand other than by what I do understand.

And in general, it's like life is a story that we keep writing, I guess. There is no-- there is no certain definition of oneself. But here, at some point, hopefully, the-- I will get to the-- to the sort of contentment about the world. And this is what I'm kind of seeking at the moment. Just seek contentment-- contentment.

Zarqa Jordan Male Speaking Arabic

Speaking Arabic

[speaking Arabic]

Tehran Iran Female Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Tehran Iran Female Conversation

Conversation

I really decided first, I came here to learn English and I just stay there. That's it. I grew up in Tehran, but also in Paris. And, what else? My family, I have two brothers, one sister. My brother-- I have a brother in California, one in South Africa, and my sister lives in Geneve, Switzerland, and mom in Paris.

American life, I think you-- In American life you are very alone; you have only your work and nothing else. Yet in France, I have-- I mean, just for myself-- I have my friends, my family. And you can be alone but you can go out by yourself. And so I think you're never alone.

Maybe to go-- I don't know. Somewhere nice island without anyone there; no car, no people, just a nice beach and blue ocean. I would buy few houses and I would have finally my trainer organization and I'm gonna go in Central Asia and help children over there.

Iran Male Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Iran Male Conversation

Conversation

Well, I came from Iran. I won a lottery green card lottery this year, and came to United States on January first, two thousand ten. So, that's it.

Come to Rice? I'm actually studying-- I'm architect. I'm studying for a certification exam in United States and start coming to Rice University library to study for that exam.

Well, I'm thinking of studying for the exam and get the certification, and then follow my internship development program in architecture to be certified in three or five years in United States, so I actually can work in architecture practices.

Male: Do you ever plan on going back to Iran or--?

I don't think so. Not for two or three years from now. It's up to really work on my studies and job and things like that.

Male: So you take any other classes besides architecture classes or--?

No. No, actually, I'm not taking classes; that's a certification exam. I'm just studying for that. My real life line-- And the good thing about Houston is that they have a soaring club in Houston, south, I think. And I really plan to join them and then maybe fly with soaring planes, sailplanes.

Male: Do you have your pilot's license?

Flying this sort of sailplanes doesn't need a pilot license.

Male: Really? What does it require?

Well, just an introduction flight. It would show you how does it work. And it's saying that learning to fly these planes is easier than driving a car. So, you just need practice, practice.

Male: How many times have you done it?

Not yet anything.

Male: Not at all, huh?

Only the computer simulators, like two hundred and fifty hours.

Male: Where are the computer simulators in Houston?

There's a program that you can buy and install on your computer. Condor, the competition, the soaring competition simulator, something like that. It's specialized for soaring planes. That's it. And it connected to the internet and download the real time, weather information, and things like that.

Male: Oh, wow. Very cool. So where would you go in order to get a plane to fly? A real one.

Well, the clubs usually rent planes. You know, you can buy-- or you can rent any type of plane you want. Depends on the club and its owners and its members, what type of planes they have, and things like that. But if you buy-- if you want to buy one, it's like, I don't know, ASW-Twenty-Eight is something like forty-five thousand dollars, something like that. They're actually made by Germany, I think.

Male: Oh, they're German planes?

Yes, German planes. The best of them are German. Yes, yes. But the reason that Germans are really good in making sail planes is that after World War II, other countries, the winning countries of the world abandoned Germany to make planes with engines. Actually, engines. So they really worked hard on planes that doesn't use any engine. That's why they're really good at creating sailplanes.

Iran Male Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Iran Male Conversation

Conversation

I am from Iran. I was born in Karaj, which is a city thirty miles west of Tehran. Well, after I graduated from high school in Iran, I went to army for a year and a half. And after the-- my service was finished, I worked in Iran for six months. I did office work for six months, and then I decided to go to Europe to continue my education. So, I went to Holland, where I had my cousin there, that he was living there like for thirty years. And I stayed with him for a few months and then I found out that I didn’t really like the language and also the weather was too cold in Holland. And so I decided to go to London. And I went to the British Embassy and applied for a Visa to go to England. And it took like three, four months for my Visa to come through. And then after six months, I left Holland and I went to London. And when I got to London I enrolled at the school to learn English. Also, I attended all the Baha’i meetings in London. I went to the London Baha’i Center and that's where I met my future wife. And I stayed in London for six months and going to school there was a little difficult for me at the time. The schools were expensive and there weren't suitable jobs there for me. And then I decided to come to America. And I had two friends that were brothers already in Houston, Texas. And I talked to them and they told me that the situation in Texas and Houston is very good. You can go to school and you can find a job, and the situation is very good for students. And that's how I got to Houston, Texas. And then I attended San Jacinto College in Pasadena for two years, and then I transferred to University of Houston. And I studied electronics technology, and I graduated in nineteen seventy-six.

Iran Female Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Iran Female Conversation

Conversation

I’m from Iran. I was born and raised in a city located in north of Iran. I’m a student; I study English translation. I’m going to be English teacher in future, and I’d really like to teach as soon as I can.

Aydin Turkey Female Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Aydin Turkey Female Conversation

Conversation

I'm from Turkey, and Turkey is a very beautiful country. I think I missed my country in these days because I feel alone these days. And there are some traditions are different. So I had some difficulties like getting used to here. But now it's okay. And I have really nice neighbors here. And today I talked with my mom and she said she's preparing for Ramadan festival; this is the last day of Ramadan. So tomorrow we'll have a big festival like a-- like in Christian's beach festival. We eat sweets and we celebrate our Ramadan. And we visit old people, so we show our respect to them and we show our respect to each other. And I don't know how it-- how it will be tomorrow here because I'll be away from my home. So, I don't thought-- I don't think it will be very, very funny, but maybe we can do something with my friends. We'll-- I'll-- I'll know tomorrow.

Female: Do you go to church here?

I haven't go-- I haven't gone to church yet, but I'll go-- I'm planning to go because I wonder how a church wedding is. I don't know I went to a church in Turkey, but we-- I haven't ever seen a church wedding. We are-- Weddings are different because we have a Henna nights before wedding day and to-- In the big day, we first-- they have a religious wedding ceremony, but it's small only. They got the bride and groom go to a religious man and they put some-- they say some things like documentary, like this. I don't know it yet. And then on the big day they have the local-- local wedding. They sign up the documentaries and they have fun. They call their friends.

Female: So what's it been like living in Houston?

Living in Houston-- First, they told me that Houston is a very big city and very beautiful. You can find a lot of things, social life is really, really good. I think I don't-- I don't like Houston very much. I think it's like a big village because my stay in-- My home city is a touristic place and we have really good social life; you can do a lot of things there. But here, also we-- I don't need to use a trans-- a transportations, we were able to walk; I don't need to use a car. But here, you need to use a car, it's very big. And there on-- I think only inside activities, not outside activities very much. So I don't feel very well in-- and when I first came here, but I got used to it because--I don't know--I don't want to drive a car. I want to live in a city like maybe Boston, New York. I don't know. What's-- And I get the acceptance, maybe I'll move to a place like this. Yeah.

Female: So why did you want to come to America to study?

Because I was studying my master's degree and I got my scholarship from my education psychology. Also, my master's degree was from educational psychology, so I thought it would be better because education in USA is better than Turkey. Also, when-- if you want to have your academic career, that is better. So I got scholarship and it has very advantages because when I come back I could-- I'll be a associate professor or non-professor in Turkey and everything is ready for me. They are waiting for me in any way. So I can have fun. It a little bit diff-- It's a different-- I can have a different point of view tomorrow than when I came here. So I can have different friends, different culture, so I came here.

Female: Where else do you want to go in the world?

Japanese and-- I think all over the world. But Japanese, Australia, Italy, Spain, France, everywhere. All Europe and, but first, Japanese because I had a very nice friend in, he was in my first session. His name was Toshiro, and we had really, really good friends. He became like my brother; we are still in contact. And he is always calling me also. He married and his wife knows me. They're always calling me, "Please come," and I really want to go there. Also I wonder how Japanese since-- since I was a child.

And also, Australia because when I was choosing a country for my scholarship I first wrote Australia the first place and USA the second. But then I changed my mind because going-- coming to US is like twenty hours, but going to Australia is twenty-four hours. My mom-- My mom said that four hours-- four hours-- this four hour difference you can go USA. I thought it and there much more culture in US, then I'll go Australia next time.

Female: For your next degree?

Yes. Maybe for-- Maybe for only travel for whole day.

Ankara Turkey Male Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Ankara Turkey Male Conversation

Conversation

In my spare times, I like to go out with my friends. Also, I like pop-up things, like without thinking anything. Just going other place; let's go here, let's go here. It's really adven-- adventurous for me. So, for example, two days ago, we were in Galveston, and it was around one p-- a.m. in, at night. And we were seven people there. We had lots of fun there. We jump in the ocean, ocean waves. And unfortunately, get, got affected because of the viruses in the water. So when we got back home two day-- one day later, some red spots started to show up in our legs-- on our legs. So we went to a doctor for examination and he gave us two medical pills in order to get rid of that-- those red spots. Fortunately, we got rid of them.

About two days ago, I bumped into a guy. I think he's from New Orleans. He was speaking like "hoo-loo-loo-loo," and you, my friend, didn't understand what he's talking about. He was, I think, like welcomer in Wal-Mart-- Wal-Mart. And he says-- And he wasn't willing to quit the conversation so we were standing there like three minutes in front of the store. So I never went to New Orleans, but I am love to go there. I'm thinking of going there.

I've been to- Let's start with marginal places. Alaska. I was in Alaska in two thousand four for the purpose of-- there's a program called Work and Travel. If you're university student all around the world you are pertainable-- you are eligible for attending that program. So I selected Alaska because you can make overtime there by law, working. So you can, you know, save up enough money in short time so you can leave more time for traveling. So I selected Alaska. Apparently, I made good money. Then I pur—consumed all-- spent all the money for traveling, all around USA.

Then I've been Seattle. Seattle was the overlay point for Alaska flights. So then, after Alaska, I spent two weeks in Seattle, too. Because Seattle is, I think, very-- I mean, similar to Turkey's weather. I mean, the city that I live, Ankara, the capitol city of Turkey. Because it's right next to ocean, but it's not hot and humid. It's a little bit cold. Not cold, but warm. So I like that kind of weather. So, that's why I like Seattle.

Also, I came to Washington, D.C., in two thousand eight, June. So, I attended there-- I attended there ESL-- ESL course, English as Second Language course. So, I liked Washington, D.C., too, you know? Since I've-- I was raised in capitol city, I’m get used to seeing, you know, governmental buildings, state of treasury, state of blah-blah-blah. So I like there, too. Then I got acceptance from University of Houston, then I came to Houston. It was very hot and humid in comparison to other states that I have visited. So-- But I like Houston, too.

I've been to Austin. Austin is-- was gorgeous because the weather and the shape of the streets were like Istanbul's. Were like-- weather of Istanbul and shapes of street of Istanbul. That's why I like Austin. I also been to Dallas, but just for one day. Then San Antonio, just for one day. But Austin was the best one.

Female: What do you mean the shape of the streets was the same?

I mean, in Houston everywhere is flat, you know? You cannot see any hill. But since I got used to seeing hill and, you know, climb-- not climbing hills, but-- walking through hills-- in Austin there are lots of hills and, you know, lots and lots of leaves for that reason. Also, there's a lake or river, I don't know. It's-- I think, Zinca Park? Sinclair Park? Yeah. We kayak there. We make kayaking there-- and canoeing-- so that was, you know, adventurous.

I don't know difference between kayaking and canoeing. I think I made the canoeing, but not kayaking. So, I made canoeing in Turkey but not in the USA. So, it's not my first time in the United States.

And I don't know the difference between in-- for the-- in grammatical you have to use "the" before USA. So, I was trying to use, for example, "Made in the USA." In many products, I see that they are just write-- typing, "Made in USA." Not-- They are not using "the", so I'm confused.

And another confusing thing is that, for example, when I was in ESL in Washington, D.C., our teachers were from different locations of the United States. Okay? Let's say one is from Alabama, one's from Montana, and one is from originally--you know--Washington, D.C. So even their pronunciation was different. So, for example, I use "direct" verb in a sentence and my teacher correct me, "Not direct. Direct." I said, "Okay." And in the other class, I-- This time I use the same sentence, but my professor was different. I use "direct," okay? I pronounce that "direct." And the teacher corrected me, "Not direct. Direct." I said, "Oh my gosh! I'm confused; which pronunciation I'm gonna use?" So they said, "Both of them is okay."

Istanbul Turkey Male Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Istanbul Turkey Male Conversation

Conversation

I came here for I'm study. I'm doing my master's at U of H, computer science. And also, I'm a TA--teaching assistant.

Sometimes, it's good. Like-- Like, I think I'm good at teaching. But I don't get to teach a lot. My professor is teaching, so I'm just helping students with their problems. And sometimes they taught me a lot. That's not a good thing. You have to take care of every single details that like-- I know I been student. I was student in Turkey. Now, I understand my TAs right now, like how they feel when you go over the stupid question. So-- But I'm trying to help them a lot.

I'm gonna be done with master's in like seven months, then I'm planning to go to California for like three years. Work at a software company since I'm in computer scientist. Then, my final goal is to go back to Turkey and run my own business. And I do have my websites and business right now going on, but they are just so slow. So I'm hoping that I'm gonna get something from them in like two, three years. Then I'm gonna start my own company on top of these things.

Okay, I guess the most important thing I learned lately was do whatever you want, whenever you want, and wherever you want. So enjoy the freedom. Do whatever you want, whatever you like. And if you don't find what you love, keep searching. Don't start doing it. Don't go for something that you don't love. And if you love something, like in a business-wise or life-wise, if you do it you gonna have fun. It doesn't matter how much money you make, what kind of life you have, as long as you do something love-- you love, you're gonna end up very happy, with a very happy life. So if you don't find it yet, keep searching. Don't do something that you don't love.

Ankara Turkey Male Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Ankara Turkey Male Conversation

Conversation

This summer? This summer, I'll be working on my project, which is about contamination in a water body in Hous-- Texas. So, yeah, I'll be working on that. I will do some work for my thesis for next year. I am not sure, but probably I will take just one classes-- two class. Sorry. Two classes for next year, but I don't pick the classes yet. But one is probably fluid dynamics and other one I don't know. I don't decide yet.

First of all, my birthday party was really good. And it was like-- We went to club with my friends, with my Turkish friends and some Brazilian friends. And we had fun and I enjoyed the night. So it was-- It was a nice day. I was with the friends, you know? And then-- It was good. It was nice time. I had nice time.

For last year? I-- Actually, I-- I cannot remember, really. But I think I didn't do anything. It was not to be-- I don't remember if I go out. I think I didn't go out. I was just at home, like my parents, you know, made a cake for me. Like, we had the cake all together with my parents. And that was it. And I saw some couple of friends, but we didn't do anything special; we just-- we just-- we just had like a conversation stuff, like, you know? But we didn't go out for, like something special.

Isme Turkey Female Conversation

Conversation

I was born in Turkey, Isme. It's like the summer place for Turkey. And then I was raised there. And then I moved to Istanbul. It's a very-- You know Istanbul? Have you been there?

Male: I have not been; no. I have a number of friends who have and they rave about how wonderful it is.

Yeah, it's a beautiful place. It's very historical; very big city. Over, like two million people living there. So, I work for Microsoft. I was here at Seattle for a summit. And then I miss my flight. So, I have a day here right now in Los Angeles. I just met, you know, at the airport.

Male2: We just met.

Yeah.

Male: Oh, you did?

On the plane. We missed the flight together, so we're having our time today around, and then we'll go back to Istanbul together.

Male: That's wonderful.

Yeah.

Male: Wow.

Yeah.

Male: So, you were here for a conference?

Yeah. I was here-- I was in Seattle, actually. I was coming from Seattle to Los Angeles, I'm-- From here, a direct flight to Istanbul. But then I missed the flight from here. So, we had the day off.

Male: You know, that was kind of a good thing.

Yeah, it was very good.

Istanbul Turkey Male Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Istanbul Turkey Male Conversation

Conversation

I was born in Istanbul Turkey in nineteen ninety-four, and I lived here until when I was sixteen years old. Then I moved to United States for high school, and I stayed there for three year, and also I lived one year in Russia. Apart from these, I am now a university student, and I’m studying mechanical engineering in the school. Normally my hobbies are listening music and watching movies. Also I like traveling too much. I have been in, to many countries before for travel, and that’s all.

Enkisehir Turkey Male Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Enkisehir Turkey Male Conversation

Conversation

I was born in Enkisehir; I lived in Enkisehir until eighteen years. When I started the university, I came to Istanbul. I was a student in Myanmar University. My department was Econometrics. I graduated this year from Econometrics. Then, I want a Master. I will start Master in October. My Master department is Numerical Methods in Myanmar University. I hope I can accomplish. I love being a student. Now, I am living in Istanbul. Istanbul is big and beautiful city. Oh, sorry. It is not city. It is metropolis. Istanbul is a historical city. Actually, Topkapi Palace, Galata Tower, Blue Mosque, ___, Istiklal Street, Hagia Sophia, and so on. You should come to Istanbul.

Beirut Lebanon Male Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Beirut Lebanon Male Conversation

Conversation

I was born in Lebanon, nineteen seventy-four, from a family of two boys and two girls. Raised in Beirut and my father used to work with Americans in Americans institution, Bank of America. So, I had to see a lot of Americans coming to our house. It was basically a must that we learn to speak English to communicate with those families and with their children. So this is how I started speaking a little bit of English and a little bit of French because we learned three languages at school.

At the age of 8, that was the first time I flew to Cypress, and over there also they speak-- the second langue is English. So I had to practice a little bit over there. And then at the age of twelve, I flew back to London where I did two years of school over there. And then came back to Lebanon. At the age of sixteen I left to France because my father was transferred to Paris in his work. And I stayed there for fourteen years where I continued my studies and graduated from there. I worked a little bit with Slumberger, where also I had to use a lot the English language for contracts and for outside calls, sales and programming and business contacts with customers outside of France.

Three years ago, I got married and my wife had a-- has to finish her residency here in Houston. So we flew together-- we got married and flew together over here. And since then, we've been staying in Houston. She's finishing her residency and now having a little girl. She's American. So that means if I'm going to stay more and more to raise her over here in her country. And hopefully, she will be able to speak English, French and Spanish because she's going to learn Spanish from her nanny.

My company basically was going to transfer me to Atlanta because our office is there in Atlanta. Fortunately, we were bought by another company where the offices are in Houston. So I took the opportunity to be with my wife and to be in Houston, also with her, instead of flying every week from Atlanta to Houston back and forth. That was the opportunity for both of us to be together.

My dearest year was the last year that I spent in Lebanon because, you know, Lebanon for-- since nineteen seventy-five we had a huge war, between civil war and war between countries. The last year was the end of the war-- the last year there I stayed in Lebanon was the end of the war. And all the stress that we had during this war was gone and we enjoyed a lot visiting Lebanon, the country. Because I'm only, during the war I'm in only Beirut, outside the streets of Beirut. But never-- I wasn't able to go and visit the cities of Lebanon. The last year was really a touristic-- touristic year for me in my own country. So I enjoyed it with my-- with my friends from school and it was-- it was really-- the last year of school was not the year of school because we were-- we were out every night. And some days we were not going to school, but going to visit a city here and a city there just to-- to enjoy it. And one thing that was really nice but also it's a pity because I miss my friends. I miss those friends. Since then I haven't seen them. We sometimes call each other to chat a little bit of what's happening, who got married, who's going with who, and-- but not more. I really miss those friends.

Famagusta Cyprus Male Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Famagusta Cyprus Male Conversation

Conversation

Hi. I am Uls. I am study pharmacy faculty in Eastern Mediterranean University. I live in Cyprus, Gazimağusa, which is the part of North. There is Mediterranean climate, of course. Something I forgot. There is territory which is forbidden to the entrance names Maraş. This is a ghost city. After the war, nineteen seventy-four, people have left the city. Now, I want to tell you some of official information about Cyprus. The winter in Northern Cyprus is cool and rainy. Summers is hot and dry. The beach holiday season typical starts in April and last until November. Also, the weather is mild all year round and usually dry and sunny. Walking, golf, and other activity holidays can be enjoyed year-round. The economy of Northern Cyprus is dominated by the services sector, which includes the public sector, trade, tourism, and education. Northern Cyprus uses the Turk lira. The best North Cyprus beaches are the four in Gazimağusa, where have got golden sand and clear waters of the Mediterranean.

North Cyprus is rich in tradition. Each year, there are many colorful events and festivals in North Cyprus, celebrating everything from music and dance to ecotourism, harvest, and changing of the seasons. I want to give you examples. January, wedding and organization fairs. February, hotel, restaurant, coffee, and gastronomic fair. March, Eastern Mediterranean University has International Underwater Photography and Film Festival. And if you come here, you should eat fish. This is important thing. Finally, I spend free time here generally hang out with my friends and sibling, but yes, sometime is here very boring, because of I live in small city. But I know I am lucky than more person in the world. I hope it was usable for you. Greetings from Cyprus.

Ankara Turkey Female Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Ankara Turkey Female Conversation

Conversation

I’m from Turkey, Ankara, and I’m eighteen years old. And I born in Turkey, but now I’m living in Warsaw, Poland. What can I say? I’m a student. When I was in Turkey, I was a language student, but now I study psychology at SWPS University in Warsaw. And yeah, my hobbies are dancing, listening music, reading book, and visiting some new places. Actually, I really like USA. I went USA before, so I know about the culture and the other stuff. So yeah, what can I say more? I think, yeah, I can tell something about my school. My school is at the capital of Poland, Warsaw. And I told you I just study psychology. And my school is kind of a private school, and it’s not really big but it’s okay. And we have lots of departments like literature, law, and mathematics, and also some other things that you can study. And we have also some languages if you want you can study, and we have some prep classes before the departments that you want to study. And yeah, I think that’s all. Thank you.

Turkey Male Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Turkey Male Conversation

Conversation

Hello then, sir. I’m from Turkey. Originally from Turkey. From Istanbul. But I moved to Ireland in two thousand fifteen. I’m been living in Ireland since that time. First year I was in the Dublin, after I moved to Galway. And because I thought Galway is much better than Dublin, is it everything like not about life. Like probably like I just more than like about the financially, I’m thinking the people, they’re so more friendly than Dublin people and really you’re gonna have a crappy day. Irish people in here, they’re so super friendly and they’re always hanging out with you. They don’t mind anything. If you can’t speak English properly like me, they say, “It’s okay, like whatever you want. Just do it with us.” And like you need to come to Galway and you need to grab to some pints and just enjoy the Galway life over here. Because Galway’s the best part of Ireland.

Okay, I feel like my accent, like I don’t have an Irish accent in my opinion, but I think my accent is a little bit different than Turkish accent, because I means, I spent four years in here. I might be get something from Irish accent, but I don’t feel it like that. So it depends off you guys, like I don’t know. Oh, like I’m happy from my country like because I was growing up from in Turkey and I love my country, and in my opinion, like Turkey is the best spot for havin’ life. It’s cheap enough. It’s you can live the four seasons in a year. Winter’s really winter. Summer’s really summer. But I’m happy in Ireland because they’re just really havin’ life with the just pints so all I care about that one.

Yemen Male Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Yemen Male Conversation

Conversation

Yeah. You looks like Sunni Muslims.

Male: Oh, do I? Is it the beard?

Yeah. Because this… Salafis, not Sunnis, Salafis, Salafi Muslims who are Salafis, the same as you are now. They have this, you know, Salafis they have beard, long beard and short mustache normally. And this distinguish them between other Muslims. They say they are Salafis and those Salafis people they say they are the best kind of Muslims, and Salafis means, you know, the way of the Prophet Muhammad, salla sallam. So they are following the way of the Prophet, Muhammad. And that means in Arabic, Salaf or Salafis, how they’re Salaf, they’re people, former people in the time of Muhammad, salla sallam, we call them Salafis. So they make themselves now they’re like Salafis. Would in fact they make a lot of abnormal behaviors and acting which is not really in Islam. For example, they say it’s forbidden to put on trouser. Every extreme. Yeah, in some cases, they’re really extremely. But concerning the religion, not other things. Extreme in religion. For example, they say it’s not allowed to talk to a woman not your wife, your daughter, your mother, your sister, then you should not talk to her. They said, for example, you should not shake a woman hands or say, “How are you?” Or work with them or sit next to them or just to have some relation with work or something like this with them. They’re very extreme things like this, and you know, sometimes they say if you don’t pray in the mosque, then it is forbidden. You have to go to the mosque to pray. You cannot pray in the… at house.

Okay, let give you something about my background. That’s okay? My name is Adil, you know. I am both an English language teacher as a foreign language, and also I am an Arabic language teacher as a foreign language. I have been teaching Arabic language for foreigners since nineteen eighty-nine. That means I think I’m older than you. Right? Or we are the same age?

Male: I am fifty-five. I have to think about it. I’m fifty-five. I’m about to turn fifty-six.

I am fifty-eight. That’s good.

Male: Very close.

Yeah, very close. Yeah. And my first teaching for Arabic language as a foreign language was with… for American Peace Corps. If you… yeah. I taught for American Peace Corp for almost six years. Yeah. And we trained. We have a lot of training in teaching Arabic language as a foreign language for them. Then at the… during the Gulf Crisis, if you remember in the nineties when there was a problem between USA and Iraq and things like these? All Peace Corp left Yemen, and most of the American people who were in Yemen, they left Yemen. And it wasn’t secure for them to stay here or to be working in Yemen. They were working here in education field and in the health field as doctors, teachers for English language, and nurses. And nurses. They worked normally often main cities. They normally work at the villages. Yeah, normally they go there to work. They went there to work in the… at that time. And they had a good experience with them. We had a lot of training with them. I went to USA to have a course in teaching Arabic as a foreign language. Supported by them, then to Morocco, then to Cairo. We have so many training. And after they left, we start to do our own schools here. I join the University of Science and Technology. And they start the center they call CALMES, which mean Center for Arabic Language and Middle East Studies. And we work for them until two thousand fourteen. A long time I work with them, yeah. I also wrote some books in Arabic language. I wrote some books in reading skills, conversation skills, and grammar, also. My books are in the Amazon. Some of them are with Amazon. It’s not written by me. We are four of us. I am one of them, the authors, we are four, basically. And the name of book is Assalamu Alaykum Book. There are nine levels, the same like American file. It’s the same the book, the same like the American file books for teaching English as a foreign language. We have level one A, B, C, and level two A, B, C, and level three A and B and C. And we have also another book, which is about Yemeni dialect only. It means and the title of the book is Yemeni dialect. Also it’s a big book for beginners and for intermediate.

Male: How is the dialect for Yemeni different than some of the other dialects?

Yeah, the Yemeni dialect is really very close to Standard and Classical Arabic, but and which is really, it’s really a really, you know, so many people like it. I am teaching now. I have six students. They are studying Yemeni dialect. Why they like it? Because really if you study the Yemeni dialect or Standard Arabic, and you go, for example, to Egypt or Morocco or Algeria or Sudan or any other Arabic country, everyone will understand you. But if you study, for example, Egyptian dialect or Moroccan dialect and you come to Yemen or you go to another country in the Arab world, they will not understand you. Because it is a little bit far. Not a little bit. It’s more far than Standard Arabic or daily life Arabic language.

Let me say why. Why the Yemeni dialect is very similar to Standard Arabic or Classical Arabic. You see, so many writers and linguistics people and politicians people and history kind peoples, these people who wrote history. Yeah, they say Yemen is a virgin. It’s still a virgin. You know, it’s a virgin, like a woman not get married yet. Why? Yeah, why? Because never been occupied. Never been… Has never been occupied. No occupation by foreign countries. For example, Egypt has been occupied with French. Morocco, Tunisia, they occupied with French. Italians with British people, like in the south. South of Yemen, occupied by British. So these occupation, really, really it change the culture of the people. Not only the culture of the people, but also the language of the people. And even, for example, let me tell you. For example, the people in Aden now, when they speak, they mix with their Arabic language, British words, English words. For example, they say, “Who has the switch for the car?” They say, “Who has the car switch?” They say switch. Like they don’t say [speaks Arabic], how we say in Arabic, [speaks Arabic]. But they say not in switch, like an English word, so they mix.

For example, people in Egypt, they say, “Oh, I read two journals. I read two newspapers, two magazines.” They say journal, like a French word. So they mix the language with the occupation… with the countries who occupied their country. Their countries? So it make a big affection. Or the language and the culture get very affected by the culture of the occupations.

Lebanon Female Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Lebanon Female Conversation

Conversation

I’m living in South Lebanon. I was born in a small village in South Lebanon. I was the eldest… eldest what?

Male: Child or daughter?

Yes, I was the eldest child in my family. I studied mathematics in the university. Then after I was educated, I directly got married and I have three kids. And now I’m teaching here, and also I’m a mathematic teacher.

Male: Do you teach children or do you teach adults math?

Mathematics? No. All of my students are students that are studying in school. Frankly, I can’t remember the details in mathematics. Mathematics is very complicated, yaani. To be frank, I can’t remember everything. So I’m very comfortable to teach students that are studying in the school. In Lebanon we start learning English since we’ve entered the school, yaani, kindergarten. And we studied English as well as we studied Arabic, yaani, the same. This is why I am somehow, yaani, somehow I’m good in English. And this allows me to teach because sometimes you meet persons that they don’t know any word in Arabic. You have to explain everything in English. And that’s helped me a lot.

Male: Now I know that Lebanon used to be French occupied, and that French is very commonly spoken as well. Is that something that’s still taught in the schools on a regular basis.

In Lebanon in schools, schools of Lebanon give you that choice. Give you that choice to choose whether you want to study English or Arabic in school. My parents chose English. But I see that students who study French in school, they are good in both languages, in French and in English. But those who are educate… who are English educated, it’s somehow difficult for them to study French. In Lebanon, especially nowadays, yaani, it may be it’s in the villages it’s not so common but in cities, it’s very common that most of, not all of the people but especially teenagers and people that are between twenties and thirties, they talk in Arabic but most of their words are English and French. Yaani, they talk in English and in French more than Arabic. And especially for kids.

Male: The Arabic that you learned, you know both Standard Arabic but also Levantine, is that correct?

Yes. Yes, Levantine. Standard Arabic, it’s somehow difficult. It’s very difficult and complicated. And I teach Standard Modern Arabic. To me I don’t… I prefer the Levantine because it’s our language. In Lebanon we don’t talk with… we don’t talk to each other in Arabic Modern Standard. We just read books in Arabic Modern Standard. In school the teacher talk with us in Arabic Modern Standard, but it’s difficult. The news is in Arabic Standard, Modern Standard but all of the programs they are in Levantine.

Male: If someone is from another country and they are able to speak Modern Standard, would they be able to understand someone else who’s speaking Levantine if they’re not.

There are so many different words, yaani. Every, yaani, every word it has… No. Every meaning, it has a word in Arabic Modern Standard and in Levantine and they may be completely different. This is why if you know how to talk in Arabic Modern Standard, and you listen as an example to a Levantine dialogue, you may not understand anything. As an example, the letter is (THah). We don’t pronounce it (THah), we pronounce it (Zah). (Thah). We don’t pronounce it (Thah) we pronounce it, as an example, (Sah). Yaani, it’s too, yaani, it’s too rarely or too certain find someone who pronounce that (THah) or (Thah) or (THah).

Saudi Arabia Male Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Saudi Arabia Male Conversation

Conversation

Let me tell you something. I was born in Riyadh, and I live here. I study here in Riyadh. I learn English by watching movie, and I was working in the airline with the MEA airline company. This is Middle East Airline. I saw a lot of people there. Many of them they speak English. I try my best to learn English. Then I want to be a pilot. Then I sent my information to school in Texas. The school name it was Fly Mate School. They approve but I try to learn more English. I have approved from the school, but I try to learn more English to make everything easy to me. And that’s it. Let me tell you something. When I was young, my dream to become a pilot when I see the movie, the first movie I was saw it is Catch Me If You Can. It is old movie, yeah. I think it’s true story. When I see the actors want to be pilot and he did something crazy to become a pilot, and he didn’t have a license to be a pilot. Yeah, when I saw this, I tell myself, “I want to be a pilot.” This is what I wanted to be. He going to the aircraft, he have a girls here and girls here. Yeah, it’s cool. I want to be this person.

Male: But you wanted to be a pilot for real instead of just a pretend pilot?

Yeah, of course. Of course. I try now to have a FAA license. That’s what I do. But when the COVID nineteen came, it is hard to go to another place, and I don’t have any family. I don’t have anyone there. It is difficult. Yeah, you know the disease come. Bring everything bad with this. It is difficult because I cannot go out. I should stay at home. There’s no place to go here. Now there is a lot of places. There’s mostly in Riyadh here in Saudi Arabia, it’s crazy. I travel a lot of places. Go to the Boston and ___. To London before. But now Riyadh is changed. Everything, we have everything right now. Before there’s nothing. Now there is everything. What do you think we have here?

Male: Is everybody still wearing masks when they go out?

Yeah, of course. We didn’t wear any mask, there is fees you should pay it. Something. You should protect yourself. I wear mask for myself. Yeah. I double my mask, because yeah, you should protect yourself. And I am so scared about the COVID, you know. I saw a lot of people, they die and they go to the hospitals. I don’t like to be in this place. That’s it.

Qatar Male Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Qatar Male Conversation

Conversation

I was born and raised in Qatar, my country. And I only left like two years ago to come to Spain and study in Spain. And my English, well, I was not really good in English in school. Never. Like, excuse me, but I used to hate that… the language just because of my teacher. He was from Egypt, I guess, and he was like real serious about the language and everything. But then I decided, I mean, I didn’t decide but it just happened that I started to read books and it was like middle school, grade nine exactly. I still remember those times when I met my best friend, and then he taught me about this new world that I can read books. I didn’t know that really I can read books. So yeah, and you know, one of my favorite book, The Great Gatsby. So I lend this book to my friend, she’s… this is her room, so I’m like occupying her territory, and she gave me this book back. I read this book, I think, twice and I really liked it. And since nine, grade nine, I read about maybe three hundred books. And most of them are in English. So maybe this is the English, where it comes from. So yeah, and in school, my English was really weak, and I didn’t participate much. They weren’t really serious, I mean, in high school. They weren’t… ‘twas just this man in grade nine. So yeah. I took the IELTS. I don’t know if you know the IELTS. It’s like a certificate of the people who doesn’t know English as a first language. So I did it three times. I did it, and I got like five, and then after one year I get five point five, and then I got last year… not last year, two years ago, I got six from it’s out of nine, I think. So yeah, I think I am proving, and I think I got the language, like I got, I think I can understand the conversations and I can participate. Even with my Spanish friends they, I like annoy them by speaking English with them and they don’t like it very much, because I have to practice my Spanish. So yeah. I think this is where the English comes from, from books also many TV shows. Many. I spent a lot of time entertaining myself from Netflix. From How To Get Away With Murder, Scandal. So many, so many.

Like we, as you know, there is like twenty-two countries, Arabic countries in the world. For me, the hardest that I can understand is the Moroccan, the Algeria, and Tunis, because they learn French in their school. It’s obligatory for them, and they miss… mix English with the French with the Arabic, so it’s for me, it’s a new language, but it is not a new language, it’s Arabic. So in Qatar, I don’t know if you know this, but we are so few people, like two hundred or three hundred maximum thousands. Three hundred thousand Qataris. The rest of them are from other countries, which is India, from the Philippines, from Egypt. So that’s why I can understand Egypt, Lebanon, Syrian, but I can’t understand the Moroccan very much. So like I… my family, my dad when he speaks with his Egyptian friends, he speak with them Egyptian way. And we make fun of that, because I should… I think everyone should speak the way they speak, they shouldn’t change it because for me when I speak with any Egyptian from Egypt, I can understand them ninety-nine percent. The one percent left is just because of the words that we don’t use. And they can understand me speaking Qatar with, I don’t know. I wouldn’t say Qatarian, because it’s a dialogue. It’s not a new language, so yeah. This is the thing, we have so many dialogues in Qatar. In Qatar and in Arabic region in general, but… And we can understand each other very easily. Yeah. Well, I have this argument with my dad that’s about the Moroccan, that Moroccan is not a language. It’s not an Arabic language, it’s another language, because a language is that you can understand and speak to that person. If I cannot speak with a Moroccan, that means it’s not a language. So I was having this argument with my dad. He said, “How about the Egypt?” Like how can he understand Egyptian? I say because I met people. I know them. They came to my house. I have friends. He say it is the same thing with the Moroccan people. That just because he didn’t speak to them. But I don’t agree with my dad. I think it’s another language.

Like three years ago, I decided my dream was to study modern languages, and teaching English as a foreign language. But I didn’t want to be a teacher, an English teacher, but I wanted to be able to teach a language. So my dream completely changed, and I’m now studying politics in Spain. I was going to go to UK and study modern languages, but now I think I can do both, which is teaching my language to other people and in the same time, I can learn other languages. And I’m studying politics, so there is a diversity in my dream. But the thing is about there, since we have Egypt as an example, when I hear people, Arabic people, they speak in English, I can know sometimes where are they from. Like for… or for example, Spanish people. I know that this lady’s Spanish when she talks in English. Or from the Egypt men when they speak in English. I can know, not because it’s poor language, no. It’s the accents. There is something in Qatar called harakat. Which is [speaks Arabic], which is… but we don’t write it. But sometimes we can say it, so sometimes we don’t need to say it because we know the other person. For example, a book is a [speaks Arabic]. And this is the Qatari way. A [speaks Arabic]. But in Arabic the standard is [speaks Arabic]. So it’s like there is something called harakat. It is not letters, it is the shapes above the letters. It’s like an accent. And this is why the Arabic, like the governments, my government at least, trying to make the Arabic language doesn’t go away. Because it’s starting to go away with time. We don’t use the harakat.

Iraq Male Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Iraq Male Conversation

Conversation

I am Iraqi. I have born… I’ve born and raised in Iraq. East of Iraq, which is Anbar Province, on the border with Jordan. And I’ve joined the College of Education Department of English or English Department, two thousand three and got my certificate to graduation at two thousand eight. Then I got my job, which is normally in Iraq, with the government, you know. So two thousand thirteen I got scholarship to study master’s degree in India. And I got my master degree in India in two thousand fifteen. In fact in Iraq, we have a big problem in learning English for many reasons, but for me I learned English while I was at secondary school. So in Iraq we have primary school and we have secondary school. Secondary school can be divided into two stages. The first stage which is like you have the high school. And three… it is three years, first, second, third. And you have the secondary school, which is also three years or three stages. Fourth, fifth, we call it fourth, fifth, sixth class. So at the age of fourth class, I started to focus on English. I don’t know how it happened, but I found that I tend to like learning English. Then at the last stage, which is sixth class, which is twelfth, one year before college, I got a very high mark at English. So I applied my application for the college and straight away they accepted me and approved me to… into English department.

While studying at, while we were fresh, which is we have as you know, four stages at college. We call it stages, I don’t know what you call it, but first stage, second stage, third, and fourth. But during those fourth stages, I could learn some grammatical rules. I could learn how to read, how to write, how to read, how to write, how to get a certificate. But nothing regarding speaking and listening. We were struggling with speaking. And we hardly find someone at the English department who can speak fluently, because at that time there is no one we can practice with because practicing is very important. And we not listen. We didn’t listen at that time. We listen to whom? How do you know now… And also the exceptional situation in Iraq was terrible. You know very well two thousand three, and you know many things happened in Iraq. So there is nothing… there is no environment for us to improve our English. After that there are many NGO’s, nongovernmental companies came to Iraq from America, from Britain, from all over the world. So I start working with them as interpreter. So my English become like from zero to hundred, because I was practicing what I have learned, what I have been taught. So speaking all the time, the most important, the most effective tool is speaking, actual speaking. Not just to read on something, you know. So speaking and listening to them. So I think the most important effective way, tool is just to go through speaking with native speakers or with whomever.

Male: Yeah, what a challenge it is to understand a native speaker who is just running words together, you know, and how you have to piece that together. Especially in the beginning.

Very, very important question. I will give you just example. Once I joined a company in Iraq working in mine action activities, you know, after ISIS. So the first month, it was a great challenge. Very… I was trying to leave because I couldn’t understand anything, because it is a new accent for me. He was Scottish. The other one was from Manchester. The other one was from US, so each one has different accent. And each accent has different rules, so I was really struggling. Sometimes he speaked with me I say just, “Yes, yes,” but I understand nothing. So yeah, so he said, “Why you didn’t do it?” I said, “I do what?” He said, “I just told you to do this and you said yes.” I said, “Yeah, I’m sorry. Could you repeat again?” And even we couldn’t know how to say, “Say again.” After that, we started to do all, “If you don’t understand something, please just tell me say again or pardon or something like that.” So once he repeats the sentence. So I think the most important thing also, here we have tongue to speak with and we have ear… or ears, ear. So the… when you practice with tongue, it is very important also to let your ear to practice. So the first month, our manager, the first month I never understand anything from him. Maybe I can say thirty percent I understand, seventy percent I just say, “Yes,” or something like that. So the first month, when I was all the time working with him, the second month, he was the only who can I… I can understand him. Why? Because I keep listening to him, I keep listening to him, I keep talk to him, listen to him. So, so yeah, I was struggling because, you know, his accent is different, and yeah no. That’s the problem.

Yeah, we have three Iraqi Arabic, like for example, we have three parts in Iraq. We have the south part, which is the Shi’a, and we have the central part, which is Sunni and some mix of Shi’a. And we have North of Iraq, which is Kurdish people. Kurdistan. Kurdistan territory. So they’re the Kurdish, you know. Their native language is Kurdish, but sometimes they speak Arabic. Their Arabic language is completely different from ours. Now the main two Iraqi Arabic is this for Sunni and for Shi’a. The South of Iraq is Shi’a. Central Iraq is Sunni. We understand each other. It’s quite similar, but some few differences between. They say something. Sometimes we laugh when they say it, because we say it a different way. Sometimes vice versa. For example, the word water. They don’t… we call it at the center of Iraq, we call it [speaks Arabic]. Water we call it [speaks Arabic]. They call it [speaks Arabic]. Like my in English. So they say [speaks Arabic] and we say [speaks Arabic]. But also we have the standard Arabic, which is both of us participate. So they speak Standard Arabic, and we speak Standard Arabic. Syrian people speak Standard Arabic. All Arab countries speak, so it is a common ground among us to speak the Standard Arabic. But as I told you, there is the accent or the dialect. So they have their own. We have their own. And their example, they say or like for example, when we say, “I will fall.” We say [speaks Arabic]. They say [speaks Arabic]. So they… we say [speaks Arabic], they say [speaks Arabic]. You know, and like that. Many, many differences. But this is the main thing is that.

Male: I would imagine that Kurdish speakers also are familiar with Standard, Modern Standard Arabic as well. Yeah?

Very less because they speak Arabic only for the tourists from North of Iraq, South of Iraq. Only for that reason. Otherwise, they never speak Arabic. They speak Arabic only among themselves. And by the way, there are three provinces in the North of Iraq, Dohuk, Arbil, and Sulaymaniyah or Sulaymaniyah. And those three provinces, each one, so I can say thirty percent of people of Arbil, they speak Arabic. And only… Sorry. Only ten percent of people in Sulaymaniyah and Dohuk speak Arabic. So the majority of those who speak Arabic, only in Arbil. Because most of the tourists who come from Iraq, they go to Arbil. So by practicing day and day, meet them, shops, hotels, you know, when they go to malls to buy something, you know, they meet them. They mix with each other, so Kurdish people start to learn Arabic. Otherwise, they speak only their own language, which is Kurdish.

Farsi – Iran Male Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Farsi – Iran Male Conversation

Conversation

I’m thirty-six years old, and I was born and raised in Tehran, Iran. And I’ve been here all my life. I started learning English actually four or five years ago. But I always watched English movies and listening to English songs. So I have a very nice background of English, how to pronounce some of the words. And it was very helpful for me. So a couple years ago, I start to learning English a little bit better, so I took some classes and unfortunately, those classes not very helpful for me. So I decided to study on my own. And I read lots of books from Oxford, from IELTS exams, from other materials. From other, you know, international, academic English exams. One of them of course was IELTS. Recently, I did the PTE exam, which is performed by a person. We have… They taught English in high school and in middle school but mostly in high school. But I don’t know, the teacher that I had in high school, they’re wasn’t good enough. So I didn’t learn anything at school. Maybe some alphabet, some letters, and some basic grammar. But the majority of English I learned is from self-studying. But also, I took some classes in college related to my major. Actually, I’m really into movies. I watch all the genre. Doesn’t matter. I don’t have any preferences. I just watch them, watch all of them. And for music, I listen to mostly pop and some of the, I don’t know, rock or metal music, but I don’t really like rock music. So yeah. That’s how I increase my listening skill.

Male: That must be really interesting trying to piece together what the lyrics are of a song, because songs can be difficult enough to understand the way it is.

Yes, some of the songs I really liked is from Metallica band. Those lyrics are very deep and I have to, you know, I don’t know, look up… look it up on internet so I can translate it to understand what they are saying. Try to mimic what they are saying, and but as I said before, those lyrics were very deep and some of the words are very complicated for me. So most of the time I, if I want to, I don’t know, increase my listening skill, I try to… I tried pop songs. And because those lyrics are a little bit easier for me.

Male: Have you gone on to college after high school?

Yes, I’ve done a major in computer science. I have a B.S. degree. Because all of the research and all of the information, I want to learn or use in my essays or on my own project are in… that wasn’t… they were in English. So it’s very help… it was very helpful to learn English to apply it to my own research in my… in college.

Male: What is it that you love to do when you’re not working?

Actually, teaching. That’s because I try Italki platform to teach Farsi, actually. And it’s one of my passion, to teach somebody. You know, because during this pandemic, we can talk to more people, and it’s a nice experience, you know.

Male: Yeah, being able to connect with people and also just being able to have employment even during the pandemic. Yeah.

It’s nice to chat to other people from all over the world. And I don’t know why, but most of the students are from US. I don’t know why there are lots of them… lots of people in U.S. wants to learn Farsi. For some people, I don’t know, the Persian is speaking person have a… like me, have a… have trouble to pronounce a the sound. T and h. It’s very difficult and also we have a lot of problem to, I don’t… how do I say it? To pronounce s sound, s letter. For example, speaking. Lots of Iranian pronounce it speaking. They add e after… before s. So I’m like lots of Iranian, do this. Do this same mistake, and for other people, for other region, I think from India, they have a very rich accent when they talking in English. And for Arabic… in Arabic, they have… they don’t have some of the letter in their own language, like p. If they want to try and say Pepsi, for example, they can’t say it, Pepsi. In their own language, they doesn’t have the p word. And they have some issues to pronounce some of the word, including that letter. But you’re the expert, so I don’t how to pronounce in other languages. So you might notice some of the word that I had just… I say of course, you understand it that I’m say it completely wrong. But I’m still trying to improve my pronouncing… pronunciation, of course.

Male: You are very clear and understandable, so I think you may be better with your pronunciation than what you may think.

Sure, why not?

Dari-Pashto – Afghanistan Male Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Dari-Pashto – Afghanistan Male Conversation

Conversation

I have born in Afghanistan, Kandahar. Khakrez District. And I bred in the Afghanistan, Kandahar as well. And then I learned English in different organizations and centers, educational centers in Kandahar City, with different teachers from Pakistan and from Afghanistan as well. And then just I have graduated from English Language and Literature Department and actually now I’m doing my master as well in TOEFL, teaching English as a foreign language. Actually, now I’m in Iran, and I’m not in Afghanistan. This my first month I came here and just now there’s several examinations going on, and I’m doing my master.

Male: Were there any specific books of English literature that you really, really enjoyed reading?

Yeah, one thing that was by the name of World Literature. Actually, it was a good book because it focuses mainly on different literatures of different languages, such as Persian, Arabic, English, you know, German, Chinese language. It was an interesting book for me.

Male: Were you in high school or was it after high school that you learned English?

While I was in sixth class, I started English, ‘cause why I have interested in English language, ‘cause once I have seen American troops in our country. And actually, that time I knew just, “Hi. How are you?” Simple, basic sentences, phrases. And I was asking them these phrases, and they were, they had conversation with me based on these phrases. During high school, I studied English.

Male: Do you also like to watch movies or listen to music that helps you with your English as well?

Yes, yes. Actually, daily I listen to the audios and as well as some videos on YouTube. Especially there is an organization, I think, by the name of TED Talks. It’s a good channel to improve English, to improve listening, okay?

Male: Are there any specific accents of English that you find really, really challenging to understand?

Yes, yes. I think British accent. British accent is. Because I am a teacher of Dari-Pashto as well, and while I’m teaching the British people, it’s hard for me to know them… to understand them well. I do speak Arabic, but not very well. And I just, I speak Arabic first. That’s Arabic we first has that accent have Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia. Yeah, I just studied Arabic as well in Kandahar City around two years. And then I was practicing my Arabic with an Arab native speaker in Kandahar, and I was teaching him as well, Dari. And practicing my Arabic as well with him. Persian and Dari, both of them they are the same, but actually the accents are different. Accents are different. Persian, there are three parts or three accents. Iranian accent, Afghan accent, and Tajiki accent. Actually, I know Irani and Dari accent, that is my native. And I can speak Irani accent because I watched a lot movies based on Iranian video… movies. Now it’s easy for me to speak the Iranian Persian.

Turkey Female Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Turkey Female Conversation

Conversation

So I was born in Istanbul. It’s the one of the biggest cities in Turkey. And actually, what can I say this? Yeah, it’s kind of difficult to talk about myself, to introduce myself. Actually, I’m not living in Turkey right now. I’m a university student in Netherlands. And actually and because of that I learned English. I always wanted to studying abroad, and over the years I had some chances to learn English and because of the school and everything, and my family helped a lot for me to learn English. My schools, my teachers helped a lot. And I love watching TV series, American TV series. And that’s also helped a lot, watching with series and with English subtitle, learning new words and new vocabularies and everything. And yeah, about Turkish. Turkey is a very hard language to learn. I realized that after I started to learn… after I started to teach Turkish to others people. ‘Cause for me it was very easy to learn ‘cause it’s my native tongue, but for other people it’s a difficult to learn because of the grammar. Especially it’s a very different from the English grammar, ‘cause there are lots of different ways to say something and different approaches and also it change from person to person to say something. And also, if you are talking with someone elderly from you, you have to speak in different ways. You have to be more polite and you have to change some words and everything. So sometimes it’s so hard to learn Turkish and to understand the language. But I think we have some very good words and different things in Turkish. In the beginning, English is my first language I learned. And in the beginning, it was so hard for me to learn, ‘cause it was very different from Turkish. And I need to think in a different way for learning English, but after I realize it’s so easy to learn. It’s there are some similarities and very differenties in Turkish, but in the end there are some rules. And you have to memorize all of that. But in Turkish, we have rules, but we have some exceptions and everything, and most of the people don’t follow the rules. Actually, it’s same in English, too. That most of the people don’t care about the grammar and everything, it’s also same in Turkish.

Male: Have you also learned some Dutch while you’ve been in the Netherlands?

Not yet. But I can speak Spanish and a little bit Korean.

Male: What is it that brought you to learning Spanish and Korean?

Spanish? It was my second language in high school, so I start to learn in there, and after that I said I’m learning this language for a while and I realized I didn’t improve. So I start to learn on my own, and in the end I improved myself. For Korean, I had some interest in Korean dramas and Korean culture and some Korean music, and I says, “I like this country, I like this culture, why am I not learning the language?” Because I want to go to Korea one day and I want to be communicate with people. So I start to learn Korean, and I realize Korean and Turkish is very similar, because of the grammar. There are some differenties, but because of the grammar, it’s very similar to learn and it’s very easy to learn. So I started to learn Korean for one year ago I think, and I usually understand people, but I’m not good at speaking.

Male: What are some of the similarities between Korean and Turkish?

Similarities? For example, in Turkish, we usually add some, for example, and let me just give an example. In English, for you want to say, for example, I am going to school. You are saying to school with to. But in Turkish we are adding a word gives that meaning. In the end of the word. For example, school means [speaks Turkish] and for to school we are saying [speaks Turkish]. Adding a [speaks Turkish] word to the [speaks Turkish]. And it’s also same in Korean, too. And for example, every Turkish grammar has an something similar in Korean. So you just have to memorize all of that. You have to learn the alphabet and it’s also very easy to learn. And after that, it’s almost same.

Male: Where are you at in the Netherlands, and what have you really enjoyed there?

I live in a small city in Netherland. It’s close to the Germany’s. And because of my university, I’ve been here for like six or seven months. And I went to Amsterdam only, and I went to—and other cities, too, like Rotterdam and others. There are lots of things to do in Istanbul. Because if you want to see some cultural things, there are lots of places to see because of Turkey is a very historical background. And also it’s Istanbul is the one of the cities has that, because of the lots of the khan, lots of the kingdoms and other countries lived there. And there are lots of places to see, mosques, church, lots of things like that. But also in Turkey there are also some, yeah, there are, yeah, lots of places to see in Istanbul. And it’s just not Istanbul. Actually, in Turkey there are very amazing places to see like Cappadocia is one of the best places for me in Turkey. It’s… I don’t know the English name of it, but it’s a very natural place, because some, yeah, I don’t know to explain that but yeah, it’s a very good place to see.

Oman Male Reading

Reading

The Rainbow Passage

When the sunlight strikes raindrops in the air, they act as a prism and form a rainbow. The rainbow is a division of white light into many beautiful colors. These take the shape of a long round arch, with its path high above, and its two ends apparently beyond the horizon. There is, according to legend, a boiling pot of gold at one end. People look, but no one ever finds it. When a man looks for something beyond his reach, his friends say he is looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Oman Male Conversation

Conversation

So I’m learning English in here and in Oman. I’m not travel to study outside, but travel before to there, and before I have some respiratory problem, I am travel to the India for treatment. But foreign tourism also to Iran, to something. Because that’s country should not too much expensive, Turkish, in Gulf here. But study is so, first time in school but not too much, yaani, before I have more than hard in English, yaani, and difficult. So because all the subject, topic study by Arabic language, and only English study. But only the book, yaani, the method for book, make us go to the college. We are too much difficult, so because in here, the system in Oman, we have foundation year. You know, your twelfth year study in school, you’ll not have anything. If you want to go to the major, and that’s one year need to work hard. In twelfth year work in one foundation year, that’s too much difficult. I’m try. I’m learning to that study before biotechnology. I don’t like my major before and I guessed I’m leave the college. I’m see to other university. I’m registered. After that, I’m search about the job part-time. I’m work to part-time and makes payment to the university. You know here, not have the good in the culture to work part-time. No, no. I mean, not too much student work. So because many student scholarship by ministry free. Yes. But my before major biotechnology. I don’t like biotechnology. I like major my nurse. I like nurse. I say to my family, “Okay, you not need help me. Not need payment anything. No problem. I will work. I will payment all by myself to the university.” So next start study the nursing, working the step by step by step. I’m work outside in the coffeeshop before. I work in logistic company, because I have too much, yaani, how can they ___ the business. I’m understand the law of that. After we start the corona, COVID, yaani, the company not have too much the money. Say to all staff return back to home. I’m search about other job. I’m working in coffee. But that too much problem for me. So because I’m study the nursing, sometime I go to the hospital to training clinical. Sometime in the night and sometime I think too much problem. Next starting this application and will be making the time and can that. And now more than… I know sometime difficult, yaani, management my time, but I think happy so because I am study the nursing. So because some people say me, “Why not study the doctor? Or maybe as physician?” I say I like. I know the physician more than strong, more than. But I think no need, yaani, no need, yaani, see that’s physician. Yaani, I need something life with the patient. The nurse life with the patient. Can he communication, understand patient too much because care directly. The doctor ___ yaani. So inshallah after take the… I have one year remain, I will take the bachelor in nursing, and now I’m year three. I’ll complete year four, inshallah. After that I will visit to USA because we’ll be study respiratory therapies. That’s good major in the United States.