The Bagel Rambles

Assalamu-Alaykum! This is my very first masterpost, and I wanted to make it about a subject I only know too well. Arabic is my mother tongue and I’ve been into the Arabic culture for like my entire life. I am really eager to help people get more familiar with it, as I understand it might not be easy at all. The letters are different, the spelling is different, the phonetic is different, the culture is different… Thus I really admire people who chose to learn it. You rock!

Anyway, here are the basics (in my own opinion) for learning the language and the culture. I tried to give all the information I had, but I’ll edit this post and eventually add more stuff :

free websites + apps

madinaharabic (the best website really)

salaam arabic (really handy for spelling and phonetic!)

myeasyarabic (the best website to get familiar with grammar & letters)

arabickeyboard (introduces you to not only the language, but also the history and culture of the arabic world)

alison (contains evaluation tests that can help you progress in your learning)

digitaldialects (funny games to help you memorize animals, numbers and colors)

firdaous (really great for vocab!)

as for apps (on itunes), we have AlphaBet Arabe (for alphabet learning), Astrid (motivational app), and Arabic Dictionary

specific arabic learning

egyptianarabiccourse (helps you get familiar with the egyptian dialect)

speakmoroccan (learn to speak the moroccan dialect, aka mine!)

abjadiye (learn lebanese arabic for free)

useful links/docs

arabic verbs

arabic pronouns

arabic alphabet (but also here)

language exchange sources

arabic proverbs (translated in english)

arabic survival phrases here & here

5 beautiful arabic expressions

arabic conjugator

arabic keyboards

lexilogos (i’ve been using it myself for all my essays and presentations)

arabic-keyboard

dictionaries

lexilogos (yup again, but different section)

arabic etymological dictionary (with torrent & word document download links)

arabic dictionary + translator 

islamic references

Okay, i hesitated to put that one, but if you want to get into the arabic culture, it is very important to get to know the islamic side of it. (be careful, islamic culture does not necessarily mean arabic culture, but the two can easily be linked)

searchtruth (helps you with grammar and vocab using qur’an sentences)

legacyfordham (it’s the islamic section of the university of fordham website. it gives you a general look on the islamic world eras)

music

maghrebspace (the website is in french though)

hibamusic

arabic radio stations

my top 3 classics (with free download links & online listening)

fairouz

oum kalthoum

abdelhalim hafez here & here

top 10 arabic songs of january 2016

short history of arabic music + top arabic songs of 2015 here

my personal favorite songs

ya rayah - rachid taha (music video + lyric video + english translation)

aatini nay - fairouz (lyric video + english translation)

fi madrasat al hob - kadem saher (lyric video + english translation)

books

easy short arabic stories

popular arabic novels

5 recommended arabic books

YA arabic books listed by genre

my top novels :

al ayyam (trilogy) - taha hussein (pdf of the first tome here)

rihla jabaliyya rihla sa’ba - fadwa touqan

arabic art resources

historiansofislamicart (contains links to each type of art)

metmuseum (history of calligraphy and useful links)

arabartgallery (my personal favorite : all types of art listed by era, and description of each)

a native speaker tips

as I said before, arabic is a tricky language, because it does not originate (like most other popular languages) from the latin roots. Therefore when you come accross arabic words or names written with latin letters, you’ll find out different ways of writing the same word with latin letters. Any version is correct as long as the pronounciation is correct.

there are not vowels in the arabic alphabet. yes, all the letters are referring to consonants, with some of them that only exist in arabic (for ex: ض pronounced Ḍād). you’ll probably learn it throughout the websites I gave, but bear in mind that the vowel sounds of arabic are put by tiny symbols above or under the letters called chakl. Chakl helps you know how to pronounce a letter, if you should say “a” or “o” or “i” after that letter. In most texts you’ll come accross apart from language learning websites, you’ll find words and sentences without chakl. And that’s because we, as native arabic speakers, have gotten so used to how a word is pronounced that we kinda know what chakl should normally be put. you should get used to it as well, it will be so much easier for you to read any kind of text.

practice arabic pronounciation and listening A LOT. it will be very useful for writing and reading, trust me.

oh and most importantly, i’m open to anyone desiring to speak with a native arabic speaker! really, you can just message me, or email me (at [email protected]) or whatever you like. i’ll be glad to give you additional tips along the way!

I think I said it all. I may or may not add stuff in the future, so feel free to follow me, or suggest me other things!

To regret means to feel sad and repentant over something that one has done or failed to do. Regret enters Middle English via Old French in the form of regretten, which literally meant “to lament over the dead”.

Although it perfectly follows the model of Latin verbs, the original French word regreter is ultimately of Germanic origin. It is formed of the intensive or frequentative Latin prefix re- + grāt(an) (from Frankish to weep, mourn or to lament) + -er, which is the infinitive ending derived from Latin -ere.

The stem grātan is also cognate with Gothic grētan, Old Norse gráta, Old English grēota (which eventually gave greet)  and Middle High German grāzan. The word survives with its original meaning to cry in Icelandic gráta, Norwegian (Båkmal) grate, Danish grade and Swedish gråta.

I continue my Ni driven quest to perfectly sum up the functions visually…

Extroverted Intuition:

Introverted Intuition:

Extroverted Sensing:

Introverted Sensing:

Also, if a dog happens across it, it’s more likely it will devour a single body part than all of your ex-husband.

Another method is to put it into a septic tank. They’re a plethora of bacteria, and the smell of waste covers the smell of decomposition very well.

You should also destroy all teeth, massacre the face and burn fingerprints/remove finger tips to keep from identifying by anything other than DNA.

all the ideas are taken by @shittyidea

Disclaimer: It’s a joke. Chill.

ISFP: Invisible hair colouring

ESFP: Begin every sentence with “plot twist”

ISFJ: All malls and stores start putting up Christmas decorations today

ESFJ: Let Jesus take the wheel while going 80mph

ISTJ: A yellow pages style book with information on thieves, drug dealers, etc.

ESTJ: Install carpet in every bathroom (even in the shower)

ISTP: Check to see if your fire alarm works by setting your house on fire

ESTP: Grab the first person you see after reading this, and punch them in the face

INTP: A meth-lab scented perfume

ENTP: A game that combines the speed of baseball with the thrill of golf

INFP: New totally gender - and animacy-neutral pronoun she/he/it = shit

ENFP: Superglue everything important (such as your phone, keys and wallet) to yourself so you never lose them

INFJ: Put toothpaste on your breakfast so you can skip brushing your teeth

ENFJ: Play charades with a group of blind friends

INTJ: Want to ace that job interview? Turn it into a staring contest…

• Make a fist with your thumb outside, not tucked inside. If it’s tucked inside your fist, when you punch someone, you might break your thumb. The thumb goes across your fingers, not on the side.

• Don’t be like in the movies—don’t aim for the face. Face punches don’t usually stop people, and you can miss when they duck their head or break your hand on their jaw. If you want to get away quickly, or end a fight, aim for the chest, or the ribs. If you really want to do some damage, e.g., you’re being attacked, aim for the throat, which will make it hard for your attacker to breathe for a hot minute.

keep your wrist straight.

if your attacker is male, go for his junk - especially if he’s wearing loose pants. There’s no sportsmanship when it comes to assault so fuck them balls UP

punching pretty much ANYWHERE in the face is going to actually hurt you a LOT (just think - you’re punching your bones into their bones and ow). If you’re going for the face, my suggestion is to strick upwards with your palm.

see that meaty portion highlighted in red? There’s a lot of muscle and fat right there which makes it excellent for striking. Hold your hand as shown and aim for the nose or chin (though I’ve been told in extreme circumstances, doing this to the nose can be fatal but I’ve never really heard if this is true or not) and just aim upwards

other delicate areas: 

the shin (hurts like a bitch if you kick it right - also, you can hit this spot if you’re being held in a choke-hold and if your attacker has to move in order to stop you from kicking him, he’ll have to angle his body so as to expose his stomach and crotch to the wild spastic jabbings of your elbows)

the solar plexus (either jab while holding your hand in a sort of spear position or use your elbows - unless you’re super strong, your punch probably won’t wind your attacker. Your elbow or a spear hand will, however)

Originally in (most) martial arts, you hit the solar plexus because it supposedly contained an important chakra. Now we know that it actually also contains like a bunch of necessary organs that are exposed just below your ribs and is also (roughly) where your diaphragm lives so getting punched there is not pleasant.

the clavicle (from experience, getting hit in your clavicle HURTS LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER. If you strike downwards with your knuckles, the person might just cry. Like I did.)

the ear (this is probably the best place to punch besides the throat. It’s all cartilage so it probably won’t hurt you all that much and most people will be like “DUDE YOU PUNCHED ME IN THE EAR WHAT THE HELL”)

the kidneys (this is harder to hit without training but if you somehow get your attacker’s back to face you, try to hit’em in the kidneys. Again, from experience, this FUCKING HURTS. You can’t really hit the kidneys from the front with any effect but from the back it is super painful)

-Draw blood if you can, especially if you can draw it from the face or the eyes. Blood in the eyes is not just a good way to impair your attacker’s vision, it’s also a really good way to freak them out and let them know that they might be getting more than they bargained for by picking a fight with you.

-Elbows and knees are really powerful weapons. Elbows are very sharp and very strong and if you are in close-range they are often more effective than trying to throw a punch. 

by tyranamiros

So many ideas sound good in your head, but terrible when spoken aloud

People need so much "evidence" before they move forward.  You’ll see the evidence when my idea works.  And if it doesn’t, we’ll figure out where it went wrong and try again.

In fact, I’ve tried out my theories at work, but my boss mistakes my efficiency for laziness and thinks I lack initiative.

It’s similar to why I get whiny when we carpool to the social function–I need control over my time and engagement; socializing can be exhausting.

Like when people have entire conversations based on a myth or a problem that could be solved in 10 seconds by searching the web.

And that’s not even including the way some people at the party just want to unload emotional baggage and we can’t stop ourselves from taking it

But if we try to do anything about it, we’re going to get told to stop interfering. 

And you know we’re going to make it worse by doing something anyway because we can’t stand a problem unanalyzed and unsolved.

Which is one reason we’re still single.

And go for partners who need “fixing”.

Another is that we can come across as cold and detached.  Sometimes others say we’re not even paying attention. 

Most of the time, it’s just that we get the gist and are thinking about what to do about what you just said. And we don’t think aloud (see the beginning).

But we do think in self-reinforcing circles–specious logic built on our own specious logic–which just makes matters worse.

Yet on the inside, we never lose our childlike interest in learning, exploring, and improving our internal models

(Based on a post by who-r-u-realy)

INFJ: A Child Untangling Impossibly Tangled String

ISFJ: A Person with a Sleeping Puppy in their lap.

ENFJ: A Child in Micky Mouse Ears Posing for a Picture

ESFJ: A Clean Looking Individual Lighting a Fresh Smelling Candle

ESFP: A Person Squealing Quite Loudly and Quite Happily

ENFP: A Child Playing Dress Up

ISFP: A Child Petting a Kitten

INFP: A Child Staring Up at a Sky Scraper

INTP: A Person Building a Futuristic, Random Contraption

ISTP: A Teenager Living in an Intricate Tree House

ENTP: A Person Spinning Madly Around in the Middle Off a Crowded Room

ESTP: A Person Confidently Jumping Out of a Plane with a Giant Grin

INTJ: An Admired Professor Snapping His fingers for His Classes Attention

ISTJ: A Person Examining Something with a Magnifying Glass

ENTJ: A Person Standing in Front of a Giant Window, Crossing Their Arms

The cute cuddlers squad: INFP, INFJ, ISFJ, ISFP, ENFP

The “this is my bed you can sleep on the floor” squad: ENTJ, INTJ, ISTJ

The plays a trick on you and ends up locking you outside all night squad: ENTP, ESTP, ISTP

The has a guest bedroom squad: ESFJ, ENFJ, ESTJ