MetaFilter posts tagged with arabic

Typical Pentagon boondoggle

theodolite — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 13:27:39 -0800

The Global Language Online Support System (or GLOSS), produced by the Defense Language Institute in sunny Monterey, CA, offers over six thousand free lessons in 38 languages from Albanian to Uzbek, with particular emphasis on Chinese, Persian, Russian, Korean, and various types of Arabic. The lessons include both reading and listening components and are refreshingly based on real local materials (news articles, radio segments, etc.) rather than generic templates. Important note: level 1 is considered "low intermediate" and assumes a basic knowledge of the language. For more elementary lessons, or if you just prefer your US government-produced language courses with a groovy 1970s vibe, try the ever-popular FSI Language Courses.

Iraqi Maqam

Trurl — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 16:08:04 -0800

The maqam al-'iraqi is considered the most noble and perfect form of the maqam. As the name implies, it is native to Iraq; it has been known for approximately four hundred years in Baghdad, Mosul, and Kirkuk. The maqam al-'iraqi has been passed on orally through the Iraqi masters of the maqam, who cultivate the form especially in Baghdad. The maqam is performed by a singer (qari') and three instrumentalists playing santur (box zither), juzah (spike fiddle), and tablah or dunbak (goblet drum).

12 reasons why Arabic is terrific

wpenman — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:27:49 -0800

Why Arabic is Terrific

Tahrir Documents: The Revolution Will Be Translated

jng — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:20:11 -0800

Tahrir Documents is an ongoing effort to archive, translate, and make available printed matter from the 2011 Egyptian Revolution and its aftermath. We are not affiliated with the papers’ authors nor with any political organization, Egyptian or otherwise. Example: PDF | Translation (sample below)

How To Revolt by Chanting ________________________ Important Information and Tactics ________________________ We please ask that you distribute this by way of email, and printing (and photocopying) only. Facebook and Twitter are being watched. Beware of putting this information in the hands of the police or security forces. Egypt. PAGE 2 The Demands of the People of Egypt 1. The fall of the Mubarak regime and its ministers 2. The nullification of Emergency Law 3. Freedom 4. Justice 5. The formation of a new non-military government, whose heart is with the Egyptian people 6. Sound management of all Egyptian resources PAGE 3 TACTICAL GOALS OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE 1. Seizure of key government buildings 2. Attempt to incorporate police and military officers into the ranks people 3. The protection of our revolutionary brothers and sisters

"I suppose it looks strange to you to see Superman speaking Arabic"

filthy light thief — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 13:26:40 -0800

"Until about 1964 most comic books in the Middle East were in either English or French.... Then a forward-looking editor began to wonder why comic books could not be translated into Arabic." Illustrated Publications, a Beirut-based company, did just that, starting with Superman. As a reporter for "Al-Kawkab Al Yawmi" he swooped into the Middle east from distant Krypton on February 4, 1964. The mild-mannered report, Clark Kent, became Nabil Fawzi, whose name roughly translated to "Noble Victory". The text of the comics was translated, but the rest of the comic looked an awful lot like the Superman of the United States, except the covers lacked context, Superman's S logo was reversed, and some of the colors were skewed in odd ways. After Superman, there were others a man called Sobhi and a young boy called Zakkour, who at night became Batman and Robin, then The Lone Ranger, (renamed The Masked Rider), along with Tonto and Silver, on July 17, 1967. Then it was "Little Lulu," "Tarzan," and most recently, "The Flash."

The Wonderful World of Babel

Rhaomi — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 14:42:14 -0800

Unlike many cinematic exports, the Disney canon of films distinguishes itself with an impressive dedication to dubbing. Through an in-house service called Disney Character Voices International, not just dialogue but songs, too, are skillfully re-recorded, echoing the voice acting, rhythm, and rhyme scheme of the original work to an uncanny degree (while still leaving plenty of room for lyrical reinvention). The breadth of the effort is surprising, as well -- everything from Arabic to Icelandic to Zulu gets its own dub, and their latest project, The Princess and the Frog, debuted in more than forty tongues. Luckily for polyglots everywhere, the exhaustiveness of Disney's translations is thoroughly documented online in multilanguage mixes and one-line comparisons, linguistic kaleidoscopes that cast new light on old standards. Highlights: "One Jump Ahead," "Prince Ali," and "A Whole New World" (Aladdin) - "Circle of Life," "Hakuna Matata," and "Luau!" (The Lion King) - "Under the Sea" and "Poor Unfortunate Souls" (The Little Mermaid) - "Belle" and "Be Our Guest" (Beauty and the Beast) - "Just Around the Riverbend" (Pocahontas) - "One Song" and "Heigh-Ho" (Snow White) - "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo" (Cinderella) - Medley (Pinocchio) - "When She Loved Me" (Toy Story 2) - Intro (Monsters, Inc.)

Iranian Typography

Slyfen — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:34:54 -0800

Iranian Typography Now makes a nice appetiser to a book like Graphic Design from the Arab World and Persia (annoyingly small flash gallery) where calligraphy goes digital and comes alive as it collides with graphic design, art, graffiti, and even light.

Federal panel concludes Brooklyn principal was discriminated against

i'm being pummeled very heavily — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:58:32 -0800

Debbie Almontaser, who was set to be the principal of a new dual language Arab-English school in 2007, was instead pushed out and forced to resign after she answered the question "What is the root word of 'intifada'?" She answered "shaking off" and many in the news media ran with this as a story. Things didn't go well for her after that, until a federal panel yesterday concluded that she had been discriminated against.

He has a wife, you know

Jon_Evil — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:55:28 -0800

Life imitates Python: The Life of Brian's unfortunately-named Roman has a real-life counterpart, and he's been denied ambassadorship to Saudi Arabia due to the fact that his name means "biggest dick" in Arabic.

calligraphy

dhruva — Mon, 11 May 2009 20:05:54 -0800

Calligraphy Qalam An introduction to Arabic, Ottoman and Persian Calligraphy. See a gallery, a timeline of scripts and styles, a blog with entries such as how to design your own square kufic calligraphy, and much more.

Dabke the national dance of Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan and Iraq.

Lanark — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 15:50:10 -0800

Dabke (in Arabic the "stomping of the feet") is a folk line dance, performed by either just men, just women or both together. A national dance of Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan and Iraq the Dabke is danced with different steps and rhythms in different areas of the Middle East.

Fridge magnets in seven scripts

joeclark — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 13:47:26 -0800

Fridge magnets in seven scripts – Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Cyrillic, Korean, Arabic, Devanagari. “Memo: Pick up bread at store”

Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy

Kattullus — Mon, 12 May 2008 17:21:09 -0800

Selections of Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Calligraphy from the collection of The Library of Congress. 373 individual pieces from ranging in time from the 9th to the 19th Century, all explained and some translated. A few personal favorites (note that very high quality scans can be viewed by clicking the appropriate link after clicking thumbnail): marriage decree, verses on tragic love, practice sheet, verses 10-11 of the 48th chapter of the Qur'an, poetic verses offering advice, frontispiece of Qur'anic exegesis and quatrain by Rumi. There are also four special presentations: Calligraphers of the Persian Tradition, Ottoman Calligraphers and Their Works, Qur’anic Fragments and Noteworthy Items. This last presentation also features representational art, for instance images of The battle of Mazandaran and the Persian king Bahram Gur hunting.

Keyboard calligraphy

dhruva — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:25:49 -0800

Keyboard calligraphy "To produce such a typeface, Müteferrika knew he had to analyze Arabic script. Calligraphers might learn to make the correctly shaped letter combinations by practice, without conscious application of tens of thousands of rules, but for machine reproduction of the script, deciphering those rules was exactly what was essential."

New prestigious Arabic award for fiction

stbalbach — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:08:26 -0800

IPAF (International Prize for Arabic Fiction) is a new prestigious $50,000 literary prize managed the Man Booker Prize in London and sponsored by Abu Dhabi's¹ crown prince of the United Arabs Emirates. The inaugural winner was announced on March 10: Baha Taher's Sunset Oasis (shortlist). English translations appear to be unavailable although some are in the works. This is the first international prize for Arabic literature, and it has stirred up some passions.

1. "It's no accident that the prize is based in Abu Dhabi ... [it] is going flat out to become the cultural center of the Middle East. The city is to host a new Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Gehry, not to mention an outpost of the Louvre." (from last link)

Khalil al-Zahawi, RIP

psmealey — Tue, 29 May 2007 15:18:04 -0800

Famed Arabic calligrapher Khalil al-Zahawi murdered. (Arabic: خليل الزهاوي‎; 1946 - 25 May 2007) Khalil al-Zahawi was the most famous practitioner in Iraq of the art of writing classical Arabic script. He was shot to death Friday as he left his home.

"The station's gaffes have included broadcasting in December 2006 a 68-minute call to arms against Israelis by a senior figure of the terrorist group Hezbollah..."

amberglow — Tue, 22 May 2007 11:21:09 -0800

Al Hurra television, the U.S. government's $63 million-a-year effort at public diplomacy broadcasting in the Middle East, is run by executives and officials who cannot speak Arabic, according to a senior official who oversees the program. That might explain why critics say the service has recently been caught broadcasting terrorist messages, ... from their About US page: Alhurra is operated by non-profit corporation “The Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc.” (MBN). MBN is financed by the American people through the U.S Congress. US Govt. Accountability Office abstract about other MBN problems here.

New Islamic Art Exhibition Site

peacay — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 23:27:28 -0800

The new 'Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean' site incorporates material from 14 countries through 18 exhibition sites that explore the the cultural and artistic heritage of Islamic dynasties spanning 1200 years. [via].

The Book of Curiosities

peacay — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 13:21:19 -0800

For anyone with even a passing interest in Islamic history or cartography, 'The Book of Curiosities of the Sciences and Marvels for the Eyes' site at Oxford University's Bodleian Library will provide a thoroughly interesting timesink. This recently discovered 13th/14th century copy of an 11th century Egyptian manuscript was partly based on Ptolemy and includes the oldest rectangular map of the world...not to mention the famed human-bearing Waq-Waq tree. [via]

Beyond Bellydancing (Arabic Music)

imposster — Tue, 31 Oct 2006 14:17:49 -0800

Maqam World contains much more than maqamat. Rhythms, genres, instruments - all presented with audio examples, pictures, and even pronunciation. The podcasts are an added bonus. [Note: some multimedia features only work in IE, most audio in .rm (it's worth it, though)]

The Wacky World of Comic Book Propaganda

jonp72 — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 09:59:57 -0800

An official comic book adaptation of the 9/11 commission report is due to hit bookstores this month. The U.S. Army seeks an Arabic-speaking comic book creator. Meanwhile, an Israeli blogger suspects a Kuwaiti company of misusing Marvel and DC comics. These are just the latest incidents in a long-running history of using comic books for propaganda purposes, ranging from Mussolini and Hitler to Captain America vs. the Nazi-affiliated Red Skull to anticommunist comics for Catholic parochial schools to a phony Black Panther comic book created by COINTELPRO to a comic book of the American invasion of Grenada. However, my favorite site of comic book propaganda tends to focus on more innocuous domestic issues such as bicycle safety, USDA nutrition standards, and fighting crack cocaine. (OK, that last issue isn't so innocuous, but comic book propaganda about health & safety issues still generally blows.)

Yeah, right Lisa. A wonderful, magical animal.

goodnewsfortheinsane — Fri, 21 Oct 2005 08:42:39 -0800

The Simpsons are going to... the Middle East! As a treat for viewers during Ramadan, Dubai-based network MBC has dubbed 30 episodes of the Simpsons into Arabic. But in order not to offend their audience, this version of Our Favorite Family is, well, a bit different; for instance, Homer (rechristened Omar) doesn't eat bacon or drink beer. Speculation about the fate of other characters abounds, One Angry Arab is not impressed.

Al-Qaeda, Meet al-Salsa

teaperson — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 11:14:13 -0800

Al-Qaeda, Meet al-Salsa Salsa music is sweeping the arab world, especially as played by Amr Diab, hailed by an Abu Dhabi taxi driver as "the Ricky Martin of the Arab World." But unlike Ricky Martin, Amr Diab combines Latin rhythms in an appealing mix with guttural Arabic lyrics. It's the type of cosmopolitan fusion that might now be welcome in Iran's growing but barely-tolerated music scene.

Tarab.com - Free arabic music.

mr.marx — Tue, 02 Nov 2004 08:07:51 -0800

Tarab.com - Free arabic music. Use the map to navigate. Sadly just .ram-files, but tons and tons of them.

dbubble!

kliuless — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 18:59:09 -0800

?????? ????? - Name:Zena Amaar / Location:baghdad, Iraq
I am 13 years old. I am in the 2nd class in AL-MUTAMAYSAT secondary school whech means the secondary school for excellent student. I spend most of my time working on computer and reading stories, i have a library of about 75 books some of them are stories and the others are poetical books. Also i help my mother in housework. My father is a lucturer in the colleg of engineering. At the same time he is postgradute student. He is working hardly to get the PhD in computer engineering. My mother is assestant prof. in the colleg of engineering. I have only one brother. He is in the primary school in the 4th class. I love my family so much. (via sylloge :)