About Hanzalah

Hi I am of Hanzalah and I am born and raised in Toronto Canada. I am currently in my 4th Year of BEd program with a specialization in middle years. I live in Toronto but shift to Regina from time to time.

Nahw: Types of verbs

In continuation of chapter 1.3, the second part of the chapter still remains to be learnt from this resource.

Previously I had learned the types of nouns known as jamid, mushtaq, and masdar. I had also learned how to identify such nouns and what are the rulings associated with them. The second part of the lesson focuses on identifying the types of fi’ls (verbs).

Below is the image of the second part of the lesson and please refer to section/chapter 1.3 of the resource above.

In terms of fi’l (verbs) there are four types that I had learned. This part of the lesson correlates to my previous lesson (refer to this blog post). The image below summarizes Arabic verbs taken from this website:

:

 

For this lesson I had focused on the first part of Arabic verbs which highlighted the four types of verbs:

  1. Madi (Past tense) which refers to actions done in the past. Example: kataba = he wrote
  2. Mudari’ (Present tense) refers to actions ocurring in the present moment. Example: yaktubu = he is writing or writes.
  3. Amr (Imperative) refers to verbs which command someone to do something. They are under the category of present tense. Example: uktub = write. This example is commanding the person to do something or in this case to read.
  4. Nahi (prohibitive) command which command someone to not do something. Words in this category must have a specific harf (particle) known as “Laam nahi” before the word. The harf is pronounced as “La” in a given example. Example: La taktub = Do not write. Here the person is prohibiting someone else from writing.

I had also viewed this resource prior to doing the exercise. it gives an overall idea of the lesson and reinforces the concepts learnt:

Exercises:

uktub:

Amr  – Command.  meaning is “Write!”

La tadhhab:

Nahi  – Do not go

yashrabu:

Present Tense –  “He drinks” or “He is drinking.”

fataha:

Past Tense – Meaning “He opened.”

isma‘:

Amr  – Command meaning “Listen!”

 

 

Nahw: Lets learn about nouns!

Moving on from the previous lesson, I decided to shift towards the first part of chapter 1.3. and increase my understandings of Nahw.

Previously, I had learned the objectives of learning Nahw in addition to the differences of kalimah’s and kalam. I also learned the three types of kalam which are ism (noun) f’il (verb) and harf (particle). I had learned its definitions and done some exercises.

For this lesson, the previous knowledge is a requirement as I will now begin to learn the types (Aqsam) of isms.

Images of the lesson are take from this resource and are below. Please refer to section 1.3 of resource if images are not clear:

The first part of the lesson will discuss the types of nouns. This resource also further explains this part:

I learned that there are 3 types of nouns in Arabic.

  1. Jamid –  This is a noun that is its own word and not a derivative of another word. This word also does not cause derivatives to other words. In other words, it is a self-sufficient word.  Example: bayt – house. This example is a word that does not have any connection to another word.

 

  1. Masdar – This is a root word which many other words derive from. The key of words being derived from one another is to look at the root letters. Example: darsan = to study and its root letters are d-r-s. From these root letters, various other nouns will be derived from which contain the same root letters.

 

  1. Mushtaq- This is a noun which is derived from another word. Example: madrasah = School. the word which it came from is darsan = to learn/study. The root letters as mentioned previously is d-r-s. Therefore madrasah is a derivative of the word darsan with its root letters being d-r-s. Madrassah also classically translates to place of learning/studying.

Another part of the lesson is identifying root letters. This resource is a little bit advanced however the first 4 minutes refer to this lesson. The first point in identifying the root letters is to recognize that most words in arabic have 3 root letters. The second point is to recognize that if a word has four letters, then there are most likely some extra letters added. Those extra letters tend to be the letters of waaw (w), alif (a), or yaa (y). The words below contain some exercises to test this knowledge.

Exercises:

  • kitab (book) –  mushtaq word which masdar is katban (to read).  k-t-b are its root letters
  • kitab (writer) – mushtaq word taked from masdar katban (to read), k-t-b are its root letters.
  • maa (water) – Jamid word which has no derivative forms. m-a-a are the root.
  • ilm (knowledge) – masdar word as it has many different word forms such as yalamu (he knows). root letters are i-l-m.

 

Intro to “Nahw”

For this post, Unfortunately I happened to get behind in my learning project blog post. Life got the better of me and also sprinkle of procrastination.  Nevertheless, I decided to catch up this week and made an effort take on more than one lesson. This post will showcase the first lesson I have learnt this week.

Referring back to me educational journey of learning Arabic, the previous lesson focused on increasing my Arabic vocabulary. Since I had made some effort in learning verb conjugations and translating some sentences using Duo-lingo. I thought to cover a more difficult topic which is Arabic grammar known as “Nahw”.

The resource I will be using for grammar is called Tasheel-an-Nahw (Grammar made easy). I decided to cover the chapter 1.1 and 1.2 with the exercises as shown below (If blury please refer to the link ch. 1.1 and 1.2) :

The first part of the lesson discovers the reason of why grammar is studied. it is to learn how to correctly form a sentence.  then I had learned the difference between a word (kalam) and a sentence (kalimah). In addition I had learned the concept of “Iraab” which tells us the grammatical state of the word (Usually demonstrated by the vowel of the word).

It also speaks about the goals of why grammar should be learned which is ultimately to understand the Quran from the Islamic perspective.

now moving onto chapter 1.2.

This chapter begins to discuss the definitions of the three types of kalam. This resource although abut advanced helps in understanding this lesson.

  1. Ism – Noun: modern definition is a person,place, or thing. Classical definition mentions that it is a word which requires another word for it to make sense in a complete sentence. Example: rajulun = A man. This example is not a complete sentence and requires more words to form a sentence
  2. Fi’l – Verb: modern definition is that it means to do some action. Classical definition is that it does not need another word for it to be a sentence. Example: jalasa = He sat. This example is sufficient as a complete sentence.
  3. Harf – Particle : It is a word which requires an ism and/or a fi’l for it to be understood. Example: man = who. This example requires another word such as “who does” for it to be understood in a sentence.

I than decided to work on the exercise to ensure my understanding of the lesson. Answers are below.

Q1:

i. verb ii. particle iii. noun iv. verb

The other exercise refers to a different lesson hence I did not complete it.

The “phone” issue

In my future classroom I would ensure respect is at the forefront of the students digital footprint. Communicating the impacts and potential consequences are of disrespectful digital behavior is essential in fostering a holistic environment for students. I think the antidote is education on the matter as this can be a concept overlooked by many. In fostering an educational environment of such a crucial topic, I believe students will be able to recognize the harsh reality of the digitized world. Moreover, as utilized in this class, I recall Dr. Katia covering some of the terms of certain social media apps. I thought this information to be extremely vital as a student as it was an eye-opener for me. The revisions of certain terms of service for specific apps made me realize that there is so much that I was unaware. This goes back to what was mentioned in the policy guide on page 18. It suggests that educators should also stay aware of digital policies to help set boundaries and create awareness.

Moreover, along with awareness of digital policies, I would ensure students are educated regarding the legal aspects of social media. Although I recognize that such scenarios of legal disputes arising from social media is rare, nevertheless the scenario does occur and create a massive impact on a students life. This is especially important when it comes to the use of school-owned property. As mentioned on page 19, the school must consider how to deal with violations of digital policy on their property.

With all this being said, I want to recognize the importance of using digital devices in the classroom. Digital devices are the result of the new digital world where information technology is at the forefront of the world. It is possible that students would like to use in technologies from home in order to foster a higher learning environment. This is a contested issue and my opinion on the matter is undecided. However, oxford learning states many benefits of devices such as enhancement in time management, organization, and others. They also mention cons and one of them is the issue of being a distraction in learning due to potential phone addictions. The Saskatchewan Ministry of Education recently shifted their policies and made an ban on personal devices. These are the two varying approaches on the matter and is something which I think will be an everlasting issue.

Here's What Tech-Savvy Educators Think About Cellphone Bans in Schools

The phenomenon

In terms of reflecting on our changed world and new realities of the digital landscape, I think that there is a much needed shift in how we approach our classrooms. The traditional way of teaching where a teacher is required to be in person with students are slowly fading away. As a matter of fact this class is a clear manifestation of that. In Welsh’s video, we see the phenomenon of “Numa Numa” where we see a normal individual expressing himself and becoming an icon. This really sheds light onto the dynamics of where inspiration and veneration comes into play. The digital platform to give such power and influence is the new reality in today’s world which students are engaging with on a day to day basis. TikTok is a major platform which has become a giant in engaging the youth. This resource describes the TikTok usage numbers across the world. The results are quite eye-opening and begs to question our current model of teaching. If we know that our students are using such apps to have “fun”, why can’t we bring such apps into the classroom and develop playful learning. What I mean by playful learning is to have students create and learn meaningful education via these apps. I believe that the time have changed and the need to accept such resources are required. This is how I see the classroom changing and the future of education.

New words!

This week I decided to shift gears and enhance my Arabic vocabulary. I realized that being independent from constantly referring to the dictionary can only get me so far in learning this language and understanding the Quran. Therefore, I felt it necessary to take a break from verbs and verb conjugations and move towards a lighter lesson.

I focused on learning vocabulary which commonly occur from the Quran. the following video sheds more light up on learning vocabulary.

This short video provides a comprehensive list of 85% of words in the Quran. I made an effort to memorize the words provided in the video. Now when I look at the Quran I can see that I understand many words in the Quran. Although I am still struggling with translating full sentences in the Quran, understanding the words still allows me to understand the context of some of the sentences.

My trial with Duolingo

For this blog post, we were required to discover a new tool which we have not used before fro our learning project. I decided to use Duolingo as it is a language learning app which I have heard about my entire life. Even though I knew about this app, for some odd reason it never occurred to me that I should give this app a shot and see what it is about. Nevertheless, I went onto the app and decided to use the free version as money is expensive :). Once signing up, the app throws a couple of questions to understand the user’s needs and circumstances. One particular question caught my eye and was as follows:

It asked me the purpose behind learning Arabic. I thought of this to be a unique question as this delves into the inner purpose behind the user. My opinion regarding this is that it is possible Duolingo asks such a heavy question is to understand the customer dynamics and background for their service. They also asked my age which also was of interest to me. I am not sure why the app would care about my age if I want to learn Arabic. I think this all ties into collecting valuable data from users and somehow find a way to monetize it. I don’t know, call me a conspiracy theorist but hey, I just don’t get it.

anyhow after a series of questions regarding my Arabic level (which makes more sense), the app decided to give me a short quiz. some of the questions are below:

This question asked me to select the word which matches the sound provided.

This question asked me to translate the Arabic sentence into English.

And so the after completion of the quiz, Duolingo provides users with the opportunity to move onto the next level and continue to progress.

In terms of how I would use this in the classroom, I think this is a great tool for SAMR Model and can easily fit into the French classroom. Students can engage in technological systems to build upon their knowledge and comprehension in French. This tool provides a curricula from beginner to expert and so there is much benefit in this app.

 

For the Learning project, I used this tool to further enhance my general knowledge of Arabic. I was previously working with Verb conjugations but this app brought me onto translations and hearing.

This question in particular enabled me to work on my listening skills which can be vital in Arabic conversation. During the first quiz, I had the opportunity to refine this Arabic skill and this app allowed me to recognize the importance of some areas in Arabic which I disregarded. Overall, I had a good experience with the app.

More Verbs!

Last week we did a deep dive into learning and memorizing the past tense and present verb forms of Arabic with the verb fa’a’la (meaning is to do). I also learned how the point of views and pronouns are embedded in the verb and the last letter is the indicator. One example I forgot to include last week is the following: http://<img src=”blob:chrome-untrusted://media-app/394d7fb5-a7f7-41cf-8b1f-1b52c23dbc1b” alt=”Screenshot 2024-10-08 10.25.16 PM.png”/>

The colored letters/word which are paired for each verb are the translations. The last letter of the Arabic is the determining factor for the pronoun.

This week I decided to continue on with the next stage of learning Arabic verbs. I learned the verb conjugations for the present and past tense verbs along with learning the active and passive forms of the verbs. This online resource was very helpful in this regard. If you were to read through the sections of active and passive, then this would give an idea of what I have learned.

Nevertheless I still would like to provide an example of my learning.

Active past tense verb:

كَتَبَ – He wrote 

Passive past tense verb:

كُتِبَ – he/it was written

Hence, I learned and memorized the entire verb conjugation for both sections.

Intro to verbs

This week for my learning project, I decided to begin by learning basic verb forms and memorizing them. I had spoken with an experienced Arabic teacher and he referred me to memorizing the “mudari” (present tense) and Madhi (past tense) verb forms for the verb fa’a’la “to do”. I had also memorized the first person/ second person/ and third person point of views. In Arabic, I learned that this is embedded in the verbs of Arabic.  In addition, I learned that the pronouns are embedded in the last letters of the verbs. All of this Weill be seen in the online resource below:

https://www.madinaharabic.com/arabic-language-course/lessons/L028_001.html

 

Technology in my life

For this blog, I am required to speak about how I use technology in my day to day life. I realized that technology UNFORTUNATELY takes up most of my day. I tend to have alot of free time nowadays due to less course load this semester. As a result, my desire to go on social media takes over. I spend alot of my time on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. I would say that I spent 0% of productive time on TikTok. What I mean my productive time is time allocated to academic pursuits or financial pursuits. All my time on TikTok goes to leisure and mindless scrolling. Furthermore, Instagram is a source I mostly spend on leisure however perhaps 20% of my time goes into productivity. Sometimes I would follow pages which would help me academically such as essay writing techniques and/or math equations. Instagram reels play an important role in this regard.  When it comes to YouTube, I would say that I spend the least amount of time on YouTube. The interesting fact is that I spend 80% of my time on YouTube in productivity. I would watch “how to” videos when dealing with academic concepts. I would watch financial advice videos to help me become more of a responsible adult. Essentially, all of these apps cause me to mostly spend in leisure time rather than productivity.

In terms of websites, I would have to say that Google is the website I use on a regular basis. I use google 100% for productivity. I can not even recall of a time where I used google for leisure. That being said, there are many apps linked to google which enables me to be organized and productive. I utilized Gmail as my main source of email communication and Google calendar to plan events/coursework. I find that using Google calendar is a great way to manage my time as it keeps on giving me reminders. As a forgetful person, this is crucial for me as it keeps popping up on my phone notifications.

As mentioned earlier, TikTok and Instagram are apps that I use the most and tend to take away my productivity. There aren’t many strategies I have been able to produce as I lack alot of self-discipline and self control. It is even possible that I have a phone addiction and so I am really hurting in this regard. In the rarity, when I do get some inspiration to  refrain from social media, I try to get more hobbies in my life. Currently, I am focusing on exercising regularly. Time spend exercising means less time on social media.

Finally, the way where I am most able to strike a balance from productive screen time and unproductive screen time is through the use of a laptop. When I use my phone, I loose control and waste time. When I use my laptop, it is always used for productive pursuits. Hence, the tools for using technology serves best for me in this regard.