Check Out the New Language Page
BlogsOverBaghdad.com now has a page dedicated to language.  Check it out in the Schools section.  The page is called “Speaking Iraqi Arabic”.

Arabic Speakers Around the World
Every day here in Baghdad we encounter people who speak Arabic as their primary language.  Luckily for us, they also speak English (or at least they speak English a lot better than I speak Arabic).  Since we are here in their country, I am making an attempt to learn Iraqi Arabic, which is spoken here in Baghdad.  Ali, one of the tranlators on our Iraqi Media Engagement Team, says that there are very distinct dialects of Iraqi Arabic spoken in different regions of the country, just like the English spoken in the southern part of the United States is often different than that spoken in New England.  He said that the “reference” Arabic is the one that is closest to the Arabic used in the Koran, the holy book of Muslims. 

It is estimated there are more than 230 million native speakers of all dialects of Arabic around the world. The language is spoken by a mjority in: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Gaza Strip, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, West Bank, and Yemen. 

The nation with the most speakers is Egypt (more than 65 million); Iraq has the fourth most speakers (nearly 19 million). However, many Western countries have a sizeable minority of Arabic speakers in their population, including France (1.4 million), Argentina (1 million) and even the United States (nearly 200,000).

Arabic Speakers in the U.S. Army
Many U.S. soldiers who serve in Iraq are either native speakers, or have been trained by the Department of Defense. They often serve as translators, linguists, analysts or military intelligence specialists. In addition, the U.S. military and State Department hire local Iraqis to serve as translators and linguists.

Even soldiers who are not formally trained to speak Iraqi Arabic are given opportunities to learn to speak the language. The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad offers informal classes in the evening that soldiers can attend. The classes meet in the evening when soldiers have free time.

SPCs Lee and Gardner are both taking this class, and are available to help you if you have questions about Iraqi words (they might have to ask their instructor for help with tough questions).  You can contact them by either submitting a request on the Contact page or by adding a comment to one of their blog posts.

Lukman Omar Salehlogan (Logan), a local translator, sits with Sergeant Maj. Marcus Doo. Logan was working in a restaurant where soldiers from an infantry battalion of the 101st Airborne (Air Assault) frequented to buy food. Logan, 15, did not speak English at the time, but his boss sent him to deliver the food and while delivering to the soldiers, they would talk in English and point to things. It took about 14 months for him to become fluent in English. He also speaks Kurdish, Arabic, and Turkish (photo by MAJ David Albano)

In addition to the classes, the local military radio station (called Armed Forces Network) has public service announcements that help soldiers learn simple words and phrases. If you visit the “Speaking Iraqi Arabic” page on this blog, you can listen and practice some basic phrases.