Hello from the land of the Pharaohs!

[ahmadismail]

Hello everybody,

My name is Ahmad. I'm a 35 year old Egyptian. I teach Arabic as a foreign language in Cairo, and I'm doing an MA in TAFL (Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language) at the American University in Cairo. I have a real passion for Japanese Language, both for linguistic and literary reasons. I'm an avid reader of Japanese literature; my favorite writers include Mishima and Kawabata. I read them in English, though, because I'm still a beginner in Japanese. Learning Japanese could also enhance my career opportunities, because I might, one day, travel to Japan to teach Arabic.

I've started learning Japanese about a year ago, with a focus on Learning the Kanji fisrt. I used the Heisig method, which proved to be extremely useful. I'm now focusing on speaking and listening skills; Japanesepod101.com has proved to be a great learning tool in this respect.

Although I have finished Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese, one of the greatest Japanese grammar resources on the web, I still, every now and then, encounter Japanese phrases or sentences that don't make sense to me, although I know the meaning of each word. I hope advanced users of this forum will help me unravel these mysteries. Needless to say, once I start to master Japanese, I would be happy to help others.

Thanks
Ahmad