After the Election: Speaking Arabic, Speaking English

Trajectories of translation

“…First, the location of these classrooms in the US means that Arabic is often seen as a “foreign language” of which Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the foundation. For Cook, like many students in the United States post-9/11, her experience learning Arabic was shaped by a foreign-policy centric vocabulary tied to American geopolitical needs (Al-Saleh, 2018; Daugherty, 2011; Uzum et al, 2021). For example, when first learning MSA in a university classroom, she learned how to say “United Nations” before she learned to ask where the bathroom is.…”