Found text from: The Spoken Arabic of Iraq (American Mission, Basrah 1917)
Lesson 1. The Ship Goes Against the Water
Why do you speak against me?
If you wish to learn Arabic
you must live among the Arabs.
There are soldiers all around the town.
I have two houses here, and besides these
I have four in Baghdad.
He was sitting beside me.
Who was sitting beside you?
The bridge is beyond the city.
I don’t know anything about the war.
Ships cannot come here on account of the war.
I will do this for your sake.
During the night I heard the soldiers passing.
I will never learn Arabic.
Lesson 2. Any One Can Learn Arabic
The old house.
The good woman.
The beautiful mosque.
The broken lamp.
The hot sun.
The large earth.
The thirsty soul.
Do you know Arabic?
No, I don’t know it at all.
Bring a light.
The light of the sun and moon.
Why do you laugh?
He turned pale when he heard the news.
How many children (walad) have you?
I have four sons and three are dead.
There is much sand in the desert.
There is some bread but little water.
There is fever in Basrah.
I have fever.
The soldiers passed by my house yesterday.
Get out of my way.
I saw them pass.
Leave me alone.
The time is up.
The children of Israel.
I told him to carry the child to his house.
How many churches are there in Basrah?
As many as there are mosques.
You talk like an Arab.
Edward Vanderpump has had poems published in The Rialto and Smiths Knoll. He has published a collection of his poems, Momentary Stars (Clydesdale Jefferson 2016). He taught EFL in UK, Germany, Spain and Italy and also worked in publishing and archives.
Note: The first part of this poem appeared in Rialto 22 (Spring 1992). The whole poem appeared in Poetry As A Foreign Language edited by Martin Bates, White Adder Press, 1999. While IS&T does not normally post pre-published work, we felt that this poem was important in the current situation.