Are Arabs "Australians"
Whilst shopping at the giant store tonight one of the ladies who was promoting the new energy drink "magic, tried to entice us with this new product, we stood there patiently explaining to us why this drink was great and we didnt want to be rude and just walk off. Anyway as she was talking, my three year old was chatting away to himself in "english" and she turned to him and looked at me (as i wear hijab) and said, wow he speaks very good English, but you are "Arabs" how can that be, are Arabs Australian...(talk about stereotyping people) I tried really hard not to laugh at this woman , whilst my husband proceeded to give her a lesson in multiculturism and the many nationalties that exist there, she said "oh ok"... Imagine if he had to explain about the indigenous people(Aborigines), how confused this woman would be.
Its amazing how people judge the book by their cover...
Alexa, its because you are Lebanese remember! He knew it all along and blew your cover.
Two possibilities...
1. The shopkeeper must have thought you looked like a stereotypical Arab, whatever that is!!!
2. The shopkeeper only spoke Arabic.
lol
P.S. Did you get what you wanted?
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whoami said first thing that people say ...
first thing that people say to me (not always of course) is, "You speak English very well". Which kind of shows me their low expectancy
True whoami, i get that here too, in addition they say, oh and you have Aus accent with looks on their faces(you see the hijab confuses them lol).
Interestingly though, in Australia prior to wearing hijab people spoke "normal" english to me but when i started wearing hijab, people would start speaking english very slow and loud to me(you know in case i couldnt hear them)and i woul wait until they finished, then answer back and love to see the on their face..
Funny how we stereotype people, even without meaning too...
Oh Ian I have had that - The face doesn't fit the language and that can REALLY tilt some people's universe!
I have had the blank frozen look like I am a martian has landed. The person only can register that an alien species is talking to them.
or deep suspicion:
Can I have a cola please?
What
Can I have a cola please?
you are not from here...... blah blah blah
Thanks. loooooooooooool
True Oryx! Sabah al khair. Kaif halach?
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Hehehe. My fav was when I lived in Japan. More than once I walked up to a man and asked a perfectly coherent question in Japanese, just to to have them see my Caucasian face, freak out, and say that they didn't speak English. To which I responded "That's not a problem we aren't speaking English." Only ever had 1 guy see the humour of the situation...;-)
I get that when I speak Spanish.......
so I think its a universal factor which reflects the personal standards of the speaker!
But QT your English isn't that good its too Brummy! LOL
Whoami, I get that a lot too. Funnily enough much more in Qatar than when I'm in the US or UK.
There are all sorts of stereotypical misconceptions out there. Personally, I don't do stereotypes.
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You're English is good! LOL. I have the same problem!
Thanks Novita, but to my ear her accent is more complicated than just Malaysian. It is a mystery that needs solving...
first thing that people say to me (not always of course) is, "You speak English very well". Which kind of shows me their low expectancy
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Mir ... are you not tired of stirring s*** on QL ?
Spicemom is a malaysian ...
Just like the way the arabs judge fair looking people by the cover, .....they express their hatred against the western......
Hey Spicemom,
Got a question not about nationality or historic ethnicity, but rather about your accent. What different places were you brought up, because for the life of me I couldn't peg it.
I meant to get over and have a bit more of a chat with you at the BBQ but I guess I got talking. Hope to have the chance to talk at another event and figure this mystery out.
lol KH you remembered the only 2 pretty looking ones of the lot. mr brown was the english teacher.
do it right - the first time!
I do not recall Mr. Brown. I miss Fancoise Pascal (the French student) and Anna Bergman (the Swedish student)
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KH and i suppose you fancy yourself as the handsome mr brown.:---))))...i especially liked the spanish guy who kept saying "por favor"" in that series....
GOOD NIGHT NADT...may you stop counting sheep soon,,,,lol..
do it right - the first time!
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good morning CQM..yes we should have an arabic class thread, for all..would be great even for people like me whos arabic leaves a lot to be desired....
And on that note, im saying goodnight, damn its morning, gotta get some sleep..
goodnight KH, Alexa, and CQM..
This is the Arabic version of "Mind Your Language"
good morning
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what a great way to start the month....midnight arabic classes...id like to improve mine too....good morning all
do it right - the first time!
ok KH got it..
Alexa..wa inti bi khair (and hope you wake up in good health)..your arabic is very good ...
the 2 is a deep throat a
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cool Kh, but the 2 is confusing, 2=aa, isnt a easy to pronounce?
just discovered that you talk and type while sleeping
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2 is aa
3 is ain (eye in arabic)
7 is ha
6 is dhadh (I think)
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you can do the "kha", very impressive..
if you can do it, then you are defintely Lebanese and had us all fooled..lol
yep Alexa exactly...the deep throat thing..lol...very hard..
TBH KH i dont even know what the 2 and 3 is, only the 3 and 7....
am afraid it cannot be expalined in a written way. should be oral as it represents letters used in Arabic that does not have equivelant in English
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its pronouced similar to "a" but very hard for an non arab to pronounce. I will try and teach you one day..lol...
but they need to know what 2 3 & 7 mean
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Tisbah 3ala Khair..for male
tisbahi 3ala khair for female..is that right KH?..My arabic is not 100 per cent, i must admit..
I thought Australians are Arabs. LOL
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Nite Alexa..
No worries Dohasteve..We leanrt that Scotland isnt a state as well..lool...
Thanks for that. At least I learned something today
Night all
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"The more you run over a dead cat, the flatter it gets"
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What do you think KH...Are they or not?
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sleep well
Might give this up as a bad job -
this posting outside the box is getting
on me three'penny bits
God, how anal is that?
(can we say "anal" here?)
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"The more you run over a dead cat, the flatter it gets"
shooo means "what", hence when lebs greet each other they say "whats up darling/love whatever..
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Dohasteve..shoof means look....
ok boys and gals, me gonna call it a night , sweet dreams and good night, all.
Novi- will continue with the PMing tomorrow ok ,
night night-hugs and muah
life's too short so make the most of it, you only live but once.......
,..... and meant "listen" or "look"
I've learned loads in my 4 and 3/4 years here
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"The more you run over a dead cat, the flatter it gets"
KH, your too modest....
shoo habibi means "what my love?"
but better be replaced by shoo hayate which mean "my life". In Lebanese Arabic, the later is more romantic and classie
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woohooo - am gonna be darlinging to everyone with that phrase........lol(wont i get into lotsa trouble)
KH - blush looks good on ya....winks
life's too short so make the most of it, you only live but once.......
spicemom, its a must to great a lebanese friend/family in that manner..lol
...... lacking pretty much any knowledge regarding the finer points of getting my complicator to behave the same way as everybody else's
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"The more you run over a dead cat, the flatter it gets"
Naah Alexa, u don't need it cause I don't think those people had a doubt to begin with! lol
I'm not always right, but I'm never wrong -Garfield
Spicemom..shoo habib, "whats up darling"
hi Alexa
thank you nadt for the invitation. I better have a veil on to hide my blush
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Spice ... DS like to challenge the limit ... wait until Qatari see it. Naughty naughty boy ... get back to the pink box now.
Awww DohaSteve, it's ok to be different, they're probably all jealous of u (doesn't it sound like something ur mom used to say? lol)
I'm not always right, but I'm never wrong -Garfield
Your right Alexa, i can see how people get confused, apparently one part of Sydney is "Lebanon", app even all the signs on the shops are in Arabic...
DS=a m also wondering why you post in that manner then again i thought maybe that is the way you like it?lol
life's too short so make the most of it, you only live but once.......
nadt- wat does that mean?shoo habib?
life's too short so make the most of it, you only live but once.......
Anybody got any idea why my posts are outside the box?
Or is there something wrong with the way I am viewing the page?
Everybody else is inside the pink box......feel like I'm back at school again
*
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"The more you run over a dead cat, the flatter it gets"
Alexa dont forget the word "shoo habib", nearly all lebs say that, youll pass for one if you use it
LOL DohaSteve! Listen to this...
A friend was telling me a story about a teacher asking her students to name a country beginning with "U" and the answers were:
Utah and Yugoslavia
I'm not always right, but I'm never wrong -Garfield
Cornellian, well we are both lebanese, we must think alike...lol...
I cannot see you and the other ladies around without saying hi. will leave you alone now with this undeclared lady's thread
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Doh !!!
DS- ignorance is kind........lol
life's too short so make the most of it, you only live but once.......
i know... actually for me i dont really care what you religion / politic view / and all those things are ...
I never joining in any of those topic of discussion in QL. Very boring ...
Short one this ....
I was at a party in Houston
Woman said to me "Y'all have a very strange accent, where y'all from?
I said "Scotland"
She said:........(drum roll, please)...
"Oh really? Which State is that in?"
*
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"The more you run over a dead cat, the flatter it gets"
yeah novi, people always assume Palestinians are only muslims..again stereotyping or ignorance,who knows?
LOL nadt! Great minds think alike I see ;)
I'm not always right, but I'm never wrong -Garfield
KH - you shy?why?(loves teasing KH...lol)
true novi not every one fr this region is muslim
life's too short so make the most of it, you only live but once.......
LMAO Alexa! u can use that to ur advantage ;)
Exactly nadt, if ur arab u must be a muslim! lol
I'm not always right, but I'm never wrong -Garfield
Alexa, then you must be Lebanese..lol..Oh well use it to your advantage, free croissants isnt a bad deal...
good morning KH ...
Spicemom, at least you keep them guessing..lol..
KH, no you can join....how are you this evening..
Nadt ... talking about arab. When i went to Jordan, i search a blog user. And i find this family. They are originally from Palestine but they are Catholic. They migrate to Amman because of the conflict in Palestine.
So not everyone in Palestine is a muslim ...
"hip muslimah" LOL...love it!
Gladly for me, people usually guess where I'm from :)
I'm not always right, but I'm never wrong -Garfield
;-))
*WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOU KNEW YOU COULD NOT FAIL?*
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oops hello KH, did you come to say hi to us gals??
life's too short so make the most of it, you only live but once.......
Exactly Cornellian, its like if your an arab,you must be muslim (forgetting about the other Arabs who arent.)People tend to forget that muslims come from many other non arab countries...
I hate how people "box" other people purely by just looking at them...
this thread looks like a lady's thread
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alexa - i have the same prob with my nationality too, it will be fr south american , to italian ,to african but never what i really am.........lol
life's too short so make the most of it, you only live but once.......
Are you serious, maybe they feel the "aura" that you like lebanese people...
Actually you do look italian...
corne ... there is only thin line between those 2 ...
Hmmm my thoughts too Nadt. Since when did religion have a nationality ? :S
I'm not always right, but I'm never wrong -Garfield
probably because she dont looks like one Nadt hehe ...
some ppl do get a surprise when they find out that i am a muslim , when i ask them why they say ah ya just dont come by as a muslim.....hmmmm now even i am confused......lol
life's too short so make the most of it, you only live but once.......
ooo I know where Alexa looks from! And I don't believe her when she tells me she's from somewhere else! NOPE! lol
I'm not always right, but I'm never wrong -Garfield
Novi, why is it a shock that spicemom is muslim?
lol Alexa, look she was very young, i think it was just an age thing, but i thought it was hilarious...
what nationality are you again Alexa ???? Lol
what do they think you are Alexa?
yes i know novi, i wonder why........lol
life's too short so make the most of it, you only live but once.......
she was philipino Alexa..
lol novi, well arent you...lol...u must be if you are indonesian..
actually when i told one of the QL'er that you are a muslim he/she seems so shock spicemom Lol.
i had the same thing happen to me back home. just because i am a muslim they expect me to be of a certain race which i am not.
life's too short so make the most of it, you only live but once.......
then what arab nationality suppose to be Nadt? It is very similar with some of people who told me ... but you are an indonesian, you must be a muslim ???