The Middle East is a region rich in culture, history and language. Many people on the Western side of the world, however, don’t have a clue about what it is like to live in, or even hold a simple conversation with someone from the Middle East.

According to Islam Farag, a graduate teaching assistant in the department of modern and classical languages at Missouri State University, the Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), or al-fuṣḥá, is easier than it first seems. He said many common English words have Arabic translations that are extremely similar.

Learn some Arabic

MSA is the literary standard across the majority of the Middle East, North Africa and the Horn of Africa. It is also one of the six official languages of the United Nations, making it one of the most-spoken in the world.

Cultural differences

Mastering the language is one thing, but there are also some important cultural differences between the Middle East and the United States.

“When you visit you have to be careful of two things,” said Farag. “First is the personal space; it doesn’t exist over there. You might be surrounded by many people, and that is totally normal there. Second, when you greet people of the same gender, it is different than greeting people of the opposite gender.”

According to Farag, when a man greets a man they will shake hands, hug and kiss twice on the cheek. The same goes for women greeting women. When a man and a woman meet, they either shake hands or just wave and say “As-salāmu ʿalaykum” (“peace be upon you”).

Modern Standard Arabic, along with many other language courses, are taught at the Foreign Language Institute at the Jim D. Morris Center. Courses are available to high school and college students in southwest Missouri, as well as people in the community who want to further their knowledge in a foreign language.