Learning the language - yay or nay?

Good morning expats & denizens!

its the first week back from the big break, the long weekend, the best thing to happen to office monkeys (or anyone other than teachers who get half the year off anyway ) and it is time to discuss a very important topic: the local language.

I have seen countless expats in Kuwait, from various different countries and backgrounds, working a multitude of different jobs, and with different levels of understanding in Arabic.

For example, I have a Romanian friend that can carry on a conversation in arabic so well you would think he was Lebanese or Syrian.

On the other hand, there are those that have been in kuwait for quite some time (years) and cannot string two arabic words together to save their life.

now when i say learn arabic i do not mean get to the level of proficiency where you can discuss the motion of substances on our planet i.e. thermodynamics or the effects of fossil fuels on our atmosphere, but be able to do the following:

1) Greet
2) Ask for directions
3) Get your point across

for any seasoned traveler, it is instantly noticeable that when you greet a person on your travels in their local language you immediately make them more friendly - case in point, if you have ever traveled to Thailand for shopping, the first things you learn are how to say sawatdi khap, khap khun khap, khun chu arai khap (Good morning, how are you, what is your name)? you then follow it up with nee tao lai khap (how much is this) and the deal sealer - lot dai mai khap (make it cheaper) (I visited thailand in 2009 and still remember the touristic lingo i learnt before going)

what are the benefits of learning arabic? for starters, you can communicate with anyone in the middle east, or any Muslim (since the Quran is written in arabic - i found this very useful during a trip to Pakistan where the local language was Urdu).

So, whether you are an expat currently residing in Kuwait or a hopeful hoping to come to kuwait, make the effort to pick up a few phrases here and there, it will reward you ten-fold.

the oracle has spoken.

have a great day!