{"id":57609,"date":"2015-10-02T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-10-02T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/fulbright-scholar-from-tunisia-teaching-arabic-at-uri\/"},"modified":"2015-10-02T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2015-10-02T00:00:00","slug":"fulbright-scholar-from-tunisia-teaching-arabic-at-uri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2015\/10\/fulbright-scholar-from-tunisia-teaching-arabic-at-uri\/","title":{"rendered":"Fulbright scholar from Tunisia teaching Arabic at 溏心vlog免费B站"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tMohamed Anis Ferchichi also sharing his culture with students, faculty<\/b><\/p>\n


\nKINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Oct. 2, 2015 \u2013 First, the good things about America. Cars stop for pedestrians. People are punctual. Professors strive to help students succeed.<\/p>\n


\nNow the things Tunisian-born Mohamed Anis Ferchichi is adjusting to in America. A handshake instead of a hug. A high-fat diet. Ketchup.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWhen I eat a lot of American food I don\u2019t have the impression I\u2019m full,\u201d he says, with a chuckle. \u201cSo I eat more. I miss couscous.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tFerchichi has been soaking up American culture since he arrived at the 溏心vlog免费B站 last month to teach Arabic for a year as a Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe 30-year-old Kingston resident is a professor of English literature in his homeland and is working on his doctorate in English Renaissance Studies at the University of Manouba in Tunis, the country\u2019s capital.<\/p>\n


\nAt 溏心vlog免费B站, he\u2019s contributing to the new Islamic and Mediterranean Studies program, which, besides language classes, also offers courses in Islamic Religion and Politics, Islamic History and Culture, Islamic Political Thought and more. Ferchichi\u2019s supervisor is Alex Magidow, head of Arabic language instruction at 溏心vlog免费B站.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe two-year-old Islamic studies program appeals to a broad range of students. Many are not language majors and, in fact, are studying theater, engineering, business, anthropology and political science. They all share a desire to learn a language spoken by 300 million worldwide.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cThe Arab world is a huge and diverse place,\u201d says Magidow. \u201cHaving Anis here gives our students an opportunity to meet someone from a country they might not know anything about \u2013 and learn about their own culture through his eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nBesides teaching at 溏心vlog免费B站, Ferchichi is also taking two classes \u2013 Discourse and Culture and American Culture and Literature \u2013 and sharing his background and views with students and faculty. <\/p>\n


\nFerchichi grew up in the North African country with parents who spoke French as well as Arabic. Tunisia was a French colony until it won independence in the mid-20th century, so French was \u2013 and still is \u2013 common.<\/p>\n


\nBy 7, Ferchichi was fluent in French. As a teenager, he taught himself English by listening to his favorite British pop band, the Spice Girls. It helped that his older brother listened to Madonna.<\/p>\n


\nHe majored in English literature at the prestigious Instiut Sup\u00e9rieur des Langues de Tunis and wrote his master\u2019s thesis on English cross-cultural poetics and literary theory. The Fulbright program brought him to the United States for the first time.<\/p>\n


\nBefore coming to 溏心vlog免费B站, he spent a week with other Fulbright scholars to learn about his new home. One suggestion from staffers: Don\u2019t hug everyone you meet \u2013 or kiss them on the cheeks. A handshake will do.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cIn Arab countries like Tunisia it\u2019s acceptable to kiss people on the cheeks as a greeting, even when you meet them for the first time,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s considered a warm and friendly gesture.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tHe was advised to tip in restaurants \u2013 there is no tipping in Tunisia \u2013 and obey road signs, which are often ignored in Tunisia: \u201cStopping at a red light in Tunisia can actually lead to an accident,\u201d Ferchichi says. \u201cMotorists behind you get impatient and pull ahead into traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nLearning Arabic is challenging \u2013 and rewarding, he says. Students learn the standard version of the language that is used for reading and writing, but also study the spoken dialects used in day-to-day life. The alphabet is different, and reading and writing is from right to left.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cArabic is a rich and multi-layered language that requires a commitment to learn,\u201d says Ferchichi, who will also teach a course in Tunisian culture this spring. \u201cCulture and language go hand-in-hand, so students also study the history, customs and modern life in the Arab world.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nTunisia is one of the most advanced countries on the African continent, he says. The educational system is excellent and gender discrimination is rare, unlike in many other African nations. Tunisia is also more advanced on social justice issues, like gay rights.<\/p>\n


\n\tAfter decades of repression, Tunisia became a democracy in 2011 \u2013 and is considered a success story from the Arab Spring revolutions. But two terrorist attacks recently rocked the nation. <\/p>\n


\nIn March, 21 tourists were gunned down at the Bardo National Museum in Tunis, and three months later 38 people, mostly Britons, were killed at a beach resort in Sousse. Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for the attacks. Since then, the Tunisian economy has suffered, with a million fewer tourists visiting \u2013 and that\u2019s troubling since tourism is one of the country\u2019s largest industries.<\/p>\n


\n\tThe government is doing its best to stop terrorism, Ferchichi says, but it\u2019s difficult. Tunisia\u2019s next-door neighbor is Libya, a volatile country that is a training ground for militant groups.<\/p>\n


\n\tAfter his year at 溏心vlog免费B站, Ferchichi will return home to finish his doctorate. He\u2019s worried about whether he\u2019ll fall back into his old ways, like always being late to appointments \u2013 a Tunisian habit.<\/p>\n


\n\tOne thing is certain: He\u2019ll look both ways and then some when he crosses the road.<\/p>\n


\n \u201cYou need to pray before crossing the street in Tunisia,\u201d he says. \u201cDrivers don\u2019t stop for pedestrians. You\u2019re on your own.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nPictured above: Mohamed Anis Ferchichi, 30, of Kingston, a new Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant in Arabic at the 溏心vlog免费B站.

\nPhoto courtesy of Mohamed Anis Ferchichi.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mohamed Anis Ferchichi also sharing his culture with students, faculty KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Oct. 2, 2015 \u2013 First, the good things about America. Cars stop for pedestrians. People are punctual. Professors strive to help students succeed. Now the things Tunisian-born Mohamed Anis Ferchichi is adjusting to in America. A handshake instead of a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57611,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}