A Syrian mother in Massachusetts worried her young daughter was losing her formal Arabic — fusha. So, she came up with a plan that involved cartoons dubbed in Arabic.
Israeli linguist Arik Sadan is an authority on the Arabic language. Palestinian Sobhi Bahloul is Gaza's best-known Hebrew teacher. They share a love for the other's native tongue. But these two linguists have never met.
Joy Diaz speaks English and Spanish. When she met her daughter's Arabic-speaking teacher, she realized how many Arabic words she also knows.
Spoiler alert: A behind the scenes look at foreign correspondents that you may not want to know! A good interpreter, or "fixer," can make the difference not only between a good story and a bad one, but between life and death.
Governments and news outlets still can't seem to agree on what to call the militants who've named themselves the Islamic State, and now the French government is using yet another term: Daesh, an Arabic acronym. But why can't we figure out what to call these guys?