When you move to another country as an adult, the language flows around you like a river. Perhaps a child can immediately abandon himself to the current, but most older people will begin by picking ...

When I walked into Arabic class last week, Karam, my teacher, cheerily asked me how I was doing. I said, “Tamaam, hamdulillah,” which means, “Fine, thanks be to God.” But I was lying. I’d just spent a ...