The "Idle Words" blog, home to the infamous "Dabblers and Blowhards" takedown of Paul Graham, also has a good article on Arabic (http://idlewords.com/2011/08/wh

The "Idle Words" blog, home to the infamous "Dabblers and Blowhards" takedown of Paul Graham, also has a good article on Arabic (http://idlewords.com/2011/08/why_arabic_is_terrific.htm http://idlewords.com/2011/08/why_arabic_is_terrific.htm). Opening paragraph: I just finished a summer studying Arabic at the Monterey Institute for International Studies, an enjoyable adventure that I hope to write about in more detail later. MIIS offers a nine-week program in a bunch of languages and is just down the road from a grim military counterpart called the Defense Language Institute, where young men and women learn how to eavesdrop on the nation's enemies, provided that the enemies speak slowly and limit their conversation to hobbies and the weather.