So, how is everyone?

Currently I'm wading through the Eckehard Schulz book, just reading the dialogues and texts. I also just purchased the Dilworth Parkinson text "Using Arabic Synonyms", which is really quite good.

Blah - its been forever since I've studied and I just took a language assessment test and scored even worse than I expected to - and I expected to do pretty badly. My speaking/listening exam was so embarrassing - I completely forgot basically every word of Arabic I had ever learned! I just kept thinking that the examiners must be thinking "Why did she even bother?"

So I desperately need to motivate and get back to studying, even if I have to start all over at basic Arabic.

There are some interesting recent publications listed on Amazon, but no reviews yet. I just made a wishlist of books I'd like. Now to convince my wife I really need them. The first and the second listed are very new, but look intriguing...

Media Arabic: A Coursebook for Reading Arabic News (Paperback) by Alaa Elgibali and Nevenka Korica
Intermediate Arabic Workbook: For Revision and Practice (Paperback), by John Mace
Basic Arabic Workbook: For Revision and Practice (Paperback), by John Mace
Modern Arabic Short Stories: A Bilingual Reader (Paperback), by Ronak Husni (Editor), Newman (Editor)
A Reader of Modern Arabic Short Stories (Hardcover), by Sabry Hafez (Editor), Catherine Cobham (Editor)
Musical Arabic, Chants, Rhythms and Music for Learning Arabic at Any Age (Paperback), by Lonnie Dai Zovi (Editor), Ed Saxon (Illustrator)