Arabic classes

Arabic classes- so annoyed with myself that I didn’t' start them as soon as I arrived. I had been doing some private classes here but really didn't feel I retained any info or improved at all- but I must have a little because when I went to school (kalimat, in mohandiseen- highly recommended) I was able to jump into level 2 so had covered at least 3 weeks of intensive lessons worth. Not a complete waste of time or money then. I have met some lovely people there, living in Cairo for a huge range of reasons and all in class wanting to learn Arabic (amaya- the stuff people speak on the street- not fushat or reading or writing- although taught myself the alphabet form a book- was very proud of myself!!!) so moving into level 3 next week- another 3 weeks of 3 hrs a day 5 days per week. I have about 60/70 verbs I have to memorise- its scary stuff, but good- definitely making an improvement, slowly! It’s a challenge, but one I am quite enjoying- was strange being a student in class again after so many years away from formal education and after being a teacher for so long. Now the hardest job is finding people who will speak Arabic with me- most of the Egyptians I know want to practise their English…and since their English is usually much better than my Arabic then that’s what we end up talking in. Taxis are the best source of practise, and a few people in the music and dance scene who don’t speak English, but its still hard going! Guess part of that is my fault for living I Zamalek which has a huge percentage of foreigners living in it, so Egyptians living and working here are used to dealing in English