“All Strangers Are Kin: Adventures in Arabic and the Arab World” is a new book written by Zora O’Neill about her travels through North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula as she studied the various Arabic dialects. “I wanted to talk about how different and multi-faceted the Arab world is,” says Ms. O’Neill. “And talking about that through language is the best introduction, because each place has its own little linguistic nuances and cultural differences, different food, different political considerations.”
The author travelled throughout Egypt, Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco, labeling her trip a “linguistic Grand Tour.” In each country, she took language classes and spoke to as many locals as possible. “[I would love for] people to get into studying Arabic for purely personal, passionate reasons,” says the author. “That’s where the connection is, and that’s where you make the real cultural exchange.”
