It has been becoming clear to me why so many Arabs here know Hebrew as well.  Arabic is so much more complex than Hebrew – more letters, more sounds.  It must be a cinch to simplify…  I don’t know yet if there are more words – but it has taken me months to learn letters, and as far as sounds are concerned = well, remember, I’m tongue-tied and can barely pronounce words in English.  If it weren’t so important for me to learn Arabic, I’d have found a simpler hobby.   And with our isolation, I never get a chance to speak Arabic with anyone.  Hell, I barely get a chance to speak English….