Studying Arabic on the streets of Philadelphia

The Presbyterian Historical Society is at 5th and Lombard Streets in Philadelphia, which is a healthy but pleasant 30-35 minute walk from my mom’s apartment, where I am staying. In the mornings, I walk over, listening, like many other pedestrians, to my headphones. I have been using my morning commute to study Arabic from some language CDs I loaded onto my ipod. It is a listen-and-repeat method, so I spend the mornings, walking around Philadelphia, talking aloud to myself in Arabic, asking questions like, “Is that Elhamra Street over there?” or “Would you like to eat something later?”