[Publib] Reference Questions

[Sarah Hartman]

I had a young woman ask where she could find the books to help her 
learn "Egyptian."  I asked her if she wanted to learn Arabic, which 
is spoken in Egypt today, or if she was interested in the languages 
used in ancient Egypt (like Middle Egyptian, with hieroglyphs), or 
maybe Coptic?  She said, "No, I want to learn Egyptian."  She was 
sure modern Egyptians don't speak Arabic and still use hieroglyphs, 
and she didn't like any of the options I gave her.  Then she asked 
for books on learning "just African."  She wanted to go to Egypt and 
know some basic travel lingo, so I eventually convinced her to take 
some Arabic materials, but she was so disappointed and I don't think 
she really believed me!

Sarah Hartman
Adult Services Librarian
Middleton (WI) Public Library