Where have all the vowels gone?

Here is a picture of me with Asma, my neighbor and Arabic tutor. We are the same age, both have husbands teaching at AUI, and both have two little girls. They lived in the States for 9 years, so her English is excellent. I love her perspective on things because she understands the American mindset as well as the Moroccan. She has become a very good friend and we have to be careful that we study language together instead of chatting! Asma is fluent in Moroccan Arabic, Standard Arabic, French and English.

The hard thing about Moroccan Arabic is that they shortened the Arabic words from which they came by taking out the vowels. So you end up saying things like "khdmtkm" leaving you feeling sentimental about every vowel you ever knew. The process is slow and I find myself frustrated and wishing I could fast-forward several years and be able to speak without major effort, but that is not possible! "Shwia ba shwia" as they say here - "little by little..."