Monday, 27 Nov 2023

It has been a while since I last filmed any videos. The videos I recently posted were filmed just before PIPOC, right before my conference.

Today, I'd like to continue my conversation partner series. I've discussed Alex and Martine, both of whom are French. Now, I want to talk about someone I've known the longest based on my spreadsheet – my Excel. I've known him for almost two years, precisely 623 days, if memory serves me right. To calculate this, I find the difference between the latest call I had with him and our initial interaction, usually a text message.

So, according to my count, we've known each other for over 620-something days. It seems low because our last call was in September, and now it's November. He recently started a new job. To provide context, when I first spoke to him, he had just graduated and went through a year of military service in Egypt, his home country. He lives in Alexandria. After finishing his military service, he spent a few months job hunting before landing his current position. That's how long I've known him.

The last time I heard from him, he mentioned being in an accident and having some medical issues, resulting in a brief hospitalization. However, I won't delve into the details; I'll focus on him. His name is Hisham. He wasn't my first language partner, but he's the oldest in this conversation partner series acquantaince-wise. When I say conversation partner, I mean someone with whom I wanted to exchange and practice Arabic. He was the first I actively sought to practice Arabic with.

Hisham is around three or four years younger than me. Over the past two years, we've talked around 20 times, given the constraints of his military service, which limited our communication. Despite the gaps, I'm confident we'll stay in touch. He wanted to practice English with me.

I recall his English being quite decent initially, possibly at a high B1 or low B2 level. After two years, I believe his English has reached a level comparable to mine, which is impressive. I'm proud of his efforts – watching TV shows, listening to podcasts – all contributing to his improvement. I only helped him a little bit in my opinion.

To sum up, Hisham is from Egypt, residing in Alexandria, about four years younger than me, currently working. He recently dealt with health issues but is returning to work soon. We met on Reddit and communicate mainly on WhatsApp, because calling in Egypt via WhatsApp poses some challenges. There's some censorship going on in the country regarding WhatsApp calls. That's why I use other apps to call my conversation partners such as Discord, Skype and Telegram. Overall, he is a nice, brilliant guy who is committed to self-improvement. I wish him all the best.

Full video: