Arabic

I've been having Arabic tutoring twice a week, but am now a victim of my own success. Over the last 20 odd years, I've picked up a bit of Arabic (I'm quite useful on the repair of wheelbarrows), but it is all pretty dodgy dig arabic. Verbs are only employed in the imperative ("Give me the bucket", "Go away, boy!" "Stop!!" "Drink tea!") with only occasional phrases learnt holus bolus ("shemet howa" lit. tasting the breeze, means "hanging about"; "shu bit sowi??" (with hands raised in astonishment) means something in the order of "what the hell do you think you're doing??"). I have spent the last two years staring at the Arabic alphabet trying to learn to read and write. I got part way on the reading last BAP field season, because most road signs here are, helpfully, in Arabic and English. Also buses have their two destination points written on them, so driving along behind a bus for about half an hour gave me enough time to work out that it was going from Amman to Jerash, say.
So I didn't start lessons as a complete novice. However, Hilda is so please with my progress that on Wednesday she said, we've pretty much finished the past tense, just learn these extra 25 verbs and we can start the present tense on Saturday. So I came up to my room 2 hours ago to try and learn some vocab before my class at 10 tomorrow morning - and all I've done is check emails and write this blog!!
And since the armed guard outside the building spent the entire night last night entertaining his mates, who left their cars running while they chatted, and having his walky talky on volume setting 11 for dumb messages from the barracks (you see, the armed guard doesn't really have anything to do here, but they want to appear to be putting in an effort for security - but the slacker the guard the less likely there is to be a threat, which by and large I like, except when the guy talks ALL night outside our windows). So, I'm now too tired to learn ate, brought, sold, returned, slept over, felt jealous - when will I ever need to know that in conversation? - flew, left, emptied, filled, was hungry, entered, went, drank, did something, knew, understood, paid, drew, studied, lived in, moved something, walked, took, was absent, was afraid, became, slept, saw, said, drove, went around or died.
(early page of homework - at least my handwriting is going well)