Post: #1

I'd like to start a thread that focuses primarily on the Arabic language.

Please post if anyone has any programs/classes, studying techniques, or thoughts on learning Arabic. I'll start by adding stuff that has helped me out and continue to do so as time permits.

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36 Arabic children's books. These books are for kids who are just starting to read and write Arabic. They've helped me quite a bit.

Arabian Sinbad is a pretty easy to follow cartoon with Arabic and English subtitles. My teacher recommended them, but I could only find 2 of them on youtube. 1, 2.

Post: #2

One thing I've scoured the net looking for is a free typing program to improve my Arabic.

This best one I've found thus far is the Arabic Typing Tutor.

Post: #3

(03-27-2014 09:38 PM)ATTA Wrote:  One thing I've scoured the net looking for is a free typing program to improve my Arabic.

This best one I've found thus far is the Arabic Typing Tutor.

Unless you won't have your own laptop while living in the Mid East, isn't it a better use of time to use the QWERTY phonetic layout that uses mostly the same letters for the equivalent Arabic characters? I know there is one for Mac.

Post: #4

(03-27-2014 09:45 PM)PoosyWrecker Wrote:  

(03-27-2014 09:38 PM)ATTA Wrote:  One thing I've scoured the net looking for is a free typing program to improve my Arabic.

This best one I've found thus far is the Arabic Typing Tutor.

Unless you won't have your own laptop while living in the Mid East, isn't it a better use of time to use the QWERTY phonetic layout that uses mostly the same letters for the equivalent Arabic characters? I know there is one for Mac.

I think it is a matter of preference.

The Arabic world uses the IBM PC Arabic or the Sakhr/MSX Arabic Keyboard layouts and those are what I would like to use. When you enable the ability to change keyboards on Windows, the layout is the IBM PC one.

Post: #5

Anyone attend any Arabic language schools in the region?

Post: #6

I was taught a bit in the Army for about 6 months....

Then when we got there, the Afghan National Army guys told us it was all wrong. The only word we could say correctly was "stop"

That's when I gave up.

Post: #7

(03-28-2014 02:09 AM)spalex Wrote:  I was taught a bit in the Army for about 6 months....

Then when we got there, the Afghan National Army guys told us it was all wrong. The only word we could say correctly was "stop"

That's when I gave up.

Don't they speak Pashtun and Dari in Afghanistan, not Arabic? No wonder you were getting things wrong.

Post: #8

(03-28-2014 02:11 AM)Sp5 Wrote:  

(03-28-2014 02:09 AM)spalex Wrote:  I was taught a bit in the Army for about 6 months....

Then when we got there, the Afghan National Army guys told us it was all wrong. The only word we could say correctly was "stop"

That's when I gave up.

Don't they speak Pashtun and Dari in Afghanistan, not Arabic? No wonder you were getting things wrong.

Yeah that is true. Its is pretty mixed on the south west corner with lots of people speaking Pashto. But then a lot of locals speak Brahui, Balochi or Dehwari.
They all understand a lot of Arabic. I guess its like their English.

Post: #9

They understand a bit of Arabic, because Arabic is the language of the Koran and muslims are supposed to study it in Arabic. However, it will be the classical, literal form of Arabic, rather than the colloquial forms that are spoken in the Arabic world.

This causes problems for those studying the language, because the literal form will not be what you are hearing on the streets. Although, the Gulf region tends to speak a form of Arabic closer to the literal.

Post: #10

(03-28-2014 03:20 AM)spalex Wrote:  Yeah that is true. Its is pretty mixed on the south west corner with lots of people speaking Pashto. But then a lot of locals speak Brahui, Balochi or Dehwari.
They all understand a lot of Arabic. I guess its like their English.

I know they learn Arabic through Koran studies, but that's pretty formal and maybe not like MSA. It's like trying to speak English to a Thai who knows some English - your pronunciation might not be the problem.

I am thinking of going to Cairo to study it, there are a couple of schools that offer 5 hour per day 3 hrs MSA/ 2 hrs Egyptian courses at a reasonable price, and living is cheap in Cairo.

Post: #11

(03-28-2014 06:59 AM)Sp5 Wrote:  

(03-28-2014 03:20 AM)spalex Wrote:  Yeah that is true. Its is pretty mixed on the south west corner with lots of people speaking Pashto. But then a lot of locals speak Brahui, Balochi or Dehwari.
They all understand a lot of Arabic. I guess its like their English.

I know they learn Arabic through Koran studies, but that's pretty formal and maybe not like MSA. It's like trying to speak English to a Thai who knows some English - your pronunciation might not be the problem.

I am thinking of going to Cairo to study it, there are a couple of schools that offer 5 hour per day 3 hrs MSA/ 2 hrs Egyptian courses at a reasonable price, and living is cheap in Cairo.

In my opinion... The best way to Learn a language is to study it full time at some kind of school. Obviously it helps if you are in a country that speaks that same language. But that isn't as important as you'd think. You are probably going to still be talking English to strangers until you have learnt quite a lot.

going 4 hours a night, 2 times a week is shit.
Trying to teach it to yourself is useless because you will never learn the grammar properly.
You can only take it upon yourself to learn once you can already read and understand a lot of the language.

So yeah, studying it in a school in Cairo is probably going to be the fastest way to become a proficient Arabic speaker.

Post: #12

Haha our army is teaching Arabic to people going to Afghanistan?

"Military Intelligence"

"Well boys we will be invading Venezuela soon, time to study up on our Greek. Please take out Pericles' Funeral Oration..."

Post: #13

I would love to learn Arabic, though I know its complicated etc. What would be a good resource to start absolutely basic LEVANTINE ARABIC? I live in an area with many Lebanese people.

Post: #14

(03-28-2014 02:10 PM)Sonsowey Wrote:  I would love to learn Arabic, though I know its complicated etc. What would be a good resource to start absolutely basic LEVANTINE ARABIC? I live in an area with many Lebanese people.

If you're just starting out, learn the alphabet first and how it all works. Then hit up Pimsleur Eastern Arabic. It's pretty good. I used the Modern Standard Arabic Pimsleur courses before I started taking formal classes.

You won't know what's going on at first, but once you begin to branch out after getting real familiar with the fundamentals of the language, your studies with formal classes/programs/tutors/etc., will make Pimsleur a lot easier to grasp and practice.

Post: #15

Would anyone by chance know where I could find a resource that lists the most common Arabic words? Perhaps the 300 to 400 most common. Preferably with an audio element to it.

I have found a few mediocre sites and print/electronic material that showcases the most common words, but they lack an audio component.

Post: #16

What Arabic are you learning? It varies from country to country.

You might struggle reading it as there is no grammar. The best way to tackle reading is if you buy the children's books.

Post: #17

(03-28-2014 05:48 PM)L M McCoy Wrote:  What Arabic are you learning? It varies from country to country.

You might struggle reading it as there is no grammar. The best way to tackle reading is if you buy the children's books.

I'm not struggling to read per se, I just like having the audio element too.

I'm learning the Modern Standard.

In the first post, I put up some links to pretty easy to follow children's books.

Post: #18

(03-28-2014 02:07 PM)Sonsowey Wrote:  Haha our army is teaching Arabic to people going to Afghanistan?

"Military Intelligence"

"Well boys we will be invading Venezuela soon, time to study up on our Greek. Please take out Pericles' Funeral Oration..."

Well, they do use the same alphabet. Which is one of the main reasons for it.
The other reason is that the the worlds militaries use Kuwait as a staging base. Where a lot of soldiers have interactions with local people and they have to tell them to fuck off away from the base.

Post: #19

(03-28-2014 05:40 PM)ATTA Wrote:  Would anyone by chance know where I could find a resource that lists the most common Arabic words? Perhaps the 300 to 400 most common. Preferably with an audio element to it.

I have found a few mediocre sites and print/electronic material that showcases the most common words, but they lack an audio component.

A Frequency Dictionary of Arabic:

http://www.amazon.com/Frequency-Dictiona...0415444349

Post: #20

(04-01-2014 09:42 PM)Sp5 Wrote:  

(03-28-2014 05:40 PM)ATTA Wrote:  Would anyone by chance know where I could find a resource that lists the most common Arabic words? Perhaps the 300 to 400 most common. Preferably with an audio element to it.

I have found a few mediocre sites and print/electronic material that showcases the most common words, but they lack an audio component.

A Frequency Dictionary of Arabic:

http://www.amazon.com/Frequency-Dictiona...0415444349

Yeah. I've seen that. I make flashcards using the dictionary, but I haven't bought it. I just go to Memrise and it has all 5,000 words there with an audio component.

Post: #21

My heart was warmed to see this thread. I have something to offer the discussion. I've spent many years studying this language and (years ago) qualified under the military's defense language proficiency test.

For general principles, check out one of my old ROK articles:

http://www.returnofkings.com/15196/15-la...self-study

In the comments section, I made a very brief suggestion on useful Arabic language books, recordings, and resources:

You're going to have to learn the formal register (al-fusha) and a colloquial dialect concurrently. The distribution of the dialects is as follows: North African (Maghribi), Egyptian/Sudanese, Iraqi, Gulf (Saudi Arabia & other gulf states), and Greater Syria (Syria, Lebanon, Jordan). I prefer the Syrian dialect, for personal and other reasons. The Egyptian style of speech is well known due to the influence of Egyptian films and media.
As I said above, don't make a big deal about this. As a non-native speaker, no one is going to expect you to speak like a local.
For the formal language, I recommend:

Schulz, Krahl, et al: Standard Arabic: An Elementary/Intermediate Course.

Dickins & Watson: Standard Arabic: An Advanced Course
These two are great. Also widely used is:

Brustad et al: Al Kitaab Fii Ta'allum Al Arabiyya (multiple volumes). This series is pretty good, but boring.

The best reference grammar available is:

Karin Ryding: Reference Grammar of Modern Standard Arabic. Authoritative, complete, and well indexed.

For the dialect study (al-'aamiyya):

Liddicoat et al: Syrian Colloquial Arabic (This is a fantastic course, made by an Australian company. Highly recommended)

Karin Ryding: Formal Spoken Arabic (Very basic, but a good introduction to a blend of formal/colloquial registers).

I'll do my best to respond to other questions, where I believe I am competent to answer. The most important things with learning this (or any) language are:

1. Continuous, steady work over time. No days off.
2. Don't psych yourself out with all the bulllshit about how "hard" Arabic is. It's a language like any other, spoken by human beings.

Post: #22

(03-28-2014 02:10 PM)Sonsowey Wrote:  I would love to learn Arabic, though I know its complicated etc. What would be a good resource to start absolutely basic LEVANTINE ARABIC? I live in an area with many Lebanese people.

The very best introduction on the market to Syrian colloquial Arabic (and Lebanon is part of the bilad as-Shaam) is:

Liddicoat et al, Syrian Colloquial Arabic.

Please also see the other references I mentioned in my previous comment. You will need to learn standard written Arabic alongside any of the colloquial forms. Integrating everything into a comprehensive whole will help you retain it all better.

Post: #23

Other points:

The best series of flashcards are those put out by the Tuttle Publishing Co. I think they're based in Australia. There are two sets of cards, and together they cover thousands of key vocabulary words, with examples used in sentences. I've gotten a lot of good use out of these.

A.F.L. Beeston's "Modern Written Arabic: An Approach To The Basic Structures" is a unique volume to add to your language library. It focuses on commonly encountered media Arabic formulaisms, and how to interpret them.

I also have a lot of recommendations for grammars, readers, and lexicons, if anyone wants to hear them. I don't recommend anything I have not personally field-tested, and know that really works.

Watch Arabic television on the internet or on satellite often. There are many, many stations. Try the BBC's livelink for starters:

http://www.livestation.com/en/bbc-arabic

Post: #24

As always, I recommend Michel Thomas courses. They have an Egyptian Arabic course, which develops solid knowledge of how to actually use the language in the fastest time possible. All you need from there is vocab, which can be learned from other supplement courses

Post: #25

Learnt Arabic for the last 5 yrs and even now I'm still not 100% on it (hardly practice it these days). It's not something you can learn overnight and I highly recommend to take classes/read on net/etc in classical arabic first, since that's the foundation for colloquial arabic they speak in the MidEast. Write/Read with vowels included then slowly remove them once you get the swing of it since ALL newspapers in Arabic have no vowels whatsoever.