Any tips for learning Arabic?

Question

Hey, I'm going to be a high school senior this year and I've had 6 years of Spanish, I can speak it pretty much fluently. I'm considering switching to Arabic in college, but I'd like to get a nice taste of it first. I know it's a h**l of a lot harder than Spanish or German so I'd like to get a head start on it.

If anyone could recommend some web sites, or a few good books (although my budget is very limited) I'd be appreciative. Also, if you have any experience learning it I'd like to hear how difficult you found it, and if you think it's worth it.

Thanks!

Answer 1

اهلاً (that's Ahlan, hello in Arabic)!

Like you, I started off learning Spanish and now I would say I speak the language pretty well, and then, I moved onto Arabic. It IS harder than Spanish, you are right, because it's unfamiliar. Learning one Arabic word is much harder than learning one Spanish word because at first, reading that word in Arabic script and remembering how it is spelled in Arabic is challenging, you don't instantly recognise it like you can with Spanish, since Spanish is so similar to English.

Are you going to be learning Modern Standard Arabic? Just incase you didn't know, there are 3 main types of Arabic. There is Classical Arabic, which is the language of the Qur'an. It's very hard to learn, and has strict and many language/grammar rules. This differs slightly from Modern Standard Arabic, which is used in newspapers and the popular pan-Arab media, and is more flexible, uses easier vocabulary etc. than Classical Arabic.

Then, there is many spoken dialects, this is the easiest language to learn and since this is the only form of Arabic used in general converstation and on the streets, it can be more useful (and seen as more chic) if you plan on chatting with people. Egyptian Arabic (Misry, as it's known as) is the most widely understood dialect, though not everyones favourite. Lebanese Arabic is also a nice idea.

I learned the script before learning the actual language, because then finding language resources would be easier, and learning words would be easier. I had a great book, called "Teach Yourself: Arabic Script" by John Mace. It was AMAZING and introduced vocabulary and grammar as it taught you the script. I highly recommend this book, and its a pretty cheap paperback.

Also, find some Arabic friends if you don't already have some. Arabs are generous people and they're usually very willing to help you out with any questions, or practise your pronunciation with you etc.

Arabic is a beautiful, and diverse language. I think learning is definitely worth it.

In the sources box, I'll leave some links for sites and books for you.

Good luck!

Ma3a Salaama :D

Answer 2

Some languages you can learn on your own, but some, like Arabic, you really need a teacher for. Arabic is harder than Spanish (at least for English-speakers) but I think it's a lot of fun to learn. You just have to understand that you'll be going at a much slower pace in Arabic than you have been going in Spanish. The first semester will be pretty much dedicated to learning the alphabet and perhaps a few nouns and adjectives. You won't even start learning verbs until your second semester. You probably won't learn past tense until your third semester.

Anyway, at least half of all university level Arabic classes in the US use the Alif Baa/Al Kitaab series of books. You can buy the first book, Alif Baa, for 25 bucks or so. Here's a link to it on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Alif-Baa-Introduct...

You can look through it and see what you think about Arabic.