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Learning arabic

Yitzhak Rabin

Hi all,

If this is in the wrong forum feel free to move it along.

I am interested in learning arabic in the evenings. I have already completed a basic course through my job. So i can read arabic script, and understand the basic grammar. However my vocabulary and spoken arabic is very poor.

What i would like to achieve is a decent coversational level of arabic, and also continue to improve my written and comprehension. Preferably a person who speaks in a lebanese dialect, however, that is not too important.

Thanks in advance!

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delop

Rosetta stone is what you need, I used it for russian and Im quite impressed, its an associative learning thing..

http://www.rosettastone.ie/

Yitzhak Rabin

thanks delop. I'm on the mobile at the moment so i can't look at the link. If you don't m
ind could you explain how it works? Is it an online course, or is there some face to face work too?

af_thefragile

yekahs wrote: »

thanks delop. I'm on the mobile at the moment so i can't look at the link. If you don't m
ind could you explain how it works? Is it an online course, or is there some face to face work too?

Its a software. It shows you pictures and stuff to teach you the language. Its supposed to be good but its quite pricey.
http://www.rosettastone.co.uk/learn-arabic?prid=rosettastone_ie&promo=ggie19t

For a free one you can try this place...
http://www.ummah.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?130-Beginners-Course

Yitzhak Rabin

Thanks for the info lads.

I was impressed with the rosetta stone site. Its pricey though.

Delop, did you buy the software package, or just the online access?

alex73

Arabic is a beautifal language.. but hard to learn for us anglo speakers. If you have the chance best would be to live in an Arabic speaking country.

Yitzhak Rabin

alex73 wrote: »

Arabic is a beautifal language.. but hard to learn for us anglo speakers. If you have the chance best would be to live in an Arabic speaking country.

Well with a bit of luck I will be next year. I just want to have a good grounding before I go. The OH is lebanese, so at least I'll have someone to practice with.

Sefirah

Rosetta Stone is crazy expensive- the BBC have a set of 2 CDs and a book which I found pretty good. I'm starting Arabic classes in college next Monday- yay!

FriarMo

Hello and Merh’aba! Hala wa Sahla!

First of all good on you for taking up Arabic, it isn’t the easiest of languages but not as hard as people make it out up to be, qawa’id and na’hu can be brutal (even for native speakers such as myself who have to deconstruct a language they’ve been speaking correctly all their lives to figure out which rules of grammar and syntax they were obeying all along!) but conversational Arabic can be surprisingly easy especially when you’re using it as a lingua franca in the Arab world- although the vocabulary in fush’a (classical) is daunting (the “Lisan al A’rab” dictionary I have runs to 18 volumes) because of the vastly differing dialects, Arabs from different regions tend to go for the lowest common denominator when talking to each other which limits them to the most commonly used words and a considerably more manageable lexicon for beginners. The other bit of good news is that spelling unlike that of the fiendishly awkward English language is quite straight forward.
I’d be quite happy to give conversational lessons and a bit of tutoring for free, I’m working on a research project at the moment on a Victorian professor of Arabic and “Hindustani” Mir Aulad Ali who lectured at Trinity for over 30 years, he was the private secretary of the King of Oudh and during his tenure in Ireland he influenced W.B Yeats and James Joyce among others and was even a member of the Gaelic League . I’d like to have a bit of a flavour of what Mir Ali went through teaching eager young Irish scholars who would later become the future orientalists and adventurers traversing the Nufoodh desert or civil servants in the East India company under the British Raj.

I’m from the fount of the Arabic Language so to speak; a Khaleeji that is a Gulf Arab or perhaps more accurately a Peninsular Arab, reared in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia ,my accent is that of the region including a bit of a Bedouin lexicon (my clan is the Al Mansouris an Aseel (noble) tribe who are considered to be one of the most nomadic of the Bedouin people, their territory spanned what is now parts of Al Dhafra, Liwa and Buraimi in the United Arab Emirates; the Qatar Peninsula; Parts of Oman; the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and the Empty Quarter desert and I have kinsmen in all those countries) my standard (classical) Arabic is also quite reasonable. My forte is what is commonly called the “Gulf”- Khaleeji dialect which linguistically comes under the “Southern Variety” that covers Kuwait ,Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and parts of Jordan and Iraq as well as pockets of the Sinai in Egypt and Badiyat Assham (or Syrian Desert), each area differs in accent but the dialect is the same. Geographically it covers the largest expanse in the Arabic world (but not by population as the Egyptian dialect holds that distinction though concentrated in a narrow strip either side of the Nile) arguably it is also the closest to classical Arabic(especially the Bedouin end of the spectrum) and I consider the annunciation of the letters the most correct ( While I’d place the Moroccan and Lebanese dialects as the least intelligible by other Arabs and most heavily influenced by their colonial past and the influence of the indigenous Berber language in the former’s case )

I cannot stress enough how important it is to get “M’kharij Al Alfadh”- your annunciation correctly from the beginning. To be able to establish the correct synaptic connections - or “muscle memory – from the start is essential and avoiding falling into the trap of sounding like a”khawaja” or “efrenj” ( the generic Arabic term for a foreigner derived from the word for the Franks). Arabic is not simply a language it’s an identity and when you are able to speak it convincingly you become to a large degree an Arab, as is the case with thousands of ethnic Iranians, Berber, Turks, Armenians, Indonesians etc… There’s a common saying “Anyone who speaks Arabic is an Arab” you’ll be privy to conversations and ways of life never really seen by an outsider. Well I’m quite relishing trying my hands as an Arab Henry Higgins! And who knows maybe I can pass you as a Sheikh or a Sheikha of the Bani Yas or the Aal Mindher or Perhaps a Princeling of the Aal Saud at an embassy ball :-D !

Aside from the pure lingual aspect I would love to introduce you to the culture of the Arabs- falconry to pearl diving, the nomadic life of the Bedouins and their code of chivalry to the heights of civilisation and scientific and intellectual progress in the Golden Age, the “modern” classical Music of Umm Kalthoum and Farid Shawqi to the Pop gracing the Arabic version of VH1 and MTV, and my own favourite the ancient and haunting classical Andalusian music of the Iberian Arabs, that has thankfully lived on among the Sephardic Jews, from the Nobel prize winning literature of Naguib Mahfouz and Nabati Poetry to the cinematography of Youssef Chahine, The different forms of religion practiced from the puritan to the mystical and the various ideologies and of course the cuisine (another favourite). But a complete picture should also include the unsavoury aspects as well- the murky politics, corruption, oppression , exploitation and the other failings need to be examined and understood. A particular area of interest of mine is the historical connections between Europe and the Arabs as well as those with Ireland (you’d be surprised to what degree those exists) this area can also be explored if so desired.

I’d be happy to help anyone without any prejudice to creed, colour ,political views, sexual orientation or skill level in their journey in becoming proficient and appreciating the Arabic language. Skype seems to be a handy enough medium for these sort of things when teaching at a distance and email for essays or written projects, I’ll try to make whatever time I can spare available, if you’d like a one off session to brush up or perhaps something more regular I’d be happy to oblige whenever I can. I generally split my time between the Dublin area and the country (though not quite a Culchie yet!-I’m a Bedu at heart and prefer wide open spaces) and travel to the Gulf regularly so the schedule can sometimes be hectic.

Well If you fancy giving it a go send me a PM or email me at m.alkabour(at)irisharabian(dot)ie Skype ID: TeachingArabic.

It honours me that you are learning my mother tongue and a joy to see that 150 years on the language is still being taught in Ireland, good luck!
All the best,
Ma’ assalama!
[snipped]

P.S Heres’s some encouragement on what you can achieve- this fella of Irish origin is famous in the Gulf, after mastering the language he managed to land himself a spot hosting his own TV programme, his ability to reproduce the dialect with all the idioms and turn of phrases even managed to convince me he was a local when I first heard him. Not to belabour the point but if you start off with the right pronunciation I believe that anyone taking up the language can reach a similar levels of proficiency.

“Saudi Cuisine with an Irish Twist” http://www.aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=7&id=10741
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SzgLupbwjo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT7ITH157SI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOgBr3ka33U&feature=related

An intriguing article exploring some of the possible Irish links with the Arab World-
“Is the Irish Language Spoken in Africa?” http://www.libraryireland.com/articles/IrishLanguageAfricaUJA7-1859/index.php

Yitzhak Rabin

Shukran Mohammed!

Thank you so much for the post, and your kind offer! I have sent you an email, and look forward to hearing from you!

AbuYusuf

Salam Alakium,

Dont go for rosetta stone as it only gives you the most basic of words and phrases. Get a teacher, for months I was trying to learn by myself and it was progressing really slowly but after I got a teacher it has been much better. However there are many resources online if getting a teacher is not possible. InshaAllah I will post some links later.

whydoc

The arabic language is so beautiful. You need to be patient at the beginning.
The best is to practice at the same time