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What Arabic Should I Learn

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Standard arabic was the offset strange linguistic communication I learned to fluency.

I started most 17 years agone when I was just starting college and information technology took me a full 3 years to achieve a betoken where I felt comfortable communicating in it and understanding people when they spoke to me (which I always say is the most difficult function about learning another language).

Over the last decade I've travelled to the Heart East for language immersion many times and had some pretty amazing experiences along the way such as almost marrying a girl who only spoke Standard arabic.

But you know later on all these years of learning other languages as well as doing Masters research on language acquisition, I expect back in retrospect on my feel with Standard arabic and I can at present encounter a lot of things that I would of done differently which would have helped me learn a lot faster and more than finer than I did back then.

Like I said, it took me about 3 years to reach a point where I was speaking Arabic fluently.

And agreement people when they spoke back to me.

That'due south quite a long time fifty-fifty though I was very determined.

So if I had the experience and knowledge 13 years ago that I have at present, I'g certain I would have had much improve results.

Here'due south what I would practise if I had the chance to start over again (and what you should do if you're but starting now):

one. Choose a dialect from the commencement and stick with it

If you're reading this and you've decided to acquire Standard arabic but don't know anything about it, it's important that you know in that location are lots of different 'Arabics'.

People from the West coast of Africa right across to Asia speak Arabic and everywhere you go it sounds totally different, has different words, different grammar and in some cases sounds like an entirely different language (yet still called "Arabic").

So earlier anyone learns Standard arabic they demand to determine what office of the Arab world they're interested in and make a conclusion to stick with that particular diversity of Arabic at least for the fourth dimension being.

You lot're non going to become far if you divide your attending (I say the same nearly learning any two languages at the aforementioned fourth dimension).

In the early days I started out with Levantine (Palestinian) and Iraqi Arabic, and also Modern Arabic for reading (the formal dialect of the media).

I eventually switched to Egyptian and concluded upward spending the next 10 years of my life focused mainly on Egypt and getting my Egyptian Arabic to a high level but if I had of just chosen Egyptian from the showtime I could have made much more than effective employ of my time.

That'southward not to say that Levantine, Iraqi and MSA didn't benefit my Egyptian.

It definitely did.

Just it would have been better to focus on i dialect from the outset.

Our resources TalkInArabic.com currently offers viii spoken varieties of Arabic.

We as well recommend this resource for Egyptian Standard arabic.

2. I would not endeavour to learn Modern Standard Standard arabic commencement

Or even at the same time every bit learning a spoken dialect.

I say choose a variety of Arabic and stick with it simply if your goal is to learn to speak Arabic, then forget near Mod Arabic and focus on something people actually speak.

Mod Standard Arabic isn't spoken by anyone on Earth as a native language. It's archaic, information technology'southward grammatically more complicated to larn than spoken dialects and you volition understand virtually nobody when you travel to the Arab globe (apart from the TV).

Relieve yourself the regret and read this article I wrote which explains why I'm so confronting learning it offset.

I made the mistake of devoting quite a bit of time to information technology in the early stages and getting continually frustrated when it conflicted with everything I was learning about Egyptian.

As I said to a higher place, it's not that it didn't assistance me in the end (especially having worked in translation in recent years), simply at the fourth dimension it would accept been better not to.

3. Learn the alphabet immediately and not just resort to Arabizi / Franco Arabic

If yous want to learn Arabic, don't be put off by the alphabet!

Arabic script is actually what's called an abjad which means it's an alphabet primarily made upwardly of consonants without vowels.

This means that a word like computer written in Arabic looks similar this: km**b* ywtr .*

The problem is when you see a word written similar this and yous've never encountered information technology earlier, it'due south very hard or impossible to know how information technology'due south pronounced unless you tin can hear information technology.

You can guess but you simply can't know (y'all exercise improve at this at college levels and can make more accurate guesses).

I think this is 1 of the master reasons why people avoid the alphabet birthday and use materials with transliterations.

This is a mistake.

The matter is – yes information technology will be confusing and difficult to read at get-go just as long every bit you have quality material with sound and/or a native speaker to listen to (all very easily accessible these days either in person or online), you'll become used to it.

Have you ever seen this earlier?

There take been studies which have proven that when we read text, we don't read every alphabetic character of every word. We see the outer letters, but the ones on the within can be scrambled up.

Chances are we won't even discover mistakes while we're reading.

What this means is that when you get used to Arabic words – just like English – you lot're not actually spelling the word out anyhow.

Y'all're just recognizing the image of the discussion in a sense.

So for example if I take a simple give-and-take similar كتاب, I know instantly by looking at this give-and-take without spelling out it'southward individual letters what it is and what it means.

I've associated the paradigm of that word with sound and meaning.

The problem is if you lot always resort to Arabizi / Franco Standard arabic, you'll never improve at this. Information technology's a lazy mode out and will touch yous majorly afterwards on.

Also, pretty much all good quality resources for Arabic use the Arabic alphabet.

Y'all're missing out on quality material if you lot avoid it.

I fabricated the mistake early on trying to just write Arabic using English letters. This acquired delays for me subsequently on downwards the track.

The alphabet'south a slice of block as I explained here and so why not take some time to learn information technology?

4. I would recognize and practice the importance of Arab acculturation and absorption from day 1

This is one of the most important things I'll tell y'all.

To the Jews I became a Jew.

To the Greeks I became a Greek.

Every time I step off a plane somewhere new in the earth this ancient scrap of wisdom that I alive my life by comes back to me (admittedly way out of context but still!).

Assimilators learn languages better than anyone else.

They appreciate and empathise other cultures meliorate than anyone else.

And vitally, they earn the respect and trust of local people better than anyone else.

This is one matter I was always mindful of even when I started with Arabic and I'd do it all again.

To the Arabs I became an Arab.

There'south a large difference between learning Arabic and condign Arab.

Of grade you'll never become an Arab in the literal sense but information technology's a mindset that volition drive yous to succeed with the language.

I've applied this aforementioned principle in every country I've lived in effectually the world while learning the local languages and I e'er earn respect from local people for information technology.

The one thing that really separates what I do on this blog from most other language learning blogs out at that place is that I take a very holistic arroyo to language learning which encompasses complete absorption into the target linguistic communication civilisation.

For me language immersion and cultural immersion cannot be separated.

As far every bit I'm concerned linguistic communication fluency but comes about when y'all're fluent in the culture also (and so to speak!).

I often see people besides who say things like "I want to learn Arabic but I don't really similar Arab culture."

My response is "Forget it. You've already failed."

If you lot don't respect and appreciate the culture and its people then don't waste your time.

And if y'all want to truly excel in any language, strive to digest.

5. I would devote time in the starting time to surrounding myself with and listening to the target dialect

Exist a wing on the wall in every Arabic speaking community yous tin detect.

I can't emphasize this enough if you want to acquire Arabic equally quickly as possible.

Bold you're living in a Western state in or close by a major urban center – y'all've probably got Arab community groups and events going on somewhere.

I attended every event I could when I started Standard arabic (Arabic-speaking churches, Islamic events, cultural festivals, refugee centers). If I even suspected that there were going to be Standard arabic speakers there, I was there.

If I started again I'd be fifty-fifty more than active in finding every single opportunity to be around people and if this wasn't possible, I'd at least have Arabic media playing in my house every twenty-four hours but then my ears adjust to it and Skyping with Arabic speakers daily.

6. I would observe Arabic teachers who don't simply drill grammar but teach with a communicative style in the dialect I'yard learning

I hate to say this but about native Arabic teachers take one of ii common problems:

1) They either teach using outdated and ineffective teaching methods.

2) They teach Mod Standard Arabic equally if it's real Arabic and don't empathise the value of spoken dialects.

Traditional educational activity methods which are all nigh drilling grammar rules and tedious memorization are prevalent all over the earth unfortunately.

I've had a lot of bad teachers over the years (not just Arabic teachers) and the ironic thing is the bad ones accept tended to be the most expensive. 🙂

If y'all feel overwhelmed, bored or confused in a lesson don't always be quick to arraign yourself.

Chances are the instructor stinks.

As a general dominion you should come away from every lesson with you having spoken 80% of the lesson.

If you feel like y'all just sat in that location and listened to explanations without talking much so your instructor is rubbish and it's time to look for another one.

Harsh words I know but if your teacher is doing all the talking then they aren't a real teacher and should find some other career.

Also make sure that they sympathize and appreciate the value of spoken Arabic dialects over Modern Standard Standard arabic.

Modern Standard/Classical Arabic are held in very high regard – sacred in fact – in the Arab world. For this reason, information technology tin can exist quite challenging to notice teachers who sympathize why yous specifically desire to speak a local dialect.

In fact, even with my own site for spoken Arabic dialects TalkInArabic.com, I've often had trouble explaining the concept to my Arab friends who struggle to see the logic behind learning spoken dialects of Arabic instead of Modernistic Standard Arabic.

7. I would start speaking Standard arabic equally soon as possible even if it's grammatically terrible

This is something I didn't have much command over when I starting time started.

I began learning Arabic at a time where astonishing tools like italki didn't really be. I couldn't bound online to Skype people for a couple of a bucks an hour.

That would have been a dream come true for me back and so! 🙂

But even with the chances I did have to speak to people all those years ago, I was ofttimes very nervous and shy about making mistakes in front end of people.

If I wasn't likewise certain well-nigh getting the grammar right and didn't know enough vocabulary, I'd just avoid using Arabic and speak English language.

These days when I learn a new language I speak as much as possible as early on equally I tin can even if my grammar is horrendously bad.

Mistakes take a style of working themselves out over time but you need to take every chance y'all tin to practice the little that y'all do know.

If I started Arabic again and I but knew a couple of words and phrases, I'd exist out there using them constantly until they were perfect.

eight. I would only spend time using quality books and resources to learn Arabic

When I started learning Arabic all those years ago, there was inappreciably anything bachelor for learning spoken Arabic.

My very kickoff book for Arabic was a book from a local mosque that was admittedly atrocious. A waste of newspaper and ink (but I persisted using it!).

I've still got it today. I look at it sometimes and recall "Wow. Did I actually use this crap?"

Thankfully things accept improved somewhat for dialects (non a lot though unfortunately!).

For starters, see this review and this review that I wrote recently.

I as well shared some of my favorite Arabic language books here and here.

And and then of course there's my ain 8 dialect resources which me and a few buddies have put together here.

Finally before you go alee and get a language book or resource, meet my crucial checklist for deciding whether it'due south good or bad.

9. I would bandage fear and prejudice of Arabs and the Center East aside

Let's face it: swathes of the Center East and North Africa are nuts correct at present.

There'southward some pretty horrendous stuff going on in various places. It'south always unpredictable what's going to happen next fifty-fifty when there's peace.

But you know 1 thing I've learned during all my travels through the Eye East and everywhere else in the world:

Most people, regardless of their political or religious affiliations, just care near the same stuff y'all and I care nearly. Mundane things like getting married, having kids, going to work to put food on the table, buying a new home, the latest gadgets, a new pair of shoes, etc.

I said the same affair about Russian people later on doing language immersion in that location – most of them aren't even aware of Putin's politics and couldn't care less. They're too busy working, paying the bills and putting a roof over their kids' heads.

Painting the entire Arab earth as violent and psychopathic is a actually naive and stupid thing to do.

My first trip to the Centre E was not too long later on September 11th and I was admittedly shitting myself that something was going to happen to me.

My mother cried at the airport because she thought it was goodbye and then did I. Seriously!

And something did happen.

I loved it and went back for seconds, thirds, fourths, etc. 🙂 My life was inverse forever and I vicious in love with the people at that place.

Are you learning Standard arabic? Share your thoughts below!

As well check out:

TalkInArabic.com for spoken Arabic dialect material.

Or Rocket for a comprehensive Egyptian Arabic audio course.

For online Skype teachers and chat practice for a few bucks an hour I recommend italki.


Egyptian Arabic - Easy Stories With English Translations

NEW: Are you learning Egyptian Standard arabic? We just released an excellent new book chosen Egyptian Arabic: Easy Stories With English Translations. Information technology'due south aimed at high-beginners to low-intermediate learners and a not bad way to build vocabulary and comprehension.

It's on Amazon here.

What Arabic Should I Learn,

Source: https://www.mezzoguild.com/how-to-start-learning-arabic/

Posted by: reedythrome.blogspot.com

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