Quote:
Originally Posted by dezhen
I can talk about basic things but use the standard Arabic mostly - although my wife and her family speak Lebanese which I can understand somewhat - just a different accent. The irony is that my wife's generation can't understand me much because they only know the Lebanese but the older generation can as they were brought up with both (although they reply in the dialect).
Most of my studies are more for reading and comprehending than speaking - plus writing of course - I am doing Arabic literature and Islamic Studies. This semester we have been writing 200-300 word summaries of news/media articles we have studied in class and so on, or making up our own in the same style. Outside I have also begun studying basic Arabic texts in Arabic on a variety of subjects.
Because we don't focus so much on actual speaking in class, it is actually my weakest area. My listening and reading are good but activating the Arabic vocabulary I know and understand to come from my mouth when it is needed is the hard part. :P
It is what I am trying to make up for now actually with Al-Kitaab and other works.
dawood
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Good stuff,
Putting it all together to formulate coherent, fluid sentences is always the hardest part of learning any language. It sounds like you've come quite far already though.
This is making me reevaluate my approach somewhat as the main reason I'd like to learn Arabic is to make serious study of Islam and Pre-Islamic culture more accessible. It just made sense to me that if I learned to speak Arabic first while learning MSA grammar (and some Quranic Arabic) concurrently was a solid plan. Perhaps it makes more sense to start with the reading and writing.
*scratches chin*