[Tairra]

Does anyone know of any good websites, or like vidoes on youtube that can teach arabic? I was told there were classes on youtube that were pretty good but like I don't know the titles and while I was searching I saw some crappy stuff. So yeah...

[Bluestar]

Hmm i don't know about online e-stuff but i found a book that really helps me to learn

Arabic for Beginners by Syed Ali

Ie's especially good for teaching grammar

[gmk]

I don't know the website you are looking for, either. But while we're on the subject, let me share something I discovered recently that has helped me immensely in my quest to learn Arabic. My problem has been that I never want to do the reading or exercises. I HATE homework. So I found these CDs that don't require a book to study from (obviously, I am not learning to read, only speak). I just play it in my car to and from work, and it uses this repetition method. I've been picking it up surprisingly fast! And my (Arab) husband says my pronunciation is good and is surprised at how quickly I'm learning. The company that makes it is called Pimsleur.

[Whatyosayin]

UnderstandQuran.com

is helpful although you do need to know a bit of arabic first....I know of others I will try to find them out insha'Allah and post them here.

[Tairra]

thanks you guys, I'll look up that cd. and yeah watyosayin please post them when you can.

[Wolfn]

I bought "Arabic for Dummies"

[dreamdeferred]

Question for all my native Arabic speaking peoples......I know this is pretty subjective but in your experience which dialect of Arabic is easier to understand throughout the Middle East and North Africa; Syrian or Egyptian?

I'm looking to start a pimsleur course and would like some feedback on this before I decide which route to go.

[nooni]

prolly egyptian cause of all the movies and music and such

[dreamdeferred]

Originally Posted by nooni

prolly egyptian cause of all the movies and music and such

Thanks for the input.......k that's one for Egyptian. Where are the fluent Arabic speakers?

Weigh in folks, or if it's the case that it won't make much of a difference let me know.

[dezhen]

Egyptian or Levant (Syria/Lebanon/Palestine) are commonly understood because of the media across the Middle East.
I'm not a native speaker or fluent yet by any means, but have studied Arabic for a number of years now at University and outside and this seems to be the case.

dawood

[dreamdeferred]

Originally Posted by dezhen

Egyptian or Levant (Syria/Lebanon/Palestine) are commonly understood because of the media across the Middle East.
I'm not a native speaker or fluent yet by any means, but have studied Arabic for a number of years now at University and outside and this seems to be the case.

dawood

Thank you Dawood.......that's exactly the kind of info I was looking for. I'll probably be using the Syrian Pimsleur course along with some introductory/intermediate grammar books to round out my learning.

Jazak'allah bro

[dezhen]

That sounds great - I have heard it is a great course! I am using the Al-Kitaab series in my own time (outside of Uni which has another syllabus), from Georgetown University Press and am thoroughly enjoying them so far. Some Egyptian is introduced along with the formal/standard in order to help begin seeing similarities and differences.

The only problem I can see with what you are doing is that the difference between spoken (Egyptian/Syrian/whatever) and the written/formal Arabic (Modern Standard Arabic) which is most likely what you will find in the grammar books can some times be due to the grammar itself and/or the accent and pronunciation of certain letters.

For example, in the Levant, they do not pronounce ق as "q", instead they pronounce it like ء the hamza. thus قهوة "qahwa" (coffee) becomes "'ahwa" although is written the same. ليلة القدر "laylat al-qadr" becomes "laylat al-'adr", for example. إذا "idha" (if) becomes "iza" because ذ is pronounced like ز. The reason is due to making things easier and quicker to pronounce - it is hard to go from "qaa" to "dr" in qadr, and from "dh" with the tongue at the front of the mouth to "aa" in idha, for example.

In grammar also the dual tense (for only two things/people) is rarely used - the plural is used instead although we find the dual in the Qur'an and even modern literature. Also things like the endings for plurals ين/ون does not always show although it is important in Classical Arabic.

You know how it is - in English we have the same - in order to get the message and point across we don't all speak "Queen's English" all the time. I am from Scotland so have my own accent, but I live in Australia which has its own accent and slang way of saying things, the same as America and so on. Not to mention how we write and structure things is also different to how we speak.

This is just something to bear in mind when you are listening, because if you already know how to pronounce the Arabic alphabet (e.g. from learning how to read Qur'an when young) then you might wonder why some things don't "sound" like they are written. But if you are just picking up the speaking then go for it - listen and repeat as much as possible! It is still all Arabic and all helpful to learn - don't worry about it but just be aware - I hope this hasn't confused you more than it has helped...

Good luck! Arabic is a beautiful language.
dawood

[proudtobemuslim]

I doubt you will be able to learn it without a teacher.

[dreamdeferred]

Originally Posted by dezhen

That sounds great - I have heard it is a great course! I am using the Al-Kitaab series in my own time (outside of Uni which has another syllabus), from Georgetown University Press and am thoroughly enjoying them so far. Some Egyptian is introduced along with the formal/standard in order to help begin seeing similarities and differences.

The only problem I can see with what you are doing is that the difference between spoken (Egyptian/Syrian/whatever) and the written/formal Arabic (Modern Standard Arabic) which is most likely what you will find in the grammar books can some times be due to the grammar itself and/or the accent and pronunciation of certain letters.

For example, in the Levant, they do not pronounce ق as "q", instead they pronounce it like ء the hamza. thus قهوة "qahwa" (coffee) becomes "'ahwa" although is written the same. ليلة القدر "laylat al-qadr" becomes "laylat al-'adr", for example. إذا "idha" (if) becomes "iza" because ذ is pronounced like ز. The reason is due to making things easier and quicker to pronounce - it is hard to go from "qaa" to "dr" in qadr, and from "dh" with the tongue at the front of the mouth to "aa" in idha, for example.

In grammar also the dual tense (for only two things/people) is rarely used - the plural is used instead although we find the dual in the Qur'an and even modern literature. Also things like the endings for plurals ين/ون does not always show although it is important in Classical Arabic.

You know how it is - in English we have the same - in order to get the message and point across we don't all speak "Queen's English" all the time. I am from Scotland so have my own accent, but I live in Australia which has its own accent and slang way of saying things, the same as America and so on. Not to mention how we write and structure things is also different to how we speak.

This is just something to bear in mind when you are listening, because if you already know how to pronounce the Arabic alphabet (e.g. from learning how to read Qur'an when young) then you might wonder why some things don't "sound" like they are written. But if you are just picking up the speaking then go for it - listen and repeat as much as possible! It is still all Arabic and all helpful to learn - don't worry about it but just be aware - I hope this hasn't confused you more than it has helped...

Good luck! Arabic is a beautiful language.
dawood

Thanks so much for your insight ahki,

I had a vague idea of the differences between spoken dialect and the formal MSA but you really fleshed it out quite a bit for me. The Al-Kitaab series looks wonderful.....I'll add it to my syllabus insha'allah.


How are your studies coming along? Do you feel somewhat comfortable holding a conversation in Arabic?

Originally Posted by proudtobemuslim

I doubt you will be able to learn it without a teacher.

Hater! Just watch me!

No I hear what you're saying lol.........it does help to have a tutor who can correct your flaws etc. Luckily, pronunciation etc won't be difficult for me as my second language incorporates a good deal of Arabic words and I have quite a few Arab speaking friends with whom I can practice.

[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.