Learning to speak arabic

[Deleted]

I was hoping for a bit of advice on anyone that has learnt Arabic as a second (or other number) language, what methods would you suggest for learning it? Are there any programs or websites that would be especially helpful? Also does it really matter what kind of Arabic I learn? I would hate to learn it only to find out I am speaking with the equivalent of a Glaswegian accent.

Also, how difficult is it to learn compared to French or German for example?

[Ave07]

Do you plan on learning reading Arabic as well or only to speak it?

[Deleted]

Do you plan on learning reading Arabic as well or only to speak it?

Speaking it mainly, I may learn to read it later on but only after I can speak it fluently.

[Deletedaccount1]

Learning a language with a totally new alphabet will always be harder than learning a romatic language as someone who primarily speaks English. So yes harder than French and German.

[Deleted]

I'm not sure where you could learn it, I speak it all day with my parents though because they are Arabic. :P

One tip: Master the R in all it's forms, variations and pronounciatons. That helps.

[greeeed]

I guess this site could be helpful?
http://www.madinaharabic.com/

The problem is Arabic = one of hardest languages in the world
(50~/100 point in all my Arabic test... T^T)

anyway, from google:

Arabic:

Arabic breaks down into families. One is the Modern Standard Arabic of print, media, and online content. The other is spoken Arabic, which encompasses many colloquial dialects which vary by region. This means that if you pick up conversational Arabic in Tunisia, it might still be tough to be understood in Kuwait.

For all dialects of Arabic, pronunciation is difficult for English speakers, as many consonants are formed at the back of the mouth.



Arabic script is a phonetic, 28-symbol alphabet descending from Phonecian. Most letters change shape depending on their position in the word, and letters may or may not be joined. The most basic challenge in tackling written Arabic is in reading from right to left, working against an English speaker’s deeply embedded instinct.

Arabic grammar has very few parallels with English and Indo-European languages. The plural is expressed by changing the vowel structure of the word: kitab (book) becomes kutub (books). The bulk of verbs are irregular and can be formed 25 ways. It’s a logical grammar system, but a complicated one too

source:
http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/9-o...kers-to-learn/
in case you want to know what in picture > Rough translation:
I am sure there is sun even if it didn't rises,
and I know there is love even if I can't see it
and I believe in god even if I didn't see him

(Did I mention that I only get 50~/100 point in English too?
oh well, as long as I can play video games and understand 90% of the story I am happy^^)

Rant corner: same think with Japanese language and again > as long as I can read LN and play video game = I am happy

[Kuntantee]

Arabic is hard language to learn. I have no idea about French but it's definitely harder than German.

[Mouri Kogorou]

i have had a quick look at http://www.madinaharabic.com/ from the above suggestion, and i would say that it is actually good.

[chazus]

Learning a language with a totally new alphabet will always be harder than learning a romatic language as someone who primarily speaks English. So yes harder than French and German.

Actually, this is untrue. Learning a new alphabet is usually easier, because there's nothing to confuse it with.

I learned Japanese and Russian a -hell- of a lot easier than I did Spanish or French.

[darkwarrior42]

Actually, this is untrue. Learning a new alphabet is usually easier, because there's nothing to confuse it with.

I learned Japanese and Russian a -hell- of a lot easier than I did Spanish or French.

I think it depends a lot on the person.... some people pick up the new alphabet more quickly than others.

If you want to learn arabic, I strongly encourage to you learn the written as well. It gives you a lot more options for where to go for help. You also need to decide if you want to learn MSA (as described above) only, or the dialects as well.... some things sound very different between the two. For example:
"How are you" to a female, in MSA: "Kayfa Halaki", كي* هلكِ
"How are you" to a female, in the Iraqi dialect: "Shlon-itch", *لو*ج (final letter should be a "chi" sound from the persian alphabet, but don't feel like turning it on atm so I used the "J" from arabic). At higher levels of conversation there are a lot fewer differences between the words, but there are still a few pronunciation differences.

Youtube has a lot of arabic video channels, and many of the major news sites have arabic versions you can go to (with video as well as text). One that's useful for hearing examples of both MSA and some dialect is RTarabic (dont' have a link, should be able to find it by name though.)

One way or another, you need to find either lots of video/audio, or get together with someone who speaks natively.... assuming English is your native language, Arabic has a lot of sounds that English doesn't, and some fine distinctions between sounds that English doesn't make.

Whichever way you choose to go, I wish you the best of luck. Arabic is hard to learn, but it is a lot of fun to speak and read once you get the hang of it (my opinion, obviously).... still a student of course, but pleased with my progress so far

Edit: Link for RTarabic: http://www.youtube.com/user/RTarabic?feature=watch

[chazus]

I haven't learned Arabic myself, but I've debated learning it since I got a free 8-course Pimsleur thing for it.

[MOEEEE]

It's hard as foook!

[Basemath]

It is quite important what kind of Arabic you learn. The kind you want to start with is Classical Arabic. It's the equivalent to proper English used in novels, newspapers, etc... Any other kind is a variation that is usually a dialect, and as mentioned above, if you were to learn Kuwait's Arabic, you would not understand Tunisian Arabic. Both countries are full of people who are able to speak Classical Arabic, just like people from Glasgow can speak BBC English.

As for the difficulty compared to French or German, I believe both of these are synthetic languages, like Latin. Arabic is also synthetic. Which means you won't have the usual 'subject-verb-object' structures. Analytic languages like English would have pronouns to clarify meaning, so you'd say "his book" or "her book," while in Arabic you have one word for both cases, with only a letter differing in the end to denote femininity or masculinity. Synthetic languages are usually harder to learn than analytic ones.

If I were in England i'd happily sit with you for an hour a week for some basic Classical Arabic Alas, i'm on the other side of the sphere. My advice is seek a professional institution to learn it. Perhaps a university class that you can register for, even if you already graduated. If, on the other hand, you find someone to teach you one on one, make sure they are able to teach you Classical Arabic.

[N-7]

I'd say that the closest accent to "official" Arabic is the gulf's Arabic (excluding nomads accent). I don't have any specific tips for you but the main differences between Arabic and English are:

1. There are little 'vowels' above or below letters which makes the pronunciation different. E.g ( بَر ، بٍر ، بُر ) are all different words with different meanings.
2. It has some awfully similar letters (the only difference between said letters is the placement of dots or lack of) E.g (ح ، ج ، خ).
3. Best way of learning how to speak a language for me was watching movies/shows in that language and that is extremely limited in Arabic.

If I were you I'd try to focus on speaking first and then writing because it is extremely difficult to write proper sentences with proper grammar (even some Arabs fail miserably at it).

[-Zait-]

Rosetta Stone? That's a pretty solid language learning device. Expensive though.

[N-7]

"How are you" to a female, in MSA: "Kayfa Halaki", كي* هلكِ

Sorry for being a grammar Nazi but it is written as "كي* ح*لُكِ" with "ح" and not a "هـ."

The hardest two letters to pronounce for foreigners would be "ع" and "ح."

[Deletedaccount1]

Actually, this is untrue. Learning a new alphabet is usually easier, because there's nothing to confuse it with.

I learned Japanese and Russian a -hell- of a lot easier than I did Spanish or French.

Thats been the opposite with me, French was way easier than Japanese was. I learned them both while growing up in Japan on top of it. Might depend on the person.

[greeeed]

The hardest two letters to pronounce for foreigners would be "ع" and "ح."

don't forget about ض
There is legend said that only pure blood Arabic can pronounce it.
(joke but it's hard as hell to pronounce it...)

Thats been the opposite with me, French was way easier than Japanese was. I learned them both while growing up in Japan on top of it. Might depend on the person.

Any language is easier than Japanese for us
I'm reading a book at the library
= I library at book a reading
(私は図書館で本を読んでます)

[Theinquisition]

Smart move Rich, learn the language of our enemies.

[Deleted]

Smart move Rich, learn the language of our enemies.

That would be pashto.