Arabic is an Afro-Asiatic or Semitic language closely related to Maltese, Hebrew, and Aramaic, as well as Tigrinya and Amharic, and is spoken in an array of different dialects.
It is the official language of 26 Middle Eastern and North African countries. People all over the world study Arabic for a variety of reasons: work, travel, family, heritage, religion, wanting to travel to an Arab country, marriage or friendship with an Arab, or simply as a hobby.
To learn Arabic, determine which type you wish to learn, study the alphabet, get a good Arabic dictionary, and use some key language learning tools. If you want to learn Arabic, language experts argue that you must do so in this order:
First the pronunciation
Second, learn the grammar
Third, learn the writing system
This order will help non-native speakers to learn the language more effectively.
Modern Standard Arabic
Classical (Qur’anic) Arabic
Colloquial Arabic
Decide which kind of Arabic you want to learn:
This is the safest option when it comes to learning Arabic. This is a version of the classical language known as Modern Standard Arabic. MSA is used across the Arab World. It is confined to writing and formal contexts: literature, newspapers, education, radio/television news programs, political speeches, etc.
If you want to study Islamic or Medieval Arabic studies, a course in Qur’anic/Classical Arabic is perfect for you. This is the type of Arabic used in the Holy Qur’an, the Arabic of classical religious, intellectual, and legal texts, and the Arabic from which Modern Standard Arabic is based.
Arabs speak regional dialects as their mother tongue, and the differences between dialects can be significant enough to cause mutual unintelligibility. There are five broad families of dialects, Gulf Arabic, Mesopotamian Arabic, Levantine Arabic, Egyptian Arabic, and Maghrebi Arabic.
When learning the alphabet, ignore transliterations and use the script from the start. Buy or borrow a book at the library for a start.
2. Arabic dictionary
Words in Arabic dictionaries are normally listed under their three-letter roots. Look for istiqbaal (“reception”) under “q” because the root letters are q-b-l.
There are lot of self-tuition courses that will see you through the beginners’ stage, and perhaps even a little beyond. You can also opt for traditional textbook courses.
There are various MOOCS or online courses available if you want to learn Arabic over the internet. This is better as learning takes place at your own pace.
Part-time evening classes are perhaps the most accessible option for people who have full-time jobs.
The best way to develop Arabic is to talk with Arabs and expose yourself to all things Arabic. Some of the activities you can do are joining pen-pal websites, listen to Arab music, watch Arab soap operas, news broadcasts, and children’s shows and more. Remember that knowing a few words opens doors.
Contact the person and ask him or her to meet once a week for an hour. Try to focus on words, connected to living, travel, and other basic things to do.
Knowing phrases and sentences such as “how are you, my name is, how old are you, etc.” can be a great start. Study these language points with your tutor or your Arabic friend to review. Next time, be mindful of these points and try to improve.
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