How best to practice Arabic

Annett Hieber wrote:

I would like to ask your advice how I can best practice this language in order to become more proficient.

ahmadwadan.com wrote:



Get married to a native. As for me, I'd like to learn Latin American languages and Russian....and mmmmmmm that is enough

malika2012 wrote:

Dear Annett,
I am an Arabic native speaker and think that, for professional use, you need to learn traditional Arabic. I think that taking private lessons from a native speaker, would help you a lot as well as practicing what you have learnt by doing exercises( especially grammar). Listening to some programs in Arabic( i advice you to listen to Aljazeera documentaries as the level of the texts are good).
I think, by following these steps you will manage, after some months, to understand, more or less, a simple text or some words of a conversation.

Especially, you need to carry on learning...

Good luck

Amira El-Sayed wrote:

Dear Annett,

In addition to the good advices of Malika, you can also try to speak in Arabic with an Arabic native speaker. That would help you improve your language, specially your pronunciation.

Internet is also very helpful in this issue in specific. There are a lot of websites that can help you learn and pratice new languages.

You will find much more tips in the following link:
http://www.southampton.ac.uk/cls/resources/key.html

AND .... Please watch this video:
http://speakfromday1.com/

Actually, I did not buy this package. However, the tips mentionend in this video seem to be so interesting and helpful.

Wish you all the best!
بالتوفيق

Best regards,
Amira

[Bearbeitet am 2013-03-28 16:08 GMT]

Oum ayoub wrote:

Dear Annett,

I went through this process, so it is easy for me to answer you. Some years ago, i did not know how to read Arabic, and now i am a translator.

You have to learn the letters first and after that, vocabulary, grammar and orthography. Once you finish this, you can learn rhetoric and poetry. There are a LOT of very professionals institutes in Egypt who can teach you that.

You can go to the Fajr institute, Nile institute, Qortoba institute, theses are the most well know, but you have plenty of choice. Just make a google search and you will find.

You can come to Egypt, and this is the best, for 2 years. To learn Arabic, you need at least 2 years of full time study. All the institutes use almost the same program. They use 'al-kitab al-assasy', 'al-nawou al-wâdih', 'arabyia bayna iadak', etc. They start to teach you the letters and the pronunciation, after that, you learn some vocabulary and gradually, you learn the grammar, from the most easy to the most difficult sentences. If you want to study more, i mean after you finished the 2 years program, they teach you rhetoric and poetry, witch can take you 6 months more. After that, it is just a matter of practice, reading, speaking, writhing...

The best thing to do is to come to Egypt and to take the normal courses, 3 times a week, 3 hours each lesson for 2 years. Your children can go to the German school during this time. If your are not able to do that, you can come during summer time for intensive courses, 5 times a week, 3 hours a day, for 4 years.

If you are not able to come to Egypt, you can study online via Skipe with the teachers of theses institute. I know that Qortoba institute teach online. You can take individual classes 3 times a week for example, at a specific time suitable for you and for the teacher.

Here is the website of Qortoba: http://www.qortoba.net/

I wish you good luck.

Suzanne Chabot

Oum ayoub wrote:

Hi Annett,

Yes, i am mastering Arabic language wa alhamdoulillah (praise be to Allah) and i translate books about Islam from Arabic to French. I am translating from Arabic Fusha, wish is not a dialect. This is the traditional Arabic. The kind of Arabic use by the fuqahas (the specialist of Sharia).

Traditional Arabic is very close to the modern Arabic, that is why i talked to you about theses institutes where i learned Arabic. I focuses in Traditional Arabic, but you can ask them to learn Modern Arabic. Most of the students are Muslim, but you can find some of them who are not. This is not a perquisite, but you have to expect that they will follow Islamic manners, for example, the separation of male and female students, and you will find some Islamic reference in the books.

If you want to learn the modern Arabic use by the medias today, without any Islamic reference and in a secular environment, you can go to the American university in Cairo. They teach Arabic also, but the prices are A LOT higher, and you have to come here. That is why i did not mention it to you. If you are ready to come, you can see their website, and also, ask them for advice. This is university program and it will give you a degree if you wish in modern Arabic. Also, some universities here like 'Ayn ash-Shams' have university degree in Arabic language of the medias. But the Egyptian universities are very crowded and you need a lot of patience with the administration.

Egypt is well know to be the best place to study Arabic in the world, but some other countries are now offering theses programs. I have some friends in Jordan but i really do not know much about theses programs.

If you want to learn a dialect, some institutes that i mentioned earlier teach Egyptian dialect, but the programs are very shorts since this is only useful if you live here in Egypt. This is a language that the peoples speak but do not write. If they write, they write in Modern Arabic. If they speak in a formal manner (for example in a conference or in a television program) they usually use Modern Arabic also, except for the movies. So, it is not really useful for a translator.

Hopefully theses information will be useful to you.

Best wishes

Suzanne

a2eTranslations wrote:

I have studied Arabic ( mainly standard Arabic ) for some time. I am ok, but not really fluent... some things have helped me.
First is to listen to BBC Arabic - radio. (or you can watch the television of BBC Arabic or Al-jazeera online).
Second, you can learn with lessons you find online, or think about language learning communities where you can have language exchange or hire tutors... I know of some such as buddytalk or italki.
The last thing I have found that is an ok way to learn, but is also fun/interesting is to get an English/Arabic book. These are mainly of Western classics, and they have the English words on one page with the Arabic translation on the opposite page... you can find some at alkitab.com and I believe they ship to anywhere.

You may find that if you know or are learning the Egyptian dialect there are songs and movies to watch, but this would be more for speaking, and not reading or translating.

These are some things I have found... If you know of others let me know, as I am also still trying to improve in Arabic.

Best Wishes.