Learning arabic

Hi
can someone recomend  some good books to learn basic Arabic.
Thanks in advance.

I don't know about books but there are a good number of short introduction courses on Youtube, I find them a bit easier that books as you can hear the words.

Thanks brackenb.:-)

Hey Riz

I'm moving soon too and will be looking for an Arabic Teacher too for myself and a female teacher for my wife.. I started lessons on YouTube and then went to a teacher In Birmingham and went through the book 'Al Arabiyyah Tu Bayna Yadyk' which basically means Arabic language between your hands, it's very practical as the chapters are linked to daily life like living, food, holidays, work, etc..

You can also try "Rosetta stone" Their program CDs are expensive, but very effective, fast, and engaging.

Ahelpfulsaudi, do you know if it is easy to find Arabic teachers in Riyadh? I saw one advertised somewhere but they were charging SR200 an hour which is a bit hefty..

Adam, you may be able to arrange it with your colleagues on the job (or the hospital may even given classes).

That's very true Alliecat, I hope I could do it though colleagues as you learn more on the job...

Adam55, make sure NOT to learn the corrupted Egyptian Arabic !!!

hi. Livemocha is an internet site, that can help you learn a language. Search in google and create an account.

Maria

roa_douglass wrote:

Adam55, make sure NOT to learn the corrupted Egyptian Arabic !!!


Come on @RD :lol: I have many friends who tell Arabic, in its best form, exist in Egypt only. :unsure:

@TheLegendLeads ,

Unfortunately that is untrue !!!

You, as a non-native speaker of Arabic, CAN'T decide which is the best form of Arabic!!!  The jargon Egyptian is worthless in comparison with the STANDARD form of the language .

Another thing to mention is that your EGYPTIAN friends have fooled you by claiming that Egyptian Arabic is the best !!! Additionally, if you want to be respected , DO NOT use that vernacular kind of Arabic in your conversation ...



Regards,
Rowa Douglas.

roa_douglass wrote:

@TheLegendLeads ,

Unfortunately that is untrue !!!

You, as a non-native speaker of Arabic, CAN'T decide which is the best form of Arabic!!!  The jargon Egyptian is worthless in comparison with the STANDARD form of the language .

Another thing to mention is that your EGYPTIAN friends have fooled you by claiming that Egyptian Arabic is the best !!! Additionally, if you want to be respected , DO NOT use that vernacular kind of Arabic in your conversation ...



Regards,
Rowa Douglas.


Yeah I know. That's the only accent I can't stand even 5% :( The others sound pretty clear.

No offense Egyptian viewers. Just gossips :)

It's like comparing Castillian Spanish with the bastardized stuff they speak in Puerto Rico :lol:

Some Egyptians invent words out of their minds and start using them as if the words were PURE Arabic.

The sad thing is that Egyptians are more than 90millions and the vast majority of movies and TV series are in their jargon !!!


No OFFENCE Pharaonic Egyptians !!!!!

@ TheLegendLeads

May I ask where you're from?

Apparently, I dare say that you're not a native English speaker  :S

Adam55 wrote:

Ahelpfulsaudi, do you know if it is easy to find Arabic teachers in Riyadh? I saw one advertised somewhere but they were charging SR200 an hour which is a bit hefty..


well if you get a tutor. go for the Syrians, or Jordanian, and try to have native speak to them so they can setup a price, which won't be a ripoff to you

TheLegendLeads wrote:
roa_douglass wrote:

Adam55, make sure NOT to learn the corrupted Egyptian Arabic !!!


Come on @RD :lol: I have many friends who tell Arabic, in its best form, exist in Egypt only. :unsure:


I think you mean the simplest form

Nah! I precisely remember what they call it... *the best form* :D

I found the Madina Arabic site very useful.  A friend told me the live teacher lessons they offer via skype are very good too.

ANOTHER Egyptian lie , They FOOL you with their jargon !!!

nzpounamu wrote:

I found the Madina Arabic site very useful.  A friend told me the live teacher lessons they offer via skype are very good too.


ANOTHER Egyptian lie , They FOOL you with their jargon !!!

roa_douglass wrote:

ANOTHER Egyptian lie , They FOOL you with their jargon !!!

nzpounamu wrote:

I found the Madina Arabic site very useful.  A friend told me the live teacher lessons they offer via skype are very good too.


ANOTHER Egyptian lie , They FOOL you with their jargon !!!


When you say Egyptian Jargons, corrupted language...it just means that maybe through time, the Egyptian Arabic language became a "bit modern" or "slang", as simple as the way the english language has transformed (similar to how the King James version of the bible is written).
Simply saying, nobody will dare speak 'english' the way it will spoken to old courts or that of "shakespeare's era".

Maybe, it's really not the best way to learn arabic...but we don't have to be "too classical or traditional" on our ways in speaking it.

Oh, how i remembered watching the movie (musical) Les Miserables (2012) :P

Hi Douglass, if you have free time for 7 minutes, kindly watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sam3deneMgk

Enjoy watching. What would you do - reality tv show.

Thanks all for all  your comments, but you can't even wrap your minds around the idea of the way Egyptians pronounce the sounds !!!  Here is the point.

I excuse you as you all are non-native speakers of Arabic and you will never spot the difference..



Regards,

Hi dear
How r u doing ?
I can teach u for free if u want ;-)

Tortina wrote:

Hi dear
How r u doing ?
I can teach u for free if u want ;-)


Hey,

Would you mind teaching me FREE Arabic ? :)

nzpounamu wrote:

I found the [link moderated] very useful.  A friend told me the live teacher lessons they offer via skype are very good too.



That's a really good site.

Also 'Gateway to Arabic' are great books to learn Arabic from, its real easy to understand, I've benefited from it.

Hi
Arabic with Maha on youtube is really good as well as Mastering Arabic book by Jane Wightwick and Mahmoud Gaafar.

Hope this helps.

Does anyone know of any professional teachers who do 1 on 1 teaching?

Hi Adam if you're in Riyadh I do but they are around 250 SAR ph which i thought was a bit steep. That may be negotiable (I didn't really ask as i was still getting used to exchange rate).

Do you want me to send details?

Hey Tom

That sounds really expensive. I learnt from a book in the UK and payed £10 a class. If you don't mind could you send me the details, I may try and use my limited Arabic to negotiate a good deal with him..lol

I will go and look for his flyer and send details tonight.

Thanks Tom..

I think Living Language is a great one. It is academically focused. It works for geeks like me who like studying grammar rules and "boring" stuff. They do seem to have some typos though.