Learning Arabic *gulp* alone

Mair · 09-09-2006, 04:50 AM

Well, not alone- I hope someday to start taking formal classes, and I'll be using books and music and whatever I can to help me learn. But for now, does anyone know of any effective methods for learning to speak and understand basic Egyptian Arabic (short of going to Egypt to live there)? I've tried Rosetta Stone (not with Arabic, with German) and the focus seems to be more on developing an understanding of sentence structures and simple grammatical rules instead of conversation. I hear good things about the Pimsleur method, has anyone tried it?

Also, is it feasible to learn three or four languages concurrently? Or should I shelve one or two? Did I mention I'm ambitious?

Lastly, are there any other dancers who want to learn Arabic? Don't be shy.

OK, I'm sorry if this post is too rambling, I'm a bit sleep-deprived. G'nite, everyone.

xoxox

Demelza · 09-09-2006, 10:09 AM

Dear Mair,

Mair I think that's wonderfull that you want to learn Arabic. As I have mentioned in another post, I can speak the common spoken Arabic fluently from living there, but have never learnt how to read or write it (appart from my name, and I know how to write numbers !). I want to encourage you as It really is a beautiful language........although it can sometimes sound a little aggressive !!! For me, I've never been good at learning languages, and found that the only way to pick it up was by living there. (I did not go there for the purpose of learning arabic, however it just happened !!). But obviously this is not feasible for everybody. And I found it so much more natural to say....'what does that mean?' having heard something said alot, rather than thinking of something in English and then asking how I would say it in arabic......so if it were me, I would try to watch as many arabic films (with subtitles) as possible. After-all, its how they learn english - by watching english/american movies and listening to music !! and I'ts so so much more fun than just having your head stuck in a book all the time !! Still use the books for reference, but try to use the films and music more too !! (preferably films with subtitles !) and that way I feel that your pronounciation will be much better too, as sometimes its hard to know from books etc.

But well done Mair, stick with it, and you'll be so proud of yourself when you go to the Middle East one day and flow into conversations with the locals !! Good luck, keep us posted as to what you have learnt and how it's all going, and if I can be of any help just let me know,

Love Demelza xxx

Moon · 09-09-2006, 10:17 AM

Hi Mair, you could visit the website www.mylanguageexchange.com
There you can learn a language by making an account and give information about what language you want to learn, and what language you can teach to others (probably your native language). Then you can find someone through this website who, for example, is fluent in arabic and wants to improve his/her english. You can then learn from each other (also a nice way to make new friends).

Aisha Azar · 09-09-2006, 01:40 PM

Dear Mair,
I hope you do really welll with your Arabic! And, sometimes being alone is great because it makes you work at it. In my case, I have been hanging out with Arabs for a long time, and have a pretty good idea of what might be going on .... sometimes.... when I am the only non-Arabic speaking person in the room. I may be able to sort of follow a conversation only because I know a lot of single words. I have been so spoiled because everyone translates for me that my efforts to learn Arabic have been very sketchy at best.
It often goes something like this:

Someone makes a statement in Arabic and is answered.

Me- So, someone has a stomach ache and went to the hospital?

Leila- Mr Daoud took his wife to the hospital last night with a bad stomach ache. She ate a bad fish and she has been sick for three days.

So, I get the jist, but not all of the information. I wish I was better at learning languages...(big sigh here.)

Many Arabs believe that Arabic is the most beautiful langauge in the world because it is the language that the Angel used to deliver the messages from God to Mohammed (Peace be on him). My very favorite language to listen to is Mexican Spanish, but Arabic is beautiful, too.
Regards,
A'isha

Mair · 09-09-2006, 05:53 PM

Thank you for all the responses!

Demelza- That's a great suggestion, I do have issues with pronunciation and hearing it spoken/sung would be much better than seeing it written. Are there any movies you can recommend?

Moon- That website is incredible! Thank you SO much for sharing. <3

A'isha- Thanks for the encouragement! You're lucky to be able to pick up some of the language from your friends. I'm officially envious. :p

I'll keep you updated on my progress- again, thank you all!

Yshka · 09-10-2006, 04:37 PM

Hi girls, great advice. I'm wanting to go and learn Arabic as well. Right now I'm thinking of taking courses, but ofcourse I find music and movies really helpful, even now I pick up words just by listening to music and translations/lyrics to songs and stuff. I used to be pretty good at learning a new language so I hope that still works lol.

Thanks and good Luck everyone!

Moon · 09-10-2006, 06:09 PM

This is also a useful website and you can listen to pronounciation too: http://lexicorient.com/babel/arabic/

Maria_Aya · 09-12-2006, 06:31 AM

Sometimes I wish the day had 34 hours

About arabic, 1 year ago I took a method from a bookstore, its called:
Pimsleur
Egyptian Arabic
Quick & simple way
8 CD's

I use it in my car since I drive 30 min going and 30 returning (if i'm lucky without traffic).

The method is arabic - english, and believe me its great.
You learn to speak, cause their system stuck the words in your head lol
The focus is givven in the everyday communication phrases and yes you develope an accent also (egyptian).
Try it, was cheap also, something like 25 $, and its 8 CD's

Maria Aya

p.s. great sites also !!!!!!!!

maariku · 09-12-2006, 08:19 PM

wow, Mair, it seems you're focused on learning the language, so I wish you all the success! Even though I would really like to learn Arabic, there is a long to-do-list with Greek, Turkish and Finnish that comes before I take on any other language. mylanguageexchange.com that Moon suggested is pretty good - I have found a lot of help with Turkish from there.

Mair · 09-12-2006, 09:14 PM

Yshka- Good luck with your lessons, if I pick up anything interesting or helpful, I'll be sure to pass it on to you.

Moon- Thanks for the link!

Maria- I've heard really good things about Pimsleur, thanks for your input. Do you think it would be worth saving up (big time) to buy the full course?

maariku- Thanks for the encouragement. There are just too many languages to learn, aren't there? *sigh* :p I understand totally.

Thanks everyone!

09-09-2006, 04:50 AM	#1 (permalink)
Mair Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Somewhere over the rainbow Posts: 37	*Learning Arabic gulp* alone** Well, not alone- I hope someday to start taking formal classes, and I'll be using books and music and whatever I can to help me learn. But for now, does anyone know of any effective methods for learning to speak and understand basic Egyptian Arabic (short of going to Egypt to live there)? I've tried Rosetta Stone (not with Arabic, with German) and the focus seems to be more on developing an understanding of sentence structures and simple grammatical rules instead of conversation. I hear good things about the Pimsleur method, has anyone tried it? Also, is it feasible to learn three or four languages concurrently? Or should I shelve one or two? Did I mention I'm ambitious? Lastly, are there any other dancers who want to learn Arabic? Don't be shy. OK, I'm sorry if this post is too rambling, I'm a bit sleep-deprived. G'nite, everyone. xoxox

09-09-2006, 01:40 PM	#4 (permalink)
Aisha Azar V.I.P. Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Pacific Northwest USA Posts: 4,460	Learning Arabic Dear Mair, I hope you do really welll with your Arabic! And, sometimes being alone is great because it makes you work at it. In my case, I have been hanging out with Arabs for a long time, and have a pretty good idea of what might be going on .... sometimes.... when I am the only non-Arabic speaking person in the room. I may be able to sort of follow a conversation only because I know a lot of single words. I have been so spoiled because everyone translates for me that my efforts to learn Arabic have been very sketchy at best. It often goes something like this: Someone makes a statement in Arabic and is answered. Me- So, someone has a stomach ache and went to the hospital? Leila- Mr Daoud took his wife to the hospital last night with a bad stomach ache. She ate a bad fish and she has been sick for three days. So, I get the jist, but not all of the information. I wish I was better at learning languages...(big sigh here.) Many Arabs believe that Arabic is the most beautiful langauge in the world because it is the language that the Angel used to deliver the messages from God to Mohammed (Peace be on him). My very favorite language to listen to is Mexican Spanish, but Arabic is beautiful, too. Regards, A'isha

09-09-2006, 10:09 AM	#2 (permalink)
Demelza Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Nottingham, UK Posts: 417	Dear Mair, Mair I think that's wonderfull that you want to learn Arabic. As I have mentioned in another post, I can speak the common spoken Arabic fluently from living there, but have never learnt how to read or write it (appart from my name, and I know how to write numbers !). I want to encourage you as It really is a beautiful language........although it can sometimes sound a little aggressive !!! For me, I've never been good at learning languages, and found that the only way to pick it up was by living there. (I did not go there for the purpose of learning arabic, however it just happened !!). But obviously this is not feasible for everybody. And I found it so much more natural to say....'what does that mean?' having heard something said alot, rather than thinking of something in English and then asking how I would say it in arabic......so if it were me, I would try to watch as many arabic films (with subtitles) as possible. After-all, its how they learn english - by watching english/american movies and listening to music !! and I'ts so so much more fun than just having your head stuck in a book all the time !! Still use the books for reference, but try to use the films and music more too !! (preferably films with subtitles !) and that way I feel that your pronounciation will be much better too, as sometimes its hard to know from books etc. But well done Mair, stick with it, and you'll be so proud of yourself when you go to the Middle East one day and flow into conversations with the locals !! Good luck, keep us posted as to what you have learnt and how it's all going, and if I can be of any help just let me know, Love Demelza xxx

09-09-2006, 10:17 AM	#3 (permalink)
Moon V.I.P. Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: the Netherlands Posts: 3,627	Hi Mair, you could visit the website www.mylanguageexchange.com There you can learn a language by making an account and give information about what language you want to learn, and what language you can teach to others (probably your native language). Then you can find someone through this website who, for example, is fluent in arabic and wants to improve his/her english. You can then learn from each other (also a nice way to make new friends).

09-09-2006, 05:53 PM	#5 (permalink)
Mair Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Somewhere over the rainbow Posts: 37	Thank you for all the responses! Demelza- That's a great suggestion, I do have issues with pronunciation and hearing it spoken/sung would be much better than seeing it written. Are there any movies you can recommend? Moon- That website is incredible! Thank you SO much for sharing. <3 A'isha- Thanks for the encouragement! You're lucky to be able to pick up some of the language from your friends. I'm officially envious. :p I'll keep you updated on my progress- again, thank you all!

09-10-2006, 04:37 PM	#6 (permalink)
Yshka Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 1,250	Hi girls, great advice. I'm wanting to go and learn Arabic as well. Right now I'm thinking of taking courses, but ofcourse I find music and movies really helpful, even now I pick up words just by listening to music and translations/lyrics to songs and stuff. I used to be pretty good at learning a new language so I hope that still works lol. Thanks and good Luck everyone!

09-10-2006, 06:09 PM	#7 (permalink)
Moon V.I.P. Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: the Netherlands Posts: 3,627	This is also a useful website and you can listen to pronounciation too: http://lexicorient.com/babel/arabic/

09-12-2006, 06:31 AM	#8 (permalink)
Maria_Aya Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Athens, Greece Posts: 2,221	Sometimes I wish the day had 34 hours About arabic, 1 year ago I took a method from a bookstore, its called: Pimsleur Egyptian Arabic Quick & simple way 8 CD's I use it in my car since I drive 30 min going and 30 returning (if i'm lucky without traffic). The method is arabic - english, and believe me its great. You learn to speak, cause their system stuck the words in your head lol The focus is givven in the everyday communication phrases and yes you develope an accent also (egyptian). Try it, was cheap also, something like 25 $, and its 8 CD's Maria Aya p.s. great sites also !!!!!!!!

09-12-2006, 08:19 PM	#9 (permalink)
maariku Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Estonia Posts: 1,146	wow, Mair, it seems you're focused on learning the language, so I wish you all the success! Even though I would really like to learn Arabic, there is a long to-do-list with Greek, Turkish and Finnish that comes before I take on any other language. mylanguageexchange.com that Moon suggested is pretty good - I have found a lot of help with Turkish from there.

09-12-2006, 09:14 PM	#10 (permalink)
Mair Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Somewhere over the rainbow Posts: 37	Yshka- Good luck with your lessons, if I pick up anything interesting or helpful, I'll be sure to pass it on to you. Moon- Thanks for the link! Maria- I've heard really good things about Pimsleur, thanks for your input. Do you think it would be worth saving up (big time) to buy the full course? maariku- Thanks for the encouragement. There are just too many languages to learn, aren't there? sigh :p I understand totally. Thanks everyone!