Author Topic: Learning Arabic  (Read 3002 times)

viola

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Learning Arabic
« on: September 09, 2017, 05:18:35 PM »
I am starting Arabic at my university this semester, and I noticed we didn't have an Arabic thread. I plan on posting resources and some updates as the semester progresses.

If anyone else is learning Arabic, or has some resources to share please feel free to post them here.
everyday: :gb: :fr: (:ca:) | can do: :is: | somewhat: :dk: :se: :no: :de: | lil bit: :lb: :np: | currently learning: :sgn:

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Lyric

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Re: Learning Arabic
« Reply #1 on: November 04, 2017, 06:18:30 PM »
I'm not learning Arabic at the moment, but I found this video interesting and informative!

I hope your semester's going well! :D
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kuzzzma

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Re: Learning Arabic
« Reply #2 on: November 17, 2017, 08:31:27 AM »
Loved this blog post about learning Arabic by Maciej Cegłowski, made my linguistic senses tingle)
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viola

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Re: Learning Arabic
« Reply #3 on: November 28, 2017, 10:20:01 AM »
I now know the whole alphabet! And maybe a handful of random vocabulary. We haven't started grammar yet, but I feel pretty accomplished being able to read and write. There are some really interesting sounds in Arabic that are hard to differentiate for non native speakers.

Here is the alphabet, with the different forms of the letters depending on where they are in the words. As Arabic is read right to left, the order of the alphabet starts in the top right corner, then goes down the column. A line means that the letter doesn't have a different form for that position.

everyday: :gb: :fr: (:ca:) | can do: :is: | somewhat: :dk: :se: :no: :de: | lil bit: :lb: :np: | currently learning: :sgn:

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Hrollo

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Re: Learning Arabic
« Reply #4 on: November 28, 2017, 06:22:05 PM »
Oh, an important thing I've noticed for writing Arabic: most methods just make you copy print Arabic, but this is not really how people write by hand (and even the "handwritten" style often finds its way onto street signs, logos and such, not to mention copies of the Quran). If you want to learn "proper" handwritten Arabic, I recommend "Easy Arabic Script" by Jane Wightwick & Mahmoud Gaafar, and "Gateway to Arabic Handwriting Book" by Dr. Imran Hamza Alawiye (this later one also deal with "printed" forms side to side, so you can practice both if you want).

Even if you prefer to write in "print" style, it's useful to know the "hand" style, because some letters are different enough that it can be confusing to read (not to mention that it often uses elaborate contextual ligatures), and as I said this style is often used in signage and such.
« Last Edit: November 28, 2017, 06:25:11 PM by Rollo »
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Passive familiarity: :es: :br: :ad: :ro:

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phocena

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Re: Learning Arabic
« Reply #5 on: May 24, 2020, 02:49:35 AM »
Hello! how did your Arabic classes from three years ago turn out?
Sorry for the thread necromancy. I have my Arabic finals in two weeks and thought I might resurrect this thread with a bunch of 'lessons' - or really, just reviewing all of my notes before my final. Hopefully posting here can help me study!

Let me know if I should put my notes here or start a new thread. I'm finishing three quarters of Arabic and will be taking another course this fall, which theoretically puts me at low intermediate proficiency (though I wouldn't put myself that high). To make it more accessible, I'll also provide material from my first class.
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viola

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Re: Learning Arabic
« Reply #6 on: May 24, 2020, 05:00:20 PM »
Hello! They went well! I admit I haven't practiced a ton in the past year, but I still work on it from time to time.
You should totally share your notes! I still have all my vocab flashcards which I made online, so people can use them if they'd like.

https://quizlet.com/feartheviolas/folders/arabic-1/sets
https://quizlet.com/feartheviolas/folders/arabic-2/sets
everyday: :gb: :fr: (:ca:) | can do: :is: | somewhat: :dk: :se: :no: :de: | lil bit: :lb: :np: | currently learning: :sgn:

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phocena

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Re: Learning Arabic
« Reply #7 on: May 26, 2020, 09:07:10 PM »
Thank you!
Here's been my experience with Arabic so far:

Best parts
Verb conjugations: Having previously taken Spanish classes, I was so relieved at how easy conjugating verbs is. Conjugation is done by adding and removing suffixes/prefixes, with far fewer tenses than Spanish and virtually no exceptions.

Sentence structure: Lots of short helper words used in English (is, of, a, 's) are instead handled by an easy to understand indef/definite system. Arabic phrases are instead built by a combination of indefinite and definite words and suffixes to show possession.
So
the car is red - السيارة حمرة
the red car - السيارة الحمرة
Sami's red car is big - سيارة حمرة سامي كبيرة
Overall, the language feels nice and efficient.

Roots of words: It takes a while before you can see them, but once you do, roots so helpful in knowing what words mean. All words with a similar meaning have the same root -
كتان - Book
اكتب - I write
مكتب - Desk
مكتبة - Library
Once you know the root of a word, it's possible to turn it into a noun, adjective, verb, or profession!

Hardest Parts
مصدر maSdar, e.g. verbal nouns: This is the unfortunate part with learning verbs. While verbs are easy to conjugate, noun forms of verbs are not as simple - it always involves inserting vowels and consonants in the middle of words, and there's lots of exceptions and different structures. So far I've learned 5 different forms, and there are plenty of exceptions - memorizing is the only way to get around this unfortunately.

Plural forms: Frustrating for the same reasons as maSdar, but unlike maSdar there's no way to avoid it in a conversation. Just as an analogy, think of irregular plurals in English (goose - geese, mouse - mice), except that's the norm for every noun. Luckily, it's a little less complicated than maSdar, and feminine plurals are extremely regular.

Misc. pronunciation and spelling:
Firstly, Arabic has lots of back of the throat sounds ض ص ق غ ع خ ح ط ظ. Pronouncing ح and غ has been so difficult for me, with ع as a close third; I can hear how it's supposed to sound, but whenever I open my mouth it comes out completely flat. I think I'm finally pronouncing ض mostly right though, which is good news. The other sound that bothers me is رّ, the rolled r. I haven't been able to do it yet, sadly (it's been nagging me ever since Spanish).
 
Second, Arabic has short and long vowels. It isn't impossible differentiate between the two, but to untrained ears it is really easy to replace a short vowel with a long vowel when spelling. However, the worst part is in picking up new vocabulary. Arabic is technically a phonetic language, but to save time all short vowels are left out of spelling, so TiwAl (throughout in standard arabic) is spelled TOAl (depending on placement O can be pronounced like w), and you don't know if the short vowel should be an a, o, or i. Syllables can additionally start with long vowels, and consonants sometimes aren't followed by any vowels. As a result, it can be easy to accidentally add or remove syllables. Fortunately, there are patterns that help you know what vowels are being omitted, but when reading a word for the first time it can be hard to know how it's pronounced.
(Fun Fact: All short vowels are included in the Quran, which is an old form of Arabic. The reason being that pronunciation of words cannot be left to interpretation!)

Surprisingly not bad
Dialects: Going into Arabic this was my number one fear - that due to all the different dialects I would never fully pick up anything useful. Fortunately my class teaches both formal and Egyptian arabic, with all vocab also written in Levantine. It doesn't mean that someone who learned Egyptian arabic would know how to speak Levantine, but the two are much more similar than I thought. I think of it like how native speakers often know multiple synonyms for the same word, or speak completely differently based on who your talking to, region, slang etc. (Linguists might want to weigh in here, though). Formal isn't really spoken colloquially, but all complex words or technical terms are Formal Arabic, as are all newscasts, so it's not useless like some people say.
native: :usa:
rusty: :mexico:
learning: :egypt:
want to learn: :southkorea:
maybe one day: :china: