You've spent so many hours reading up on the ancient history of the Roman Empire and eventually have decided to visit one of the North African or Near Eastern countries to see all the monuments and cultural heritage for yourself? Great idea, these places are wonderful and worth a visit no doubt out about it!
The term "Arabic" may refer either to literary Arabic, which no Arab speaks as a mother tongue, or Modern Standard Arabic or to the many spoken varieties of Arabic commonly called "colloquial Arabic." Arabs consider literary Arabic as the standard language and tend to view everything else as mere dialects.
Literary Arabic refers both to the language of present-day media across North Africa and the Middle East and to the more archaic language of the Qur'an. (The expression media here includes most television and radio, and all written matter, including all books, newspapers, magazines, documents of every kind, and reading primers for small children.)
"Colloquial" or "dialectal" Arabic refers to the many national or regional dialects/languages derived from Classical Arabic, spoken daily across North Africa and the Middle East, which constitute the everyday spoken language. These sometimes differ enough to be mutually incomprehensible. These dialects are not typically written, although a certain amount of literature (particularly plays and poetry) exists in many of them. They are often used to varying degrees in informal spoken media, such as soap operas and talk shows. Literary Arabic or classical Arabic, is the official language of all Arab countries and is the only form of Arabic taught in schools at all stages.
The first thing you will notice on arrival is that these people speak "surprise" Arabic! A good idea would be to get at least a grasp of what people are talking about. With the ability to speak Arabic you will enjoy your stay so much more. Tour Guides at important archaeological sites usually speak english well, however if you approach them in their own language (don't worry about not speaking Arabic perfect and making mistakes) you will see a different, more positive attitude towards you.
Arabic is a fun language to learn and because there are many ways how to do it(by book, school, online, in those countries while making holiday etc.) we thought it might be helpful to collect some interesting and useful information regarding how to learn the Arabic language.
Learning Arabic with Books
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| Includes useful points like word shapes, key tool for learning Arabic with its root and measure system. Goes into grammar, provides good reading comprehension exercises and a fairly well-developed vocabulary. |
Very good if you just want to spell out the Arabic signs, know a "little something" about Arabic (for those with an amateur interest in philology or linguistics), or you just think the script looks cool. |
This phrase book applies Modern Arabic and includes pronunciation and vocabulary. The Arabic alphabet and its English equivalent are represented to help understand words and signs and their meanings. |
This is both a handy grammar reference and a primer/workbook for beginning to intermediate-level students of Arabic. Clear structural explanations and practice activities make it a perfect companion. |
Studying Arabic is intimidating. Not only do you face the usual challenges of learning a new language--vocabulary, grammar, verb tenses--but you also have to learn a non-Roman alphabet as well. |
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