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Has anyone taught themselves Arabic?!? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Mikael84 Bilingual Pentaglot Groupie Peru Joined 5301 days ago 76 posts - 116 votes  Speaks: French*, Finnish*, English, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Arabic (classical), German, Russian | Message 25 of 70 06 January 2011 at 1:37am | IP Logged | |||||
Great suggestions Nebojats. I listened to Bayti al3arabi the other day and you're right, it's a pretty awesome source of MSA for students. I'll add my own suggestion, which is not to be afraid of Al Jazeera programs, even if you feel that your Arabic isn't quite good enough yet. Some programs are kind of useless because they are like talk shows and everyone talks too quickly with a lot of dialect thrown in... but some programs, especially those featuring foreign interviewees with Arabic dubbing, provide excellent MSA material spoken very clearly and at a reasonably slow pace. Actually I think those are even easier to listen to than programs for children, considering the vocabulary will consist of "easy" words for MSA students (United Nations, independence, nationalism, war, etc. eheh) 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| KSAKSA Groupie Australia Joined 5146 days ago 65 posts - 99 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Arabic (Gulf) | Message 26 of 70 07 January 2011 at 11:16am | IP Logged | |||||
Sorry, only checked back in to the board today - yeah, it is definitely Egyptian dialect but it goes over the standard rules of prefix and suffix, definitives etc etc. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| marmax001 Newbie United States Joined 5268 days ago 8 posts - 8 votes Studies: English* | Message 27 of 70 09 January 2011 at 7:35am | IP Logged | |||||
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Most people seem to recommend not learning a dialect first but to learn MSA. I don't understand why that is- especially since no-one speaks MSA. Can someone please explain?
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| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6869 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 28 of 70 09 January 2011 at 7:51am | IP Logged | |||||
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I don't speak Arabic yet, but I think the basis behind that logic is that MSA is understood across the Arabic-speaking world since it's the language of the media. I was always under the impression that newscasts are given in MSA, and that it is spoken as a mediating language between speakers of many dialects or in places like the UN. Correct me if I'm wrong on this. Essentially I think it's more bang for your buck, as it covers a large geographic area.
I've heard that MSA is the Arabic that has a standard writing system too, although I'm sure dialects have their own modified written system. There's nothing wrong with learning a dialect if you know where it is you are going. If you are going to be working in say Iraq or with Jordanians, then learn their dialect. But for people thinking about learning Arabic yet are unfamiliar with concepts like diglossa (an official language and a regional variation spoken) or how varied the Arabic language is, it's dangerous to have them start out learning Gulf Arabic only to find out they've wasted their time because it's only understood in certain parts. However, I would imagine that even if the student set out believing this, they would soon find out for themselves the stickiness of the situation. As I said: I've not yet studied Arabic, so if there is a clearer answer or if I've misspoken, please chime in. Edited by Journeyer on 09 January 2011 at 7:51am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| nebojats Triglot Groupie United States Joined 5197 days ago 89 posts - 120 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Thai Studies: French, Arabic (Written), Mandarin, Italian | Message 29 of 70 09 January 2011 at 8:06am | IP Logged | |||||
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@Mikael84:
I'll definitely give some of the more "grown-up" shwos a listen, now. Thanks for the suggestion. @marmax001 and journeyer: As far as I understand it, Journeyer's pretty spot on. This is the matephor (correct word?) I've come up with for the Arabic situation. Imagine that every English-speaking country speaks really distinct dialects or even types of patois. These variants are so different, that they're not very mutually intelligible (like a rural Jamaican talking to some Irish farmer talking to a Singporean with the most intense Singlish you can imagine). Yet nearly all the news and media is Standard English or at least heavily influenced by Standard English. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Journeyer Triglot Senior Member United States tristan85.blogspot.c Joined 6869 days ago 946 posts - 1110 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, German Studies: Sign Language | Message 30 of 70 09 January 2011 at 8:11am | IP Logged | |||||
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I think that's an apt metaphor. I don't think it's not that anyone *speaks* MSA in that it is not orally understood, which is what it sounds like one one says "no one speaks it." It's just that probably no one speaks it as the language they grew up with and learned from their parents. It is spoken, but just not in homes or among friends who speak a regional variation and so don't need to speak it with one another.
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| liddytime Pentaglot Senior Member United States mainlymagyar.wordpre Joined 6230 days ago 693 posts - 1328 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Galician Studies: Hungarian, Vietnamese, Modern Hebrew, Norwegian, Persian, Arabic (Written) | Message 31 of 70 09 January 2011 at 3:05pm | IP Logged | |||||
This is a great article which can help clarify it for you! http://how-to-learn- any-language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=15493&PN=39 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| marmax001 Newbie United States Joined 5268 days ago 8 posts - 8 votes Studies: English* | Message 32 of 70 10 January 2011 at 5:01pm | IP Logged | |||||
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To me it seems more logical to learn the language of the place you intend to live in or of the people you intend to communicate with. It seems like a waste of time to learn MSA in lieu of the spoken language. I think it would be more beneficial to learn them together since they are not so different. Otherwise the argument that MSA is universal would fall flat.
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