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French or Arabic for North Africa | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Travis.H Triglot Groupie United States Joined 4455 days ago 59 posts - 91 votes  Speaks: English*, Japanese, Sign Language Studies: French | Message 9 of 26 31 October 2012 at 2:59am | IP Logged | |||||
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Thank you so much for the replies. I really do have a desire to learn both French and
Arabic at some point. Also Kanewei's observation that many materials for learning Derja are in French anyway it seems like a good place to start. In terms of learning resources, I found this thread that was quite helpful (http://how-to-learn-any- language.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=15493&PN=39) but it didn't list anything for Derja. Are there any available resources for the basics? 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| Jappy58 Bilingual Super Polyglot Senior Member United States Joined 4637 days ago 200 posts - 413 votes Speaks: Spanish*, Guarani*, Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Maghribi), Arabic (Written), French, English, Persian, Quechua, Portuguese Studies: Modern Hebrew | Message 10 of 26 31 October 2012 at 3:17am | IP Logged | |||||
I have had both similar and different experiences in some parts of the Maghreb. While in my first trip to Morocco, I still had only intermediate knowledge of the Moroccan dialect, so I relied more on MSA. Most Moroccans praised me for learning some Arabic, and further appreciated it when I attempted the Darija. Of course, it's worth mentioning that my MSA was not in its most rigid form: I avoided case endings, for example. In Algeria and Tunisia, I had similar experiences. However, it is true that there were some that found my initial usage of MSA amusing. This also applies to Egypt and Lebanon. i disagree - to an extent - regarding how far one could get with Arabic in five to six months. Many concepts of Arabic grammar are not fundamentally difficult for the basics, and one could most certainly get to an intermediate level in MSA. Of course, that would be the challenge - an intermediate level in MSA would allow you to be understood, but they would most likely respond in Darija, which for the novice would be nearly incomprehensible. Definitely, however: French would be more logical for this case, while learning some basic Arabic phrases. :) If the OP had plans to explore the Maghreb even more extensively, however, Arabic would become very useful. EDIT: @Travis: I'd do a search on amazon for some resources, though I plan to share my comments on these resources later. Speak Moroccan and the Moroccan Peace Corps websites are useful for basic Darija. Edited by Jappy58 on 31 October 2012 at 3:20am 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| stelingo Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5831 days ago 722 posts - 1076 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Czech, Polish, Greek, Mandarin | Message 11 of 26 31 October 2012 at 8:19pm | IP Logged | |||||
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This looks quite promising. Morrocan Arabic
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| Jappy58 Bilingual Super Polyglot Senior Member United States Joined 4637 days ago 200 posts - 413 votes Speaks: Spanish*, Guarani*, Arabic (Levantine), Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Maghribi), Arabic (Written), French, English, Persian, Quechua, Portuguese Studies: Modern Hebrew | Message 12 of 26 31 October 2012 at 11:07pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I'd like to share some of my comments on some resources for Moroccan (and other Maghrebi Arabic) courses.
The book featured in stelingo's post above is an excellent way to introduce oneself and get to a reasonably intermediate (I would argue at least a B1 on the CEFR scale, higher if you were already familiar with another form of Arabic). The description on the website pretty much says it all. I would argue that it is the best for it also has a solid DVD with it. I wish it had been published when I was studying Moroccan Arabic. I would also recommend this book, since it does well in describing some of the peculiarities of Moroccan Arabic and Moroccan culture. A Short Reference Grammar of Moroccan Arabic is alright, though if you plan on getting the book shown by stelingo, it wouldn't be as necessary. This verb dictionary is a solid resource as well if you were to further your studies of the dialect. I also think Spoken Algerian Arabic is a nice book, though it is best for those who are familiar with MSA and/or another dialect. That being said, Moroccan and Algerian are very similar to one another, and most Maghrebi dialects are generally mutually intelligible, so you need only delve into one. That being said, there are some noticeable difference, especially considering the geographic span that the dialects cover. Some of these books were not available when I was studying Moroccan Arabic, but I was lucky to have several friends who spoke the dialects. I have been previewing and assessing new resources in order to see whether or not I'd recommend them, and these are some I would generally recommend. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| stelingo Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5831 days ago 722 posts - 1076 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Czech, Polish, Greek, Mandarin | Message 13 of 26 01 November 2012 at 12:03am | IP Logged | |||||
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And what resources would you recommend for Egyptian Arabic, Jappy58?
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| skeeterses Senior Member United States angelfire.com/games5Registered users can see my Skype Name Joined 6617 days ago 302 posts - 356 votes 1 sounds Speaks: English* Studies: Korean, Spanish | Message 14 of 26 01 November 2012 at 12:48am | IP Logged | |||||
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If you were going to spend more time over in Northern Africa, I would say go for one of the dialects of Arabic.
Right now, French will be the practical language for getting around. But, in this world, people who speak French or Spanish as a second language are a dime a dozen, whereas fluency in a Middle Eastern or Central Asian language will open up doors to lucrative Government jobs. The Government is always looking for people who know Arabic, Farsi, and Pashto. Heck, if I had learned Arabic after 9/11 instead of going to South Korea, I could have gotten a decent job with the Government with their War on Terror. 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| liddytime Pentaglot Senior Member United States mainlymagyar.wordpre Joined 6228 days ago 693 posts - 1328 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Galician Studies: Hungarian, Vietnamese, Modern Hebrew, Norwegian, Persian, Arabic (Written) | Message 15 of 26 01 November 2012 at 3:34am | IP Logged | |||||
The "Kallimni 'Arabi" series is excellent and can get you to a fairly high level. There are several other courses dealing with Egyptian Arabic, out there but "Kallimni 'Arabi" seems to be the best for self-learners as the rest are classroom based. DLI has an Egyptian course but it is meant for students that already have a bit of MSA under their belt. If I remember correctly you need to know the Arabic script, even for the beginners' level. This really isn't difficult though, most people can learn it in a few days. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| ljones29 Triglot Newbie United States Joined 4796 days ago 35 posts - 59 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish, French Studies: Arabic (Written), Greek | Message 16 of 26 01 November 2012 at 4:22am | IP Logged | |||||
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I vote for French, for similar reasons to the ones others have posted. You'd be able to
get to a high level of French before your trip, but the same is not true for Arabic. Good luck with your studies and on your trip! 1 person has voted this message useful |
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