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Beginner Arabic: Assimil or Linguaphone | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| oboro85 Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5378 days ago 8 posts - 8 votes Speaks: Cantonese, English* Studies: Arabic (Egyptian) | Message 1 of 14 06 April 2010 at 11:37pm | IP Logged |
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Hi: I just started studying Arabic about a few months ago (at a school) and the class meets once a week and we are working on Alif baa (with CD) and it's been awfully slow and difficult -- in terms of listening and writnig; I wanted to purchase a supplement to this book -- and I am stuck between Assimil or Linguaphone (which is better to learn Arabic?) I really want to get used to the listening sound asap but Alif Baa doesn't have a good preparation for it. So I've heard Assimil and Linguaphone are the best language learning materials out there --- wondering if anyone has experience using one or the other or both for learning Arabic? Thanks.
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| global_gizzy Senior Member United States maxcollege.blogspot. Joined 5703 days ago 275 posts - 310 votes  Studies: Spanish | Message 2 of 14 07 April 2010 at 12:44am | IP Logged |
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I haven't used either of those programs, I plan on getting Assimil for Spanish, Japanese and Arabic at some point though, because of the research I've done in that program vs. several others.
I've never really knew anything about Linguaphone products. I'll take a look at some product reviews etc, but of everything, thus far, Assimil is my #1 "Wanna Try/Buy" program. Also, just wanted to point out that Assimil says they teach MSA (the variety I want to learn) but you study Egyptian. You might wanna look for an Egyptian Arabic course. P.S. I thought Alif Baa taught MSA also? 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| goosefrabbas Triglot Pro Member United States Joined 6368 days ago 393 posts - 475 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: German, Italian Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 14 07 April 2010 at 12:46am | IP Logged |
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If you can get the old Linguaphone course for Arabic, that would probably be your best bet.
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| josht Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 6446 days ago 635 posts - 857 votes Speaks: English*, German Studies: French, Spanish, Russian, Dutch | Message 4 of 14 07 April 2010 at 3:10am | IP Logged |
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I've not used Assimil's Arabic course, but lots of people on the forum here have said that it's pretty horrendous - very slow speech on the recordings, boring dialogues, etc. I'm a lover of Assimil (I'm using / have used their French, German, Spanish, and Russian courses), but based on what others have said, I would stay away from the Arabic one.
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| goosefrabbas Triglot Pro Member United States Joined 6368 days ago 393 posts - 475 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish Studies: German, Italian Personal Language Map | Message 5 of 14 07 April 2010 at 3:47am | IP Logged |
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Check out this video review of Linguaphone Arabic.
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| delta910 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 5875 days ago 267 posts - 313 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish Studies: Dutch, German | Message 6 of 14 07 April 2010 at 5:09am | IP Logged |
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I would get both. I know some don't like to start out learning MSA but it is a gateway to the dialects. Both are good
courses. I would also pick up Living Language Ultimate Arabic. There are 15 lessons of MSA and the rest of the book has 20 lessons devoted to the dialects: Egyptian, Iraqi, Eastern, and Saudi. To add to the resources, Teach Yourself Arabic is good, too. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Woodpecker Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5811 days ago 351 posts - 590 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), Arabic (Egyptian) Studies: Arabic (classical) | Message 7 of 14 07 April 2010 at 9:06am | IP Logged |
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Linguaphone is unquestionably superior for Arabic. It is sometimes necessary to use Audacity to speed up the audio, but even so it's just a much better program. I personally dislike Ultimate Arabic, as it moves too quickly and doesn't give the user enough vocabulary or control of grammar. The dialogues from it can be a nice supplement, however, and the dialect stuff is interesting, albeit introduced far too early. Alif Baa is quite dull and just takes a generally silly approach, in my opinion, but it sounds like you're stuck with it. Teach Yourself has produced several different editions, two of which I own, but I honestly can't tell you much about the newer one. The really old one is a classic grammar-translation text that I've found quite useful for grammar review, but obviously that doesn't help you much at this stage.
How is your command of the script? 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| oboro85 Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5378 days ago 8 posts - 8 votes Speaks: Cantonese, English* Studies: Arabic (Egyptian) | Message 8 of 14 07 April 2010 at 8:52pm | IP Logged |
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My script is okay; We are still working on Alif Baa (like chapter 7 since February)
I really want to get used to listening the sound and Alif Baa is limited with that; so I want something more extensive that will reinforce my studies. I might just go with the Linguaphone since the review from youtube and others seem more positive than Assimil (for ARABIC only) I believe other languages might be suitable using Assimil but I'll check it out. Thanks. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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