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Becoming fluent in Arabic? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| EricaRC Newbie United States Joined 4770 days ago 16 posts - 16 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 1 of 15 09 April 2011 at 4:46am | IP Logged | ||
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Will I become fluent if I:
-take 3 college classes in MSA (all that is offered at my school, one is intensive) -do volunteer work in Morocco (for 1-2months) and learn Darija dialect -then go to Syria for a year and take intensive college classes along with private tutor sessions (improving MSA and learning Levantine dialect) -and take more classes in graduate school for 2.5-3 years? I've heard people say that it takes 5-7yrs to become completely fluent, and by the time I graduate from school I'll have about 6 years Also, is learning Arabic really as hard as people say? I'm really interested in Middle Eastern/North African culture, and am good at learning languages. I am currently learning French and Spanish, and I am aware that Arabic is nothing like the two. Edited by EricaRC on 09 April 2011 at 4:49am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Jinx Triglot Senior Member Germany reverbnation.co Joined 5485 days ago 1085 posts - 1879 votes  Speaks: English*, German, French Studies: Catalan, Dutch, Esperanto, Croatian, Serbian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Italian, Spanish, Yiddish | Message 2 of 15 09 April 2011 at 5:15am | IP Logged | ||
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You'll become fluent if you have a passion for it and don't give up.
4 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Woodpecker Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5603 days ago 351 posts - 590 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), Arabic (Egyptian) Studies: Arabic (classical) | Message 4 of 15 09 April 2011 at 4:31pm | IP Logged | ||
This is absurd. Why be so negative? Do you even study Arabic? One can become proficient in one of the dialects in a year if one works hard at it, especially in-country. I certainly did, and moreover I am firmly convinced that after another year in Egypt I would reach basic fluency without too much difficulty. Arabic is hard, but it's not impossible. And the whole idea of fluency in MSA is rather absurd. It's a language you need to be able to read, not speak. Once you can read well, the listening comprehension comes with practice. Two thoughts on your plan: First, Morocco isn't going to do much for you. The dialect is extremely divergent, and 6 weeks is not enough time. The rest of your plan is fine, though I would caution you that Arabic at the undergraduate level tends to be very badly taught. In most cases you're better off teaching yourself. Edited by Woodpecker on 09 April 2011 at 4:32pm 3 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| hrhenry Octoglot Senior Member United States languagehopper.blogs Joined 4922 days ago 1871 posts - 3642 votes Speaks: English*, SpanishC2, ItalianC2, Norwegian, Catalan, Galician, Turkish, Portuguese Studies: Polish, Indonesian, Ojibwe | Message 5 of 15 09 April 2011 at 4:57pm | IP Logged | ||
So helpful. What do you base this on? R. == 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| sixpack434 Newbie United Kingdom Joined 6197 days ago 3 posts - 2 votes | Message 6 of 15 09 April 2011 at 10:55pm | IP Logged | ||
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I have been learning Arabic for the past two years and don't think it's that difficult, you can become fluent in just a year if you put enough time and effort into it. One of the methods that I found very useful is listening to MP3 podcasts since they're generally fun to listen to and very convenient. I recommend ArabicPod.net for podcasts as they have hundreds...
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| apparition Octoglot Senior Member United States Joined 6442 days ago 600 posts - 667 votes Speaks: English*, Arabic (Written), French, Arabic (Iraqi), Portuguese, German, Italian, Spanish Studies: Pashto | Message 7 of 15 09 April 2011 at 11:16pm | IP Logged | ||
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I'm not a fan of college courses when it comes to learning languages. Too few hours of
exposure for the cost. If I were to go to college now, I'd get a degree in something else and learn a language on my own, definitely. As was said before, learning on your own will usually be more effective, especially as you have experience. I'd suggest learning MSA on your own, using internet resources. A year in Syria will give you exactly what you need as far as dialect is concerned. Basic fluency could be achieved in a year or a year and a half. It's definitely not as difficult as advertised. The graduate classes, if taken while immersed in an Arabic country, would likely get you to advanced fluency, if the year in Syria didn't. Good luck and come back to this forum if you'd like more information. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| CaucusWolf Senior Member United States Joined 5064 days ago 191 posts - 234 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Arabic (Written), Japanese | Message 8 of 15 09 April 2011 at 11:41pm | IP Logged | ||
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[QUOTE=Woodpecker] Arabic is hard, but it's not
impossible. And the whole idea of fluency in MSA is rather absurd. It's a language you need to be able to read, not speak. [QUOTE] Well this makes me feel a little better XD I'm still not up to par with my listening and speaking skills in MSA, but I can read alot in newspapers.(something like 75%-80%.) I recently had a written conersation with a native speaker that I was able to hold without reverting to English. I wasn't able to communicate like English, but if that's what can be achieved in a little over a year than I'm happy. I'm pretty confident that I could be well rounded in all aspects in far, far less time than a decade. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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