Arabic for Beginners: Learn the Language in 5 Simple Steps

As a part of academic courses, students can choose Arabic. Arabic is an interesting language, regarded as an obligation for all Muslims. In other words, it is regarded as the liturgical language of approximately 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide.

Reasons why Arabic is the best language to learn

One of the fastest-growing languages in the world is Arabic. It occupies the 6th position regarding the most natively spoken language and has an increasing demand in the Western world. It is undoubtedly a fascinating language, and many people regard this language as a second language (Azim, 2019). In addition, it is the official language of almost 20 countries and the coefficient language of 6 countries, including the United Nations. The Arabic language is extremely rich, ranging from the classical Arabic used in Quran to Modern Standard Arabic.

In the western countries, there are a few people who speak Arabic. Thus a person who can master the language can easily apply for jobs. In the Western world, the low supply of Arabic speakers implies that there are high chances of Arabic speakers getting employed. They will get jobs in international relations, engineering, business, journalism, finance and banking, and the list continues (Ritonga et al. 2021). Religion comprises an important aspect in Arabian countries, so people who speak Arabic will get a better chance to comprehend the traditions and beliefs of the Arabic country.

Arabic countries have largely contributed to the development of navigation, literature, mathematics, architecture and astronomy. Thus a person speaking Arabic will get the opportunity to come to close contact with eminent inventors and researchers worldwide.

People who learn Arabic are interested in choosing Modern Standard Arabic as it is regarded as the widespread version of Arabic to interact with anyone around.

Beginners can learn Arabic by following the five simple steps

1. Selecting the Arabic dialect

Arabic has a wide variety of dialects, and due to this reason, Arabic spoken in Africa looks different from that which is spoken in Asian countries. In addition, the other dialects of Arabic comprise the Moroccan, Egyptian, Gulf, Sudanese, Mashriqi and Juba. Studying multiple dialects can be monotonous as it may create conflict in grammar and pronunciation (Gabriela et al. 2022). Thus, a learner must do the research and decide the dialect he wants to study and adhere to.

2. Deciding the study plan

The learners need to decide when and how to choose the language. Many colleges, institutes and universities impart learning in basic, intermediate and advanced courses in Arabic. On the other hand, online courses also charge a nominal fee for teaching Arabic (Hafidz et al. 2020). Thus the students must chalk out a study plan and contribute at least some hours of the day to study Arabic.

3. Using resources outside classroom learning

Many online teaching platforms offer courses in Arabic for students who wish to learn. In the same way, various social media platforms such as Youtube, blogs and websites assist students in acquiring a strong grip on learning the Arabic language. With the help of such channels, learners can learn the writing style, grammar and pronunciation (Azim, 2019). This helps in the effective learning of the Arabic language. A learner can also take help from the Arabic dictionary, which will give them a better grasp of the newly learnt words.

4. Learning the basics

To learn the Arabic language, a student needs to learn the alphabet and words and learn to make sentences out of them. After this, it is necessary to learn grammar. However, learning a language can not be completed in a shorter time frame. It may take months to grasp this language.

5. Speaking and hearing the language

One of the most crucial aspects is reading and writing the Arabic language. However, the method is equally tedious. Sentence structures, pronunciations and tones everything shall be taken into consideration. However, becoming proficient in speaking requires a learner to take more time. The learning method can be made easier by watching movies with Arabic subtitles and listening to Arabic songs. Regardless of the difficulty in the learning process, persistent practice can help learners to become proficient in Arabic language speaking.

In the present day, it is observed that many people are getting bilingual or multilingual, and thus they show their interest in learning many new languages (Azim, 2019). Mastering a skill in learning a new language helps a person to take up new jobs or pursue their study in foreign countries, mainly Middle East countries. Thus investing time in learning Arabic will be worthwhile as the learners will be able to benefit themselves in many ways.

Challenges of Learning the Arabic Language

In learning Arabic, challenges initiate when a student realises that the twenty-eight letters have four different forms. The verbs, too, are often difficult to learn as Arabic has two verb tenses. However, Arabic verbs are easier than those of Spanish. For the different forms, the language ends with various prefixes. Learning vocabulary in Arabic can be difficult for learners from Indo-European backgrounds. This is because Arabic belongs to the Semantic family, which comprises Aramaic, Hebrew and Amharic.

Moreover, these language shares very few cognates with the English language. The Arabic script looks cursive, which makes it incomprehensible for the readers to interpret. One of the demanding features of Arabic is that shorter vowels are not included in the writing. These vowels are annotated by the textbooks that are meant for beginners (Gabriela et al. 2022). One of the major disparities between written and spoken Arabic is that there needs to be a way of transliterating Arabic into English. In addition to this, a learner has to take extra care when it comes to pronouncing Arabic.
The written language of Arabic is taken from Classical Arabic, which is mostly used in the scriptures. However, in the present day, it has been updated to “fus-ha” or the modern standard Arabic. The difference between the two is that of a modern newspaper and the English written by Shakespeare. Nevertheless, no native speakers of Arabic speak Modern Standard Arabic. While travelling through the twenty-six speaking countries, n might encounter about 4 million Arabic people. Thus it gets complex to comprehend their replies.

Speaking Arabic has evolved in various dialects, such as the Moroccan, Algerian and Tusininan dialects, which mostly comprise the French dialects. Almost all Arabic spoken forms are conversational, which benefits the Arabs from Syria and Morocco as they can read each other’s newspapers. However, they might need help to carry out a conversation intelligibly. Arabic is a truly foreign language with certain characteristics that make it difficult for learners to comprehend it. Diglossia is another important factor that shall be considered while learning Arabic. Both professors and students who are engaged in the learning process face challenges. Diglossia is a serious obstacle for students pursuing Modern Arabic (Ritonga et al. 2021). The prevalence of the linguistic situation in Arabia is marked by diglossia which refers to the existence of the two forms of language- conversational and formal. Authors like Badawi says that the complexity of the Arabic language moves beyond these two phases, and in a real sense, they are regarded as the extremes of the entire spectrums of linguistic varieties. The five different levels of speech included in the wide range of Arabic languages are Modern Standard Arabic, Semiliterate Spoken Arabic, Classical Arabic and Iliterate Spoken Arabic. Theoretically, it is ideal for teaching colloquial Arabic to students; however, this approach has certain limitations. Another shortcoming is diglossia which impacts the motivation of the learner negatively.

References

• Azim, A. (2019). Arabic For Beginners: 5 Simple Steps To Learn The Language. [online] Assignment Help UAE: Blog. Available at: https://www.assignmenthelp.ae/blog/arabic-for-beginners-5-simple-steps-to-learn-the-language/ [Accessed 19 Jun. 2023].
• Ritonga, M., Widodo, H. and Nurdianto, T., 2021. Arabic language learning reconstruction as a response to strengthen Al-Islam studies in higher education. Studies at Higher Education (January 23, 2021). International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education (IJERE), 10(1), pp.355-363.
• Gabriela, M., Cicerchi, G., Colin, H. and Ana, C., 2022. The Role of Parents in Helping Arabic Teachers to Improve Students’ Vocabulary. JILTECH: Journal International of Lingua & Technology, 1(2).
• Hafidz Zaid, A., 2020. The Efficiency of Using Pictures in TeachingSpeakingSkills of Non-native Arabic Beginner Students. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 8(03), pp.872-878.

FAQS

1. Why Arabic is regarded as the best language to learn?

Ans: One of the largest spoken languages in the world is Arabic, an official language of almost 26 countries, including the United Nations. The language is rich, as classical Arabic is used in Koran and other significant literary texts. This language has an increased demand in Western countries as it enables individuals to get employed in the fields such as journalism, engineering, business, finance and banking.

2. How many Muslims across the world speak Arabic?

Ans: About 1.8 million Muslims across the world speak Arabic as Islam is the second largest religion in the world, and in Middle East countries, language plays an important role. Learning and speaking Arabic enable a learner to comprehend the traditions and beliefs of Arabia.

3. What are the various dialects of the Arabic language?

Ans: Arabic comprises three main versions: Classical or Quranic, Colloquial or daily or the modern standard Arabic. These three versions comprise the 25 dialects that are barely different from one another.

4. While learning Arabic, is it essential to refer to outside sources?

Ans: Yes, learners can watch movies with Arabic subtitles or listen to Arabic songs, which will help them enrich their vocabulary.

5. What do you mean by diglossia, and why it comprises a part of the Arabic language?

Ans: When the members of two communities speak more than two languages, it is called diglossia. The existence of two distinct languages in the same speech community creates problems for the learners. In addition, diglossia affects the motivation of the learner in a pessimist way.

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