Learning Arabic For Beginners

If you're interested in learning Arabic for beginners, here are some tips to get you started.

What is the charm of the Arabic language? Why would anyone invest effort and time to learn it?

Is it difficult to learn Arabic? Yes, it is a challenging but rewarding endeavor. Arabic is not just a spoken language among people, like other languages, rather it is the language through which Almighty Allah spoke with to our prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him). It is the language of the Qur'an.

Arabic is one of the Semitic languages, the fourth most spoken language in the world, with nearly 467 million people speaking it worldwide and the official language for the Arab and some other countries.

Indeed, learning a new language is always a courageous step, but when a new language does not share roots with your native language, it is even more difficult. So, as a beginner, how can one learn Arabic? What are the most useful steps that simplify the learning process?

Arabic has an entirely different system of alphabets, and there are almost no shared words between it and the English language. Fortunately, there are useful steps for a learner to make the learning method easier. Without a doubt, these steps need perseverance, commitment, hard work, and time.

You have to choose which type of the Arabic language you need to learn since there are three types; which are:

The old standard Arabic language

The non-standard Arabic (which has many dialects such as the Egyptian, Levantine, Moroccan, Iraqi, and others)

Sometimes an Arabic speaker cannot understand other dialects even if both have the same origin, Arabic. A very critical reason that may help a foreigner to choose which type to learn is the purpose he/ she seeks. For instance, if you are a Muslim and you want to learn how to read the Holy Qur'an, to feel the sweetness of the words of the Almighty Allah, and to understand his teachings, you need to learn the old standard Arabic. Also, if you want to learn Arab history or science, the new standard Arabic will be sufficient for this purpose. Whereas if you want to know the Arab culture, understand their music and films hence the dialectic language should be your choice. You need to choose which one is suitable for you to learn; the Egyptian and Levantine are the most popular ones.

Knowing the letters is the actual first step in learning Arabic and the hardest one, but you will be able to achieve your goal by following organized guidance. Firstly, you need to download the alphabet chart of the Arabic language and practice Arabic letters. Secondly, familiarize yourself with the vowel diacritics and other symbols. It is important to mention that the diacritics in the Arabic language are almost equal the vowels in English. Since a speaker pronounces them after each letter and at the beginning of any word - the Arabic language starts with a vowel, not a consonant letter. The diacritics, for example, are the fat-hah, the kasrah, and the damma. Thirdly, you need to study the changes of the letterforms; Arabic has ten usual verb patterns. Finally, you have to listen to the Alphabet spoken by the native speakers.

After being familiar with the Arabic letters and their sounds, you need to start to get involved in the language. Many linguists have said that the principal role for learning any language is by exposure, and that could be achieved through dealing with the language; especially, through listening to the native speakers. First, you should listen to Arabic broadcasts to familiarize yourself with common words and phrases. Another thing is to watch and listen to television interviews and news; so, you get involved in actual situations and everyday conversations. You will find most films used the Egyptian and Levantine dialects- then you can proceed to the documentaries, and historical and Islamic films, which are in standard Arabic.