Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Experiences in learning the Arabic language |
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| *sofia* |
| 06/12/01 at 12:29:54 |
| Assalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaatuh Having been deprived of any formal Arabic training, now that I may have a chance to look into some different opportunities, insha'Allah, I'd like to ask the non-Arabic-speakers-turned-Arabic-speaking: What method worked best for you? How long did the process take? Any helpful hints/recommendations for those just starting out? Any recommended programs/instructors/materials? Granted, we can't all be thrown into an Arab village somewhere, so barring that approach, any success stories to share? JazaakAllahu khairan! :) |
| Re: Experiences in learning the Arabic language |
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| jannah |
| 06/12/01 at 12:33:25 |
| wlm sofia :) from what i've heard some people say, the best approach is taking a formal class at a university.. are there any universities that offer Arabic? cuz if so you could register even though it costs some $ at least it will be worth it b/c it is very structured and you can't really slack off esp if you paid for it! ;) |
| Re: Experiences in learning the Arabic language |
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| bhaloo |
| 06/12/01 at 13:24:20 |
| slm I have taken a lot of foreign language courses in high school and college. It is in fact my favorite subject. Unfortunately I haven't taken Arabic, as there are no local places offering it. I'm fluent in Urdu (learned that at home, and could tell Asim and Arsalan enjoyed my translating skills [for one reason or another. ;)]), used to be fluent in Spanish (but can understand it completely), was pretty good in German, and took some Italian and French in college. I've observed different techniques and it is my observation that there is only 1 technique that works effectively, and that is when the entire class is conducted completely in the foreign language, from day 1 or day 2. I have taken some classes where people ask questions in English, and then maybe they do some exercises in the foreign language, and those classes have been a waste of time. I really liked doing group activities, putting on skits in foreign languages. The teacher would assign a group of us to create a dialogue and then present it in to the class. This happened maybe in the 2nd week of insturction and then this would happen every week maybe 2 or 3 times a week. It was a really good way to learn, because then you weren't just memorizing a list of words but you were actually applying them. And when someone gave a presentation, there was the added motivation to understand what they were saying, so you had to study the vocabulary. Also watching documentaries or shows in a foreign language helped tremendously. Anyways, its been my experience that this is the only effective way to learn a foreign language. Of course if one goes to a country, and everyone there just speaks in that language, that is another great way. Its easy to forget a language, if you don't practice it, you are going to forget it. |
| NS |
| Re: Experiences in learning the Arabic language |
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| *sofia* |
| 06/14/01 at 11:27:15 |
| Thanks for the pointers, guys. I agree, a classroom setting is probably the best way to go, outside of learning in whatever native speaking country that applies, wAllahu'alim. JazaakAllahu khairan! |
| NS |
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