Learning Arabic...
Discussion
Not here, but I did about 6mths of classes maybe 6-7yrs ago now. Oh at the time was half arabic who used to be fluent, so I went to beginner's classes with her.
I found it quite easy to pick up the basics. The alphabet is hardest and then matching up the 'standard' letters to the calligraphic forms. Then there's different flourishes [dots] for male & female. Sounds harder than it was, you will know the alphabet in a couple of weeks.
My calligraphy was excellent apparently, but I was crap at the spoken word [yorks accented arabic!]. Didn't get past basic stuff before I stopped going. I had a lot on my plate at the time and didn't study. Those who did made remarkable progress in that time.
Wouldn't mind going again tbh. Let me know if you find anywhere decent.
I found it quite easy to pick up the basics. The alphabet is hardest and then matching up the 'standard' letters to the calligraphic forms. Then there's different flourishes [dots] for male & female. Sounds harder than it was, you will know the alphabet in a couple of weeks.
My calligraphy was excellent apparently, but I was crap at the spoken word [yorks accented arabic!]. Didn't get past basic stuff before I stopped going. I had a lot on my plate at the time and didn't study. Those who did made remarkable progress in that time.
Wouldn't mind going again tbh. Let me know if you find anywhere decent.
Been learning on and off for the past 18months, here's my thoughts:
- Group lessons are a complete waste of time, unless your aim is to find a new group of friends/dinner buddies/drinking mates
- Decide what you want to use your arabic for. Talking with locals/chatting up Lebanese chicks/doing business in North Africa. Dependant on this, you need to find the right teacher who can teach you the dialect you need.
- Habibi-Lebanese is very different to 'UAE arabic' and a world away from what's used in North Africa, so it really is important to find the right teacher
- Eton Institute in Knowledge Village are okay, if a little pricey. However, it all comes down to the teacher you get - once you find one that works for you, stick with them. Jumping between classes and teachers is a waste of time
- Private lessons are much more beneficial to actually learning something, but will cost more
- There's no point doing classes unless you start using arabic in the real world, otherwise you'll never get past the basics
- Group lessons are a complete waste of time, unless your aim is to find a new group of friends/dinner buddies/drinking mates
- Decide what you want to use your arabic for. Talking with locals/chatting up Lebanese chicks/doing business in North Africa. Dependant on this, you need to find the right teacher who can teach you the dialect you need.
- Habibi-Lebanese is very different to 'UAE arabic' and a world away from what's used in North Africa, so it really is important to find the right teacher
- Eton Institute in Knowledge Village are okay, if a little pricey. However, it all comes down to the teacher you get - once you find one that works for you, stick with them. Jumping between classes and teachers is a waste of time
- Private lessons are much more beneficial to actually learning something, but will cost more
- There's no point doing classes unless you start using arabic in the real world, otherwise you'll never get past the basics
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