Get Fluent in Arabic!: Why Some People Attain Fluency Faster Than Others….

By Moniur S Rohman

Imagine if you could learn Arabic in a fun, engaging and entertaining way?

What if there was a way for you to become truly fluent, without having to spend hours on end imprisoned in your room, studying hard, memorizing from a grammar book, or a skyscraper list of vocabulary?

A way which makes learning Arabic easy, pain and stress-free?

So, is there an easier way?

Get ready to laugh! Get ready to be entertained! Get ready to have some of your preconceived ideas challenged! Such as, Arabic can only be taught in your native tongue. Or, the more grammar and vocabulary you know, the more fluent you'll become. You'll learn how to memorise vocabulary quickly and easily. You'll be able to know how to approach Arabic listening and reading materials, and quickly understand how to become strong in these skills. You'll also be exposed to listening, speaking, reading and writing activities that you can use straightaway. You'll know how to conjugate from the past, present and order forms of verbs easily and effortlessly. You'll learn what type of teachers to hire. You'll discover an easier way to approach Arabic grammar and balagha. You'll even find out how you can learn Arabic without actually trying hard. Great, don't you think?

By implementing the techniques and lessons in this book, you too can become fluent in the Arabic language. This will allow you to ditch Arabic subtitles, Quran translations and dramatically increase your job prospects worldwide.

In this EPIC, THRILLING first EVER self-help-guide you'll be taken on a mad, crazy, whirlwind of a journey. A journey that'll allow you to uncover quick–fix skills & techniques that many do not know about. And few EVER discover.

Wanna know what they are?

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Nov 14, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483512969

Book preview

techniques.

Getting Started

I wrote this book because I often wondered why some people learned Arabic faster than others. I saw that some people would work really hard while others seem to be learning effortlessly. The ones who worked harder seemed to be stuck in laborious routines.

Before discussing the actions you can take to learn Arabic, this book discusses essential philosophies that you must be aware of before trying to learn Arabic. Before playing any game you need to know the rules of the game, techniques you can use to win, and the tactics that could be used against you.

To successfully learn Arabic, you need to be someone who thinks first and then takes action.

The following is a list of things I have identified in people who learn Arabic successfully:

A strong reason – If you ask many people if they would like to learn Arabic, they will answer with a resounding yes. However, learning Arabic is a process. The journey requires a lot of concentration, dedication, hard work, and time. When I began my journey, my main motivation was the fact that I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life reading a book like the Qur’an and not understanding what sit means. I hated having to rely on others to translate the books and lectures of scholars I was interested in because the variation between translations was so great that I did not know who to trust. Furthermore, I really wanted to know what was being talked about in Friday sermons. I wanted to become independent. I also had an idea that my job prospects would improve dramatically if I invested some time and effort in learning Arabic.

Choosing daily – You have to make the choice every day to learn and practice your Arabic. It’s as simple as that. The longer you put it off with silly excuses, the less likely you will be to actually start.

Choose your environment – It’s very important to surround yourself with the right people. I was fortunate enough to come across my mentor, who was instrumental in my journey with Arabic. I also had and lived with good friends who shared my passion to learn Arabic fluently. Hanging around with the wrong people who have no passion to learn can seriously dissuade you. Surround yourself with good teachers, good learning material, resources, and good friends.

Learn in the right language – In this book, I will show you that Arabic should only be learned in Arabic. One of the biggest signs of a bad teacher is one who translates everything that he or she says in Arabic to your native language. You have to train the part of your mind that is dedicated to learning Arabic only. Using your native language as a crutch will severely cripple your linguistic skills.

Learn Arabic in the right sequence – This book will show you that there are four skills you need to develop as you learn a new language. Without recognizing that language-learning is divided into four main categories of skill, learning becomes difficult. But we’ll get to that.

Arabic and Its Dialects

Before you begin reading this book, you should know the differences between colloquial Arabic, Fusha Arabic, Qur’anic Arabic, Classical Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic, and Ammiyyah Arabic.

Modern Standard Arabic is sophisticated and is studied by people all over the world. The English equivalent is modern English. It is a form of "Fusha" Arabic.

Ammiyyah, or colloquial Arabic, on the other hand, is made up of all the dialects of Arabic that are found in each Arabic country. Ammiyyah is usually only spoken by native Arabs. The English equivalent is slang.

Qur’anic Arabic is written in Classical Arabic. This Arabic is also considered "Fusha. However, one key difference between Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic that the latter is very poetic. While simply knowing the vocabulary will allow you to get the gist" of the Qur’an, it is of a much higher linguistic level than Modern Standard Arabic in its vocabulary, forms, structure, and Balagha. Balagha is an Arabic word that describes the eloquence, and rhetoric in a text. The Balagha in Modern Standard Arabic can usually be understood without expert knowledge. However, having an understanding of Classical Arabic and ancient Arabic traditions will aid in understanding the deeper levels of the Qur’an. The English equivalent is Biblical English.

The following are things you should keep in mind before studying Arabic:

(sayyara) exist in both Classical and Modern Standard Arabic. However, in Classical Arabic, this word means caravan, while in Modern Standard

(mawke) in Modern Standard Arabic means website, while in the Qur’an, this word is used to mean location. Modern Standard Arabic is an evolutionary version of Classical Arabic that is updated to reflect changing times. Therefore, while you can teach yourself Modern Standard Arabic by using dictionaries and other tools, you will need the help of a qualified teacher to really understand Qur’anic Arabic. You can, however, use tafseer and other Islamic discussions to learn more about the word choice in the Qur’an. I strongly advise those of you trying to learn Qur’anic Arabic to do so under the wing of someone knowledgeable. At the same time, you cannot learn Classical Arabic without learning Modern Standard Arabic. Doing so would be like jumping into learning Shakespeare without first establishing your Modern Standard English.

Very few people actually speak Classical Arabic, including Islamic Scholars. Most modern Qur’anic analyses and tafseer are written in Modern Standard Arabic. This is because Modern Standard Arabic is easier to understand than Classical Arabic.

Muslims are not the only ones that speak and study Fusha Arabic. There are large Arab Christian minorities who study Fusha. Furthermore, before the rise of Islam, there were many pagan Arabs who spoke the language. Many Christian texts, such as the ones found on ChristianArabic.org are written in Fusha.

This book focuses on the study of both Modern Standard Arabic and Classical Arabic. In my experience, trying to learn both Fusha and Ammiyyah at the same time often results in students speaking a mixture of regional dialects along with Fusha. At the Fajr centre in Egypt, where I studied Modern Standard Arabic, many Arab students were pushed back a level or two because they had a problem of speaking a mixture of the Egyptian dialect and Fusha.

It’s interesting to note that during political meetings, Arab leaders speak to one other in Fusha. The reason for this is this is that there are over twenty Ammiyyah dialects. It is quite impossible to learn them all. Fusha exists as a bridge across all those linguistic differences.

As a former student, I can say that it is a complete nightmare trying to learn Fusha in an Arabic-speaking country, because very few people speak Fusha. Colloquial Arabic is used on the streets and in most media. The benefits of being able to speak the dialect are obvious, however. You’ll be able to connect with the average local more easily. It will make it easier to negotiate business deals, talking to your landlord, and network for job-related purposes. Not being able to speak Ammiyyah puts you at a disadvantage if you’re fond of exploring local areas. You will find it a lot harder building a rapport with a person if you do not speak the dialect. I got by merely being able to understand Ammiyyah. I did not want to confuse myself, because I was learning Fusha at the time.

Part 1: The Four Basic Skills

The Language Flow Quadrant

That Stupid Grin

Six months had passed since I joined an Arabic Institute in East London. By then, I had completed the Madinah Book 2 and gotten an A in the final exam. I was set to leave for Egypt in two weeks to continue learning Arabic. One night, Omar, one of my oldest friends, called me to ask me about my studies. He had been in my class for Madinah Book 1 and left because he found neither the teacher nor the classes interesting enough. I told him that everything was going well, and he invited me to his house for a meal.

As we sat in the living room eating the delicious chicken he baked, he looked up at me and said, Hey, how about a competition?

I am a very competitive person and could not resist. Sure. What kind of competition?

He took out his laptop. "Let’s listen to something being delivered in Arabic and see who understands the most.

That sounds like a good challenge, I said grinning. I clearly had the upper hand. Omar had flunked out of Arabic school long back. I knew way more grammar than he did. He began playing a lecture that had subtitles in English. Okay, so I’m going to minimize the screen, and we both have to try and understand and explain what we understood, he said, mirroring my grin. I was really excited because our little competition gave me the opportunity to use my new skills.

He hit the play button and minimized the window. The speaker spoke and spoke and spoke for two minutes. I tried my very best to understand, but all I could translate in my head were two words: week and what. In other words, I understood absolutely nothing.

Omar paused the video. So what did you understand? I could not believe it. What was going on? Why couldn’t I understand anything?

He was speaking really fast and the sound of the recording is not clear, I said, attempting to avoid the truth.

What are you talking about? His voice is as clear as they get.

"Okay, so what did you understand from the lecture?" I challenged.

Everything! he grinned with his front two squirrely teeth sticking out. I hated that grin. I had seen it since I was a kid. He used it when he was beating me on FIFA or in a real football match. I’m sure he knew it annoyed me.

Huh? What? Everything?

He nodded and his stupid grin grew.

All right then, translate it. Enlighten me, oh wise guru. I bowed in mock submission.

Enlighten you? I’m not going to enlighten you. I’m going to show you how much time and money you wasted on going to those classes of yours.

Those words felt like a slap in the face but I tried ignoring them. I knew he could not pull it off. How could he? He had only done five lessons of Arabic, and knew no grammar, unlike myself, a grammar guru.

Go on then, let’s see what you know, I said in an agitated voice.

I pulled the laptop towards myself and pressed the play button confidently. The lecture started. As soon as one sentence was completed, like a contestant with my finger on the buzzer, I paused the lecture, and said, So tell me then what you understood. Omar started to translate the entire sentence. I looked at the screen and read the translation.

Huh? It was actually right. It must have been a fluke, I thought. But it wasn’t. He managed to translate the first five minutes of the video without any inaccuracies.

"Hang on a minute Einstein, how do I know that you have