<p>I'm not a good self learner, but if I discipline myself, I can do it.</p>
<p>I'm interested in learning Arabic. It's not offered at my school. Are there any programs that you know of that I could potentially take or any tips/advice?</p>
<p>Rosetta Stone software. really great for learning any language</p>
<p>I apologize if this is an utterly useless post, but it's 4 AM, and I think it's awesome that you want to learn Arabic... Possibly because I really want to learn it too right now.</p>
<p>As for Rosetta Stone, you should definitely try it. But first, see if you could take a beginner's course in Arabic at your local community college. It might actually be cheaper than purchasing Rosetta Stone... Still, I have used Rosetta Stone before, and it's kinda fun. :]</p>
<p>Thanks guys. Anyone else?</p>
<p>Are you looking to write Arabic or speak Arabic? Or both? If you just want to speak (trust me, this is already hard enough) you may want to stick with a podcast on itunes, such as "Jordanian Arabic Language Lessons" (the Jordanian dialect is probably the easiest for a beginner, and it contains the same words and sayings as the Syrian and Lebanese dialects.) Any given product you buy is going to have a speaker with a completely different accent and dialect from another product, so try to stick with one source. Avoid products that use formal Arabic. I'm done, hahaha.</p>
<p>-Native speaker</p>
<p>Rosetta Stone is expensive and you can learn alot online.</p>
<p><a href="http://i-cias.com/babel/arabic/index.htm%5B/url%5D">http://i-cias.com/babel/arabic/index.htm</a></p>
<p>You can get Rosetta Stone on Ebay, which may help bring the cost down.</p>
<p>Well in college, I'm planning on majoring in Middle East Studies. Far down the road, I'd like to be a diplomat/ambassador to a country in the middle east and arabic will be necessary.</p>
<p>Sazari, that link you gave me was helpful. The hardest part will be initially learning the alphabet, I'm sure. </p>
<p>Any other advice? :D</p>
<p>dont buy rosetta stone. if you need to, get it from your library. there is a great online course thats free:hXXp://<a href="http://www.madinaharabic.com/">www.madinaharabic.com/</a></p>
<p>good luck. i have similar career goals as you ;-)</p>
<p>I'm also learning Arabic! yay :]</p>
<p>If I were you, I'd NOT buy Rosetta Stone.. it's really expensive and from what I've heard, it doesn't include all the stuff that's vital to learn. I mean, who wants to know how to say "The boy ran from the house" ?? lol.</p>
<p>I'm currently using the "Before You Know It" software.. it's free, and you can either use the transliterated Arabic words if you're mostly interested in speaking/listening, or you can use the actual Arabic alphabet/lettering for the reading bit. I'd recommend initially either learning just the alphabet and pronunciation of each letter or initially learning vocab that's transliterated. The link is Free</a> foreign language learning software: Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, American Sign Language / ASL</p>
<p>And you can download the first choice Arabic Before You Know It Lite 3.6, and it's great :] There are also some other programs available free for download [or some for very low prices] on that page, so hope this helps! :]</p>
<p>Also, if you want to be more colloquial with your use of Arabic than just using Modern Standard Arabic, I'd recommend learning Egyptian Arabic. Since Egypt has the big entertainment industry over there, I've heard from several people that just about everybody in the Middle East understands Egyptian Arabic. Unless you know the specific country you'd like to be involved with, I'd stick with EA.</p>
<p>1) Alif Baa, An Introduction to Arabic Letters and Sounds,Second Edition, by Brustad, Al-Batal & Al-Tonsi, Georgetown University Press, 2004.
2) Al-Kitaab fii Tacallum al-cArabiyya : A Textbook for Beginning Arabic, Part I, Second Edition, by Brustad, Al-Batal & Al-Tonsi, Georgetown University Press, 2004.
3) The Hans-Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, Spoken Languages Services. </p>
<p>there's a list of what Middlebury's Arabic language school uses for its elementary arabic program. Number 2 is supposed to be very good and comprehensive.</p>
<p>lol why you want to learn arabic?</p>
<p>anyways use google.</p>
<p>what kind of arabic are you looking to learn? if its a cultural interest, then colloquial arabic is best and the arabic pertaining to a specific country. if you want to watch news in arabic, then learn modern standard arabic. If you are converting to Islam, then Quranic arabic is a must.</p>
<p>but just so you know, if you have a desire to learn ANY language, arabic is one of the hardest languages (like up there with chinese), especially quranic arabic, and takes a lot of discipline. The tenses are formed strangely and your thought processes have to shift.</p>
<p>hope this helps :)</p>
<p>I'm stunned at the number of people learning arabic/interested in learning arabic...</p>
<p>for what reasons? Just "feel" like learning it or do you think it'll help in your future career, etc?</p>
<p>if you want to be a diplomat, classic arabic or "fus-ha" as it is known, is the most universal Arabic since it is what you learn in school and it is what you read in newspapers, books etc. However, it is the hardest to learn</p>
<p>learning the vernacular in a specific dialect is the easiest IMO. Egyptian or Lebanese dialects would be the most universal since that is where the entertainment industries are based so if you are watching tv you are most likely listening to those two dialects (or you local news, or a crappy tv series in other dialects)</p>
<p>some good news is there are some similar words in both Egyptian and Lebanese to French and English because they were occupied by those countries.</p>
<p>learning quranic arabic is like learning old english lol..</p>
<p>"learning quranic arabic is like learning old english lol.."
if by Quranic you mean classic then there's a major difference which is that you don't learn old English in school so not many know it</p>
<p>yeah, i know what you mean. but it was a metaphor for comparing modern and old english</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm stunned at the number of people learning arabic/interested in learning arabic...</p>
<p>for what reasons? Just "feel" like learning it or do you think it'll help in your future career, etc?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, for me, I was already interested in learning another language, which is why I had taken Latin, but obviously Latin doesn't help much for Arabic. I just wanted something "different" and challenging, and it's on the super critical languages list for the State Department's Foreign Service Officers. So... I've been learning Arabic.</p>