Arabic as easy as A, B, C...

This is how I learnt the Arabic alphabet.

It's a clip from the Egyptian Sesame Street, 'Alam Simsim which literally translates as World of Sesame.  When I told my Egyptian friend about it he said he didn't have an Arabic alphabet song when he was growing up, so perhaps this song is just for the TV show.  In any case, I think this is a pretty cool and it helped me to learn it.

If you want to sing along and learn the alphabet yourself, here are all the letters for you:

Alif, Ba, Ta, Tha, Geem, Ha, Kha

Dal, Thal, Ra, Zay, Seen, Sheen, Saad

Daad, Ta, Tha, 'Ayin, Gheyn, Fa, Qaf

Kaf, Lam, Meem, Noon, Ha, Wow, Ya...

I've written this out in the style I usually transliterate arabic for my own use.  There's no single standard that people use to do this, but this should give you a general idea of how to pronounce the letters.  I've added in some underlining to highlight those letters which have a more guttaral or emphatic sound than regular English letters - it's what gives Arabic that distinctive sound.  If you want a better pronounciation guide, look out for a more formal Arabic learning resource.  Or if you've got a guide book for an Arab speaking country, you might be able to find some basics like this in the back. 

Got it? Ok Yalla, all together 5, 6, 7, 8...

Alif, Ba, Ta...

Learning Arabic Through Music and Song

I've just discovered this interesting Arabic Language Learning Blog called The Arabic Student.  It's a blog that teaches Arabic using video clips, TV shows and songs.

Everything is explained through the eyes of the native English speaker learning Arabic.  I liked the useful collection of grammar points together with interesting explanations of the differences between main dialects.  Mostly, this is about learning the useful stuff that you might see and hear when travelling in Arabic speaking countries.

Overall, it's the children's songs and video clips that have grabbed me.  I really liked his post on the Egyptian Arabic version of the Little Mermaid, " 'Aroosat al baHr" which literally means Bride of the Sea.  This entry comes complete with Arabic script, transliteration and translation.  I could understand a little here and there using the bits of language I've learnt so far and think it is a great way of bringing the language to life.  Follow this link to watch the video clip and read the lesson.

www.habibadance.com

Learning the Language

It wasn't meant to be a New Year's Resolution, but since January I have been learning Arabic.  And the whole experience has just been so rewarding I want to share something about what I have learned so far.

I had a pretty bad experience learning languages when I was at school and it's not something I ever thought I would be able to do.  Several years later, as an adult, I faced my fear and started going to beginners French classes.  I found it very motivating to learn at my own pace without the school environment and I stuck at it.  We're not talking complete fluency, but after about 3-4 years of study I found that I could pass pretty well in France and Belgium using what I had learned.  A little bit after that, I built on my knowledge of French and even managed to teach myself to speak a little Italian too.  So why all those years spend thinking I couldn't do languages?  Just like learning any new skill, whether languages, dance, or anything there simply isn't a good or bad at, there's only learning in the way that suits you.

So what about the Arabic?  Well I like the sound of it, I love the music and the songs.  And when I listened to the music and read song translations I found I could start picking out the words that I recognised and some of the basic patterns in the language.  I thought about going one step further and learning it properly.  Yes Arabic is very different, but could it really be so difficult?

Around the turn of the year I had some happy accidents.  My friend posted a Facebook link to the You Tube channel Learn Arabic with Maha - containing a charming series of videos being made by an Arabic language teacher who had started teaching her Italian husband.  At the same time, I spotted a set of Beginners Arabic Adult Evening Classes run by the local council, starting that very week.  And all of this perfectly timed to happen right before the holiday to Egypt I had already booked.  All the pieces fell into place at the same time.  So with no reason to hold myself back I plunged in.

I want to say more about the different ways that I have been studying in a bit more detail, but I will have to come back to this at some point soon. 

It has been over 3 months now and I've been studying hard.  I won't be sure how much has actually sunk in till my plane actually lands in Cairo.  But I am very hopeful and I really do think, Insha'allah, that I will have something to say.

www.habibadance.com