Which is gaining popularity every year. Learning Arabic has its own characteristics, which are related to the structure of the language itself, as well as pronunciation and writing. This must be taken into account when choosing a training program.
Prevalence
Arabic belongs to the Semitic group. In terms of the number of native speakers, Arabic ranks second in the world after Chinese.
Arabic is spoken by about 350 million people in 23 countries where the language is considered an official language. These countries include Egypt, Algeria, Iraq, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Palestine and many others. Also, the language is one of the official ones in Israel. Taking this factor into account, learning Arabic involves a preliminary selection of the dialect that will be used in a particular country, since, despite many similar elements, in different countries language has its own distinctive features.
Dialects
Modern Arabic can be divided into 5 large groups of dialects, which from a linguistic point of view can practically be called different languages. The fact is that the lexical and grammatical differences in languages are so great that people speaking different dialects and not knowing the literary language practically cannot understand each other. The following groups of dialects are distinguished:
- Maghreb.
- Egyptian-Sudanese.
- Syro-Mesopotamian.
- Arabian.
- Central Asian.
A separate niche is occupied by modern standard Arabic, which, however, is practically not used in colloquial speech.
Features of the study
Learning Arabic from scratch is not an easy task, since after Chinese it is considered one of the most difficult in the world. Mastering Arabic takes much longer than learning any European language. This applies to both classes with teachers.
Studying Arabic on your own is a difficult path, which is best avoided at first. This is due to several factors. Firstly, the letter is very complex, which is not similar to either the Latin or Cyrillic alphabet, which is written from right to left, and also does not involve the use of vowels. Secondly, the structure of language itself, in particular morphology and grammar, is complex.
What should you pay attention to before you start studying?
A program for learning Arabic should be built taking into account the following factors:
- Having enough time. Learning a language takes several times longer than learning other languages.
- Opportunities for both independent work, and for classes in a group or with a private teacher. Studying Arabic in Moscow gives you the opportunity to combine different options.
- Inclusion in the learning process different aspects: writing, reading, listening and, of course, speaking.
We must not forget that you need to decide on the choice of a specific dialect. Learning Arabic varies depending on this factor. In particular, the dialects in Egypt and Iraq are so different that their speakers cannot always understand each other. A way out of the situation may be to study Arabic literary language, which has a more complex structure, but is understandable in all countries of the Arab world, since dialects traditionally have a more simplified form. Despite this, this option also has its negative sides. Although the literary language is understood by all countries, it is practically not spoken. A situation may arise that a person who speaks a literary language will not be able to understand people who speak a certain dialect. In this case, the choice depends on the purposes of the study. If you want to use a language in different countries, then the choice should be made towards the literary version. If a language is studied for work in a specific Arab country, preference should be given to the corresponding dialect.
Vocabulary of the language
Learning Arabic is impossible without using words and phrases, which in this case have characteristic differences in comparison with European languages. This is due to the fact that in Europe languages intertwined and strongly influenced each other, due to which they have many common lexical units. Almost all the vocabulary of the Arabic language has its original origin, which practically cannot be associated with others. The number of borrowings from other languages is present, but it takes up no more than one percent of the dictionary.
The difficulty of studying also lies in the fact that the Arabic language is characterized by the presence of synonyms, homonyms and polysemantic words, which can seriously confuse people who are starting to learn the language. In Arabic, both newer words and very old ones are intertwined, which do not have specific connections with each other, but denote almost identical objects and phenomena.
Phonetics and pronunciation
Literary Arabic and its numerous dialects are characterized by the presence of a very developed phonetic system, in particular with regard to consonants: glottal, interdental and emphatic. Difficulty in learning is also represented by all sorts of combinatorial possibilities of pronunciation.
Many Arab countries are trying to bring the spoken pronunciation of words closer to the literary language. This is primarily due to the religious context, in particular to correct reading Koran. Despite this, despite this moment there is no single point of view on how to correctly read certain endings, since ancient texts do not have vowels - signs to indicate vowel sounds, which does not allow one to correctly state how exactly one word or another should be pronounced.
Arabic is one of the most widely spoken and also one of the most difficult languages to learn in the world. The difficulty lies in the special letter without vowels, multi-level morphology and grammar, as well as special pronunciation. An important factor when learning a language is also the choice of dialect, since Arabic sounds very differently in different countries.
Gives you the opportunity to get acquainted and learn one of the ancient and most widespread languages of the world - Arabic.
Arabic is considered an official language in the following countries of the world: Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Western Sahara, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Qatar, Comoros, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Chad, Eritrea. Arabic is spoken by about 290 million people (240 - native language and 50 - second language).
Arabic language played big role in the history of world culture: extensive fiction and scientific literature was created on it in the Middle Ages. A huge number of Arabic words have entered the languages of many Asian and African peoples. Even in European languages, including Russian, there are words borrowed from Arabic (algebra, azimuth, zenith, alcohol, genie, store, treasury, coffee, safari, tariff, etc.).
Currently, the Arabic language exists in two significantly different forms: on the one hand, there is the Arabic literary language - a common language for all Arab countries in education, the press, radio, science, literature, oratory; on the other hand, there are Arabic colloquial languages or dialects used by the population in everyday communication. The spoken language of each Arab country differs both from the common Arabic literary language and from the spoken languages of other Arab countries.
Like all language learners from scratch, we will talk about literary Arabic. As a basis online lessons The website contains a tutorial by V. S. Segal (). Its peculiarity is that it allows you to get acquainted with the language gradually, without immediately bombarding you with a stream of incomprehensible and complex Arabic letters. Errors were also corrected, letter animation was added, and answers were added that can be viewed by moving the mouse over the key: . Plus, audio has been added! You will not only learn to read and write Arabic, but also begin to understand the language by ear. Lessons free.
Go to -› list of lessons ‹- (Click)
If the opportunity to communicate with 290 million people is not your big motivation for learning Arabic, then it might be, for example, the desire to stand out from the crowd. Few people know Arabic. And if now you just seem very smart, then in the future you will be able to build a successful career. The Middle East has a very large economic potential, so knowledge of the language and culture is beneficial and promising.
IN modern conditions growing hostility between Arab world and the West, understanding the Islamic religion is key information to overcome the crisis. People who know Arabic can bridge cultural and linguistic barriers between countries, help resolve or avoid international conflict, and help businesses successfully trade internationally. In addition, knowledge of Arabic opens the door to other languages. For example, 50% of Farsi words are made up of Arabic words. The situation is similar with Urdu and Turkish. Hebrew is also linguistically related to Arabic, making it easier to understand grammatical and semantic concepts in the languages.
Arabs are hospitable. Once you speak a few words of Arabic in front of a native speaker, they will be delighted and want to help you in any way possible. But try to do the same thing, for example, in German in front of the Germans - it is unlikely that it will greatly surprise them. Arabs are proud of their language and will be happy to see someone making an effort to learn it.
Arabic is the 5th most widely spoken language in the world, and migration patterns recent years only increase its spread. More recently, Arabic has become the second most common language in Sweden, but Finnish has always been so. And before Arabic takes over the whole world, you still have time to study it!
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Learning Arabic
The Arabic language has historically begun to flourish in the world thanks to the development and spread of Islam as one of the world's largest religions. It is known that Arabic is the language of the Koran - the Holy Book of Islam. This main language Muslims
What is interesting to know for everyone who is going to learn Arabic for beginners
1. Where is Arabic spoken?
Arabic is the official language of 22 countries and is the mother tongue of more than 200 million people spread geographically from southeast Asia to northwest Africa, better known as the Arab World.
"Classical" Arabic, known as the language of the Qur'an, is the language in which the Qur'an is written and is the base language for the syntactic and grammatical norms of modern Arabic. It is this classical Arabic language that is taught in religious schools and in all Arabic schools around the world.
"Modern Standard" Arabic is similar to the classical language, but easier and simpler. It is understood by most Arabs and is used on television, spoken by politicians, and studied by foreigners. Most Arabic newspapers and modern literature use Modern Standard Arabic.
Arabic spoken language has many different dialects. For example, a native resident of Iraq will have difficulty understanding a local resident of Algeria and vice versa, since they speak completely different dialects. But both of them will be able to communicate with each other if they use Modern Standard Arabic.
2. What any of us already knows about the Arabic language
- A lot of words came to us from Arabic, and we all know them, for example:
قطن, koton
سكر, sugar
غزال, gazelle
قيثارة, guitar
الكحول, alcohol
صحراء , Sahara
قيراط, carat
ليمون, lemon
- Arabic uses the same punctuation as any other language foreign language, such as for example, English language, but Arabic has slightly different punctuation marks, such as a reversed comma (،) or a mirrored question mark (؟).
3. How difficult is it to learn Arabic?
- Pronunciation difficulties
Many sounds in Arabic are pronounced in a guttural manner, as if they are formed deep inside the throat - so it takes practice to learn how to pronounce them correctly.
- Order of words in a sentence
Any sentence in Arabic begins with a verb, so to say “the boy is eating an apple”, you need to say “the boy is eating an apple”:
اكل الولد التفاحة .
- Adjectives are placed after the noun:
السيارة الحمراء - red car
- Sentences are written from right to left, so the first page of the book, for us Europeans, will be considered the last.
4. How can Arabic help in the future for beginners?
- Arabic belongs to the Semitic group of languages, therefore it has much in common with languages such as Amharic and Hebrew. Therefore, those who can learn Arabic will understand other languages of the Semitic group more clearly.
- Languages such as Persian/Farsi, Urdu, Kurdish and others use the Arabic alphabet which is used to write their own languages. Therefore, those who learn Arabic from scratch will be able to read the written words and sentences of any of these languages, but not understand the meaning.
1. Define precisely the goals for which you need to learn Arabic for beginners.
As we wrote above, there are several types of Arabic: Modern Standard, Classical and Colloquial Arabic. Each type is responsible for its own goals.
2. Master the Arabic alphabet
At first glance, for those who decide to take up the Arabic language, the alphabet seems the most difficult and incomprehensible moment. Some even try to avoid studying it and only memorize the pronunciation or transliteration of Arabic words. This method will bring many problems in the future. It would be much more useful, on the contrary, to ignore the transcription and learn the spelling of words. So to learn Arabic quickly for beginners, learn the alphabet.
3. Learn to use an Arabic dictionary.
Using an Arabic dictionary is very difficult at first, but after clarifying the basic points and some practice, it will not be difficult.
Firstly, it is necessary to take into account that all words in the dictionary are used in their original forms, while in the texts they appear in derived forms
Secondly, the structure of the dictionary itself has a root system, that is, the root of the word is considered as the search word. The roots in the dictionary are arranged in alphabetical order. That is, to find the word istiqbaal (recorder), you need to know the three-letter root of this word - q-b-l, that is, this word will be in the dictionary under the letter q.
4. We study Arabic constantly.
In order to quickly learn Arabic, you need to study it constantly. If you have internet, you can learn Arabic online. There are many resources online for self-study Arabic. You can buy textbooks with audio recordings, listening to which you will become immersed in the language and absorb pronunciation. Many tutorials like learning Arabic from scratch offer interesting mnemonics for memorizing Arabic words.
5. Ask a tutor for help.
