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learning Arabic and not wasting time

 
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Jang soo



Joined: 13 Jun 2008
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Sat Jun 21, 2008 1:54 pm    Post subject: learning Arabic and not wasting time Reply with quote

It takes a long time to learn a language. Years and it's going to take a hell of a lot longer if people work against you. I've devoted tons of time to learning Spanish in Spain and Korean in South Korea. Now I want to learn Arabic. Experience has been a good teacher and after going to several Hagwons and Institutos as well as dozens of teachers you get a good sense of who is wasting your time and who is not.

Of course learning Basic grammar is essential but after that I look for the following.

A. Something like what you can find in the Phillipines for learning English. A school with 3 hours of 1 to 1 classes in the morning and 3 hours of group classes (with SMALL numbers) in the afternoon.

B. audio books with transcripts in both languages.


Most language programs are a royal waste of time and money. I wish to avoid this. Egypt has a relatively low cost of living so there must be cheap places to learn the language. Full immersion programs and homestays are probably best.



Anybody Heard of anygood places?
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Jang soo



Joined: 13 Jun 2008
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Fri Apr 17, 2009 7:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

so far I like Al-Diwan. It's very conservative though...

Also I've found this software quite helpful

http://www.egyptianarabic.com/index.php

Andrew was very helpful on the phone. The software is better than the stupid Franklin dictionary that I bought
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spanglish



Joined: 21 May 2009
Posts: 742
Location: working on that

PostPosted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for posting about your experience. I'm thinking about heading the Egypt/the Middle East after I finish up learning Spanish and tackling Arabic. If you have any other suggestions/experiences, I'd appreciate hearing about them, and from anybody else.
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meri



Joined: 17 Oct 2007
Posts: 31

PostPosted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 8:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Be clear on the purpose of your Arabic. Spoken Arabic in some countries and particularly Egypt is not useful if you want to read/understand al jazeera etc. Conversely, if you want to be able to meet and communicate with people (or watch old Egyptian movies), go for a homestay and you should do well.

I have heard of people doing an intensive program in Jordan, where the spoken arabic is closer to MSA and coming out proficient in both areas.

If you are serious you should get on with learning the alphabet and how to read and write before you get there, as this is essential and can hold you back from progressing quickly.
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