Job Discussion Forums

crashartist1 · Joined: 06 Jun 2004 Posts: 164

Sorry if this has been asked before, but I am moving to Saudi Arabia in December and my wife and I would like to learn Arabic. We are moving to Jeddah. Can anyone suggest a place, or do we have to attend a University course to learn? I would prefer something with a good reputation, we all know how language schools are!

poorESLteacher

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Most EFLers here do not deign to learn Arabic. They prefer to denigrate the locals and fulminate about the 'ragheads'

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

In all my years in Jeddah I never found anywhere that was worth a "%"^ offering courses in Arabic. Our solution was to hire ateacher and have one-to-one. I was lucky. I found a good teacher.

You can put a free ad in the 'Arab News' once you have your local ID Card (Iqama).

usool · Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 147

Hello

I am a veteran Arabic learner. I would suggest the Krashen-Terrel natural approach with a heavy dose of reading. I would also suggest that when you get to Jeddah to go to the local store and there is bound to be a notice or three advertising Arabic lessons from Indo-Pak graduates from religious seminaries (maulanas). Most of these are not good teachers so you may have to try a few.

So thats my tip, a merger of the maulana and Krashen-Terrel. Its how I did it.

Regards and best wishes

usool · Joined: 11 May 2004 Posts: 147

Hello

I am a veteran Arabic learner. I would suggest the Krashen-Terrel natural approach with a heavy dose of reading. I would also suggest that when you get to Jeddah to go to the local store and there is bound to be a notice or three advertising Arabic lessons from Indo-Pak graduates from religious seminaries (maulanas). Most of these are not good teachers so you may have to try a few.

So thats my tip, a merger of the maulana and Krashen-Terrel. Its how I did it.

Regards and best wishes

crashartist1 · Joined: 06 Jun 2004 Posts: 164

Wow I am a little surprised by the response. I was expecting that there would a lot of places that would offer an Arabic course because of the amount of foreigners in Jeddah. Hmm, just a thought but I appreciate the information I will do all of the above. I figure if I am going to stay in Saudi for a couple years then I should try to learn the language, you never know how learning Arabic might help for future job prospects!

Another couple questions: What do you guys do there in your free time? I have been lead to believe that it is a very metropolitan city and there are many American restaurants and cafes, do you guys (or girls) venture out of the compounds and roam around?

All right last question (for now) how expensive are cell phones? I think I have the cheapest cell phone available right now (Nokia, it is great and wonderful and has everything I need, but I want to the 21st century here). How are the prices compared to America or Great Britain or Turkey?

All right, I am enjoying the cold weather in Turkey as it is to be my last for a few years and I look forward to hearing from you all.

poorESLteacher

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Much of the teaching of Arabic to foreigners is geared to the religious needs of Muslims who wish to read the Koran. If you are a non-Muslim this approach is of limited value. In fact some schools of Fikh say that teaching Arabic to non-Muslims is not permitted !

You will have to be selective in looking for a good teacher. Mine was a Filpino Muslim who worked in Jedddah as an interpreter - Tagalog/English/Arabic. He was good !

Mark Loyd · Joined: 13 Sep 2005 Posts: 517

True Dreamer · Joined: 13 May 2005 Posts: 41 Location: Land of the Sand

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

True Dreamer

The same narrow-minded bigots who say that the greeting 'Salaam Aleikum' may not be used by or extended to the non-believer !

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

Dear Scot 47

"School of Tnought" has a very precise meaning when discussing Islamic theology and should not be used as a synonym for "some people".

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

It was my understanding that the Hanbali school of Islamic Thought forbade the teaching of Arabic to non-Muslims.

It is CERTAINLY the case that in KSA non-Muslims may not legally own a copy of the Holy Koran. (They may own a copy of the Translation of that book.)

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

Dear Scot

I sincerely doubt that the Hanbali school forbids the teachng of Arabic to non-Moslems, especially since it is the only school of thought officially allowed in Saudi, and if a non-Moslem child goes to a Saudi school he is obliged to pass Arabic.

Perhaps you could give us a source for your astounding claim that non-Molsems are not allowed to have a copy of the Quran in Arabic.

crashartist1 · Joined: 06 Jun 2004 Posts: 164

Mark you got the wrong guy, I am using Crashs' account to post questions since I don't have and really don't want an account of my own. Crash has a Turkish wife, and a good job I have an Italian wife and I am moving to Jeddah; Crash is staying in Eskisehir.

Anyway that is neither here not there.

University of Jeddah? Okay I will try that, free is always good! I would say that I think it is a little incredulous that Saudi Arabia would forbid a foreigner/non-Muslim to learn Arabic, but then again it is Saudi Arabia and you never know what to expect (all expectations are based on what I learn from this website so I take everything with a grain of salt). I guess I always assumed that every culture would want foreigners to learn their language to help with communication instead of everything being a one-way road.

So what is the city of Jeddah like? I hear it is very cosmopolitan with many western amenities and restaurants. Can anyone compare it to another city in Europe or America? What so y�all do on your free time outside of the compounds you live in? Would any of you ever live in a normal apartment and not a compound?

poorESLteacher

True Dreamer · Joined: 13 May 2005 Posts: 41 Location: Land of the Sand

Scot47�..

What a disappointment!! You lived for � God knows how many years in Saudi Arabia � and you still seem to have so many misconceptions that are forming what seems to look like an endless chain of ignorance about this country and its religion. Please forgive me for saying that but I couldn�t help it since you made not just one, or two, but three shocking statements that are absolutely groundless and baseless to say the least.

The first statement you made was that �some schools of FIKEH� in Islam forbade the teaching of Arabic to non-muslims! I knew that this statement was indeed false, but I thought you may be able and perhaps capable of proving me wrong since I always look for the truth no matter how bitter its taste could be. But alas! You presented no evidence whatsoever and instead you replied in a rather blunt manner that included sadly a second false statement. When SJ posted his reply you promptly replied disappointingly, yet with another third false statement! To be honest scot47 I keep wondering when all of this rhetoric will end!

Please allow me to correct these misconceptions and I plead patience with what I am about to present.

First of all, NON, I repeat NON of the schools of thoughts of Islam forbid the teaching of the Arabic language to non- muslims. On the contrary, it is greatly encouraged!! This is due to the fact that Islam � unlike say Judaism � is open to all and preaching requires the understanding of the Qura�an and hence the understanding of the Arabic language.
The teaching of Arabic language in many universities in Saudi Arabia is open to ALL�. no one in the past forbade it to non-muslims and I assure you, no one will! Arabic speaking countries are full of believers of other faiths who speak Arabic fluently and Saudi Arabia is no exception.

Secondly, there is no group in Islam � or narrow-minded bigots for that matter - who can say that �Assalama Alaikum� may NOT be extended or used to a non-believer. This is a greatly misunderstood conception scot47 and kindly allow me to correct it for you as well. This phrase �Assalamo Alaikum� means peace be onto you. The prophet of Islam forbade the initial deliverance of this phrase to an unknown or perhaps a hostile non-believer. This is by no mean �forbidden� to a known or friendly non believer. The idea of not delivering � initially- this exact greeting to an unknown or hostile non-muslim has its grounds since he or she may not be worthy of peace. Also it is a phrase that is delivered in Arabic and there are many people who do not understand Arabic, and therefore it is useless saying that phrase in Arabic to them if they don�t understand it. This means that I can chose an alternative way to greet someone who is not a muslim or non-speaker of Arabic and unknown to me by saying Good Morning�Good Evening �Hi�Hello�or any types of greetings he or she may understand�.etc. In fact the prophet of Islam ordered the return of this exact greeting �Assalamo Alaikum� to a person who is not a muslim. This certainly indicate that if I know a person who is not a muslim and holds no hostility towards me, I should use and indeed �extend� peace towards him or her too.

Thirdly, it is absolutely absurd to think that a non-muslim is not allowed LEGALLY to own an Arabic copy of the Qura�an. You live in Saudi Arabia scot47, you can just walk into the nearest JAREER or OBAIKAN bookstore and purchase one. Yes, it is true that there are many rules on protecting the Arabic copies of the Qura�an since it has this enormous sentimental value and that it is being sacred among muslims. There are genuine reasons for this and even today you can read in the papers and hear on the news how the US soldiers (better known as the civilization hating butchers and torture masters) at the infamous Guantanamo Bay treat the Qura�an in front of muslim prisoners. You can even see photos and watch clips taken as souvenirs by the morally deprived US soldiers in Iraq of how a book respected by millions in the world �The Holy Quran� is treated. Tearing, urinating and drawing graffiti crosses on copies of the Qura�an kept inside mosques in Iraq is how these US soldiers express their intellectuality, respect and superior civilization teachings to the world!

Therefore muslims are certainly forgiven for trying to protect their holy book by forbidding the random and careless selling and distribution of copies of the Holy Quran. But to say that it is legally forbidden is something that is definitely wrong and baseless.

To sum it all up, I hope that crashartist1 was and will not be put off learning a beautiful language such as Arabic by misconceptions mentioned in this thread and indeed in other threads.

Good Luck crashartist1