Trying to learn Arabic.

I'm trying to learn spoken (not necessarily written) Arabic for my religion, but I have no idea where to even start. I've never had to learn a second language before. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Grab Skype and start listening to Arabic stuff? (I can't exactly tell you what that Arabic stuff might be, since I've never tried learning Arabic and therefore wouldn't know where to find any decent listening material.)

You'll have a hard time if you cannot read. Its a hard language, with many spoken dialects. I would suggest learning in a Lebanese or Jordanian dialect as they are the most neutral. The written word is universal. I assume you're trying to speak the prayers in the Quran. I would suggest learning written and spoken Arabic as well. I've grown up knowing how to speak Arabic, but not knowing how to read and write being a first generation American. This really stunts your knowledge of the language. Start with the alphabet. Start reading simple books with a Arabic/English dictionary handy. Practice speaking the new words properly, understanding what they mean with the help of the internet. Once you build up a fundamental vocabulary, start with the Quran. Thats my advice. Also you might want to start with numbers also. You can ask me for help if you need it, though my Arabic isn't fantastic. I don't, however, have much of any knowledge of the Quran (except for the verses my dad yelled at me when I was little) as I am not Muslim.

Check youtube they always have people teaching you basic sayings in other languages.

Speak with people who know arabian. A lot. Living in an arabianspeaking country is a surefire way to get good. Really though, I'm not sure its something you could just do alone. Get someone to teach you.

If you are intent on doing it yourself, I guess reading up on the basic rulesest of the language to "get it" is a start and then just use flashcards or something to learn their version of the alphabet and later on words. That seems tedious and boring as hell though.

Arabic is one of the hardest languages that I've ever learned. I took it as part of my secondary school. Learnt the language for 5 years, never really got the hang of it i.e. speak fluently. To learn arabic, I think its highly recommended to find a good teacher, and get lots of practice for the basics. Because the latter parts of arabic can be quite overwhelming if the basics aren't strong enough.

And the Quran is an excellent book to learn the basic sentence structures as well as improving the vocabulary.

If you really want to learn the language and are willing to invest the money the Rosetta Stone program is a very good tool. I would also suggest private lessons or a small class (possibly at a local college).

I hope this helps you get started and good luck:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfflgF_H0kY

Honestly, the most sure fire and quickest way to do it is to move to a country where they primarily speak arabic and take some classes there. That's probably one of the most expensive ways, but it will work.

You could go the lazy route and change your religion. I'd suggest Dudeism.

I tried to speak a lot of Pushtu at one point. Was kind of successful. But I had the benefit of having someone with me who was bilingual.

One of the difficult things about Arabic (besides the grammar, which I honestly hate) is that the written is different from the spoken. If you were to go to an Arabic speaking country and speak in classical Arabic (called fus-ha, basically language of academia and professional stuff), the'll look at you all weird. There is also a difference between dialects within a country, usually there is a bedoin dialect and a more city-dwelling dialect, or a farmers dialect verses a city dialect. as @s10129107 said, you might want to learn Palestinian/Lebanese/Jordanian dialects, because they are probably closest to traditional Arabic then other dialects (Tip: dont go anywhere near any dialect from the gulf, it's just weird). Also, I assume you are Muslim if you want to learn for Arabic for your religion (if so: salam alaikum, if not: salam alaikum :), so I suggest listening to some parts of the Quran and then looking at a translation, and comparing. For written, basically, Arabic grammar basically comes from the Quran. Also, If you want somebody to teach you, your local mosque probably has a substantial Arab population, if not, then the imam/sheikh/dude who leads prayer probably speaks Arabic, so you could potentially learn from him. I guess you could ask me for some help if you need it, but I'm 16 and have lived in the US all my life (expect 2 years when i was 2-4, where I lived in Kuwait) so my Arabic is not the best. and I know s10129107 said it already, but start with the Quran after building a fundamental vocab, and if you need any help with the Quran, that's something I can help you with.

Good Luck.

im sure i saw like 8 lifehacker articles on how to learn second languages. you should check them out and see if you like it. Personally, i would like to learn some arabic. I feel like it would come in handy. I always wanted to do that thing where the people dont think you speak the language but u do, so they trash talk u, and u just respond with "i see". Good luck with the Quran, I learned how to read it but never was taught to understand it in the native arabic. I will one day hopefully.

HE SAID ALLAH HU AKBAR
 I TOLD HIM DON'T CURSE ME
 BUT BOY YOU NEED PRAYER
I GUESS IT COULDN'T HURT ME
IF IT BRINGS ME TO MY KNEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSS
IT'S A BAD RELIGION
 
OT: Read lots and lots and lots

What religion are you

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

What religion are you

Why don't you take a guess? Cover your eyes and throw a dart at that board with oh so many options.

@Aegon said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

What religion are you

Why don't you take a guess? Cover your eyes and throw a dart at that board with oh so many options.

OK. *does so* I got Egyptian.

Are you a plastic Muslim?

@Jay_Ray said:

If you really want to learn the language and are willing to invest the money the Rosetta Stone program is a very good tool. I would also suggest private lessons or a small class (possibly at a local college).

I thought Rosetta Stone was pretty shitty, for Japanese at least. I stopped using it pretty fast, maybe the Arabic programme is better but for Japanese it essentially turns you into a parrot with pretty much zero focus on kanji or grammar.

As someone who studied and lived in an Arab country (UAE) I can tell you this, Arabic is brutally hard. And there is a huge difference between written Arabic and spoken Arabic. Written Arabic is very formal, almost no one I've met speaks that way. I would suggest learning how to speak first, cause speaking is easier than writing. And then try to ease your way into learning how to read and write. Trust me, you'll have a much easier time if you understand what you're reading.

I took a couple semesters of Arabic when I was in grad school. Learning the alphabet is pretty essential, and not easy, either. The program ran out of courses before I could learn enough for it to stick. I don't know how well it would work without the teacher, but my textbook (which contained writing exercises) was called Alif Baa. Perhaps tracking it down would be of use to you.

Just keep in mind that any language is difficult to retain when you do not have an actual outlet for using it. You can force yourself to have one by exposing yourself to Arab-language media, but just like working out, remaining motivated to do so without any external social factors is pretty tough.

@Veektarius said:

I don't know how well it would work without the teacher, but my textbook (which contained writing exercises) was called Alif Baa.

In some territories (I am not sure about all) Alif Baa is actually the name of the alphabet. Like, in the first grade they'll teach you "Alif Baa" (Not the book), which means how to read and write the alphabet.

@Daiphyer: Well, Alif Baa is "A" & "B" so it's essentially calling a textbook "ABCs"... I'm sure you knew that already.

@Veektarius said:

@Daiphyer: Well, Alif Baa is "A" & "B" so it's essentially calling a textbook "ABCs"... I'm sure you knew that already.

الف

ب

If you can't see it, it's in Arabic. But yeah, pretty much. I am not sure if there is a proper name for the alphabets in English, but there is one in Arabic & Farsi, so I just wanted to point that out if he ever goes shopping for books.

Get involved with the cafe culture, if there's any to be found where you live.

Do you live in the USA? the police will spy on you!

Start with the alphabets, learn how to write and pronounce each letter, reading in Arabic is mostly straightforward the difficulty comes from grammar and word punctuation. Since you're learning for religious reasons just learn the Fus'ha, proper Arabic, the dialects are for the most part variations on pronunciation, they're more like accents than different languages.

@Sooty: It is not perfect but in my experience it is a good tool to learn the basics of a language. You need to go and learn the nuances of the language in other ways.

As a native Arabic speaker born in the U.S., I will tell you the only sure fire way to learn Arabic. Take classes, get tutors, speak it at home, watch movies, listen to podcasts (not tutorial ones, like gaming ones, news, or entertainment), and most of all: READ AND WRITE EVERYDAY.

People will tell you it's difficult, even Arabs, because they think you're incapable of learning it. But it's actually very easy and I'd argue it's as easy as learning a European language, since over time you will realize you already know some Arabic words that have been anglicized. It also probably wouldn't hurt to live in Arab speaking country for a year or two, but assuming it's financially not an option, stick to the above and you'll know Arabic in no time.

@Daiphyer: Well, Alif Baa is "A" & "B" so it's essentially calling a textbook "ABCs"... I'm sure you knew that already.

@Aegon said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

What religion are you

Why don't you take a guess? Cover your eyes and throw a dart at that board with oh so many options.

There are Arabs of various religious denominations...and MANY do not practice religion at all.

@Imissyou said:

@Aegon said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

What religion are you

Why don't you take a guess? Cover your eyes and throw a dart at that board with oh so many options.

There are Arabs of various religious denominations...and MANY do not practice religion at all.

Based on the original post, the only religion you would be learning Arabic for specifically is Islam. You're not going to learn Arabic to be a Christian for example.

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

Are you a plastic Muslim?

What exactly is a plastic Muslim?

For the record, yes, it's Islam.