I'm considering learning Arabic, anyone have advice, thoughts, or suggestions?

[Hippo_Tron]

My school offers a program in Arabic and I'm considering taking it. It would be a substantial time commitment (24 credit hours total) and I'd have to take it every semester for my remaining three years in college. I wouldn't get any credit toward my Poly Sci major and only 9 hours out of the 24 can go toward an Islamic Studies Minor. It also won't fulfill any liberal arts requirements that I can't otherwise fulfill. Basically, if I do this, I'll be using up all of my elective hours.

I think it's worth it because I want to go into Foreign Affairs in some capacity and the Middle East is my particular area of interest. I'll probably try to go abroad after I graduate or possibly before.

[Orrex]

1. First off, cancel any upcoming flights you might be taking

Once DHS gets wind of this thread, they'll never let you on a plane again.

Or me, either, for responding to it. Doh!

[Recovered Repug]

2. Have you looked into using the Rosetta Stone program.?

It may be a better option and will allow more flexibility in your scheduling.

[lazer47]

3. Agreed Rosetta Stone is best way to go,

[Lyric]

4. It's definitely a skill that is (and will be) in high demand.

If my college offered it, I'd sign up too. Go for it :)

[Boojatta]

5. Can you take the first course without committing to the whole program?

It would be a substantial time commitment (24 credit hours total)

I suspect that the official credit hours are just one small facet of the total time commitment.

[WinkyDink]

6. I think it sounds fascinating! I love the script! But what about Farsi?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. I used to teach another "difficult" language, Japanese, and here's my advice

1. Don't commit to majoring or minoring in Arabic until you've studied some.

2. Consider your motives. Are you really interested in Arabic-speaking cultures, or are you just thinking about job opportunities? You'll have a better chance of sticking with it if you are taking it out of real interest in the associated culture.

3. The Rosetta Stone and other self-teaching series are good as an introduction, but don't expect to achieve real proficiency in Arabic entirely with them. To learn a language properly, you need to practice it with other people, such as your classmates, and to have someone who will correct your mistakes.

4. The Foreign Service Institute considers Arabic to be a Group IV language. That is, if it takes 6 months of full-time (6-8 hours per day, five days a week) of study for a beginner to achieve "professional competence" (the ability to function as an adult in the society) in French or Spanish, which are both Group I languages, it takes 24 months to do the same in Arabic, the same as for Japanese, Chinese, or Korean.

5. You will need to work hard from the very beginning and keep at it every day. If your instructor wants you to listen to tapes, do it. If your instructor wants you to speak only Arabic in the classroom, do it. Don't think you don't have to study if your instructor hasn't made a specific assignment.

6. Accept the language on its own terms. It is very different from English and works in ways that you've never dreamed of. Don't get hung up on that. Instead, just accept what you are presented with, learn it as best you can, and soon you will find the language's own internal logic imprinting itself on your brain. The students who whine, "Why do they have to say it that way?" rarely last very long.

7. In order to become a really proficient speaker, you will have to live in an Arabic-speaking country, interacting with the locals, not stuck in some foreigners' enclave, for a year or more.

If you have a genuine interest in Middle Eastern cultures and a willingness to work hard and adapt to a markedly different culture, then go for it. If you're just mildly curious or thinking of Arabic only for career reasons, then don't commit yourself yet. Take a year of Arabic and see how it goes.

Russian, Japanese, and Chinese have all gone through periods of being exceedingly trendy languages. Now it's Arabic's turn. If past trends hold true, enrollment will peak in a couple of years and suddenly decline as people realize that the language can't be mastered quickly.

By the way, Farsi, which a poster above suggested, is a Group II language, which means that it takes only 12 months of full-time study to achieve professional competence. That's because it, unlike Arabic, is a distant relative of English, despite its Arabic script. However, not as many colleges teach it.

On the whole, though, I tell students to study whatever language really interests them. When I began studying Japanese over thirty years ago, people thought I was out of my mind. "Why are you taking a useless language like that?" was their attitude. Well, I've made my living with it ever since, and I started studying it BEFORE it was trendy.

[Lisa]

12. I can't help thinking of the irony, Lydia ...

Back before WWII, my mom was given "the strap" for speaking Japanese on the playground. Now, Japanese can be taken as a credit course in some British Columbia high schools -- as your story illustrates, it went from a "useless" (or downright dangerous) study choice, to being highly desirable!

One of the secretaries in my department married an Iranian scientist, many decades ago -- they lived there, prior to the revolution, and she became proficient in Farsi (and also knows some Arabic). When she applied to work here, they were quite dismissive when they saw this listed on her resume. Well, after 9/ll, she started getting all kinds of requests from people asking her to do some translation for them ... she says that now she's retired, she's enjoying her freedom to pick and choose who she will turn down!

[MonkeyFunk]

8. It's difficult.

I took a year of arabic in college. There are three "K" sounds.

One is made in the back of the throat. One seems to be made lower in the trachea. And one seems to be made by slamming your spleen into your esophagus.

[seemunkee]

9. So you like to travel?

You can work in some exotic place if you know Arabic. I have a friend who has been traveling all over because he is a translator. Of course he can't tell me where he is.

[Parmenion]

10. Requires Devotion

If you want to learn Arabic you have to commit yourself to the long haul. There is a standard "literary" Arabic (MSA) that is used for all written communication, and spoken on international news channels like Al-Jazeera. This is what colleges usually teach. You will need to study this for at least 4 years at a normal pace in the US (or 2 years including accelerated intense programs over the summer) to gain proficiency.

Nevertheless, Modern Standard Arabic is not used in spoken conversation anywhere in the Middle East. You will also need to live in a country and learn the local dialect, which is basically quite different from Modern Standard Arabic. Egyptian dialect is understood widely across the whole Arab world due to the influence of Egyptian media.

If you're taking these classes, ALWAYS do your homework. If you want to slack, or think you're smart enough to learn the language with limited effort, you won't learn it. When I studied Arabic I used to get at least 1-2 hours of homework a night, and sometimes it was as much as 3-4 hours.

Also Rosetta Stone, or tutors, or anything of that sort will not give you proficiency in the language. Arabic is an extremely complex language that requires expert instruction.

Most important, make sure that Arabic is the language you want to learn and use for the rest of your life. Since it takes such a great commitment to gain proficiency in it, you have to be genuinely passionate about the Middle East, Arab culture etc., to make it worthwile. In order to learn Modern Standard Arabic and a colloquial dialect, you will need to accept that you need to live in the Middle East for an extended period.

When you learn Arabic you're not just learning a skill or gaining a tool, you're commiting yourself to an immersion into one of the hardest but most beautiful languages in the world.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

15. That's sort of what I said, based on my experience with another Group IV language

but your experience is specific to Arabic, which is exactly what the OP needs to hear.

I've found knowing Japanese to be tremendously rewarding, but it wasn't easy. Even after I finished my formal education and residence abroad, I continued studying on my own to improve my vocabulary and writing ability.

These days, working as a translator, I learn something new with each assignment.

I was already fascinated by East Asia and had read a lot about it when I began studying Japanese. My main regret is that I don't have enough lifetime left to master Chinese at the same level and that I'll never get beyond the tourist level in Korean.

In my experience as a teacher, the students who thought that they could use Japanese as an easy "add-on" to a business major never got very far.

You have to fall in love with the language and culture. As with falling in love with a person, the relationship will work out best if you are clear-eyed about the problems of the culture but find enough attractive in it to stay involved.

[ashling]

11. Are you planning on learning the Gay Arabic?

How do you say "don't ask don't tell" in Arabic? :sarcasm:

before I get accused of anything, I was referring to the translators who were kicked out of the army.

[iLikeJello]

13. Assalamo alaikum!

I'm taking an Arabic class in college right now during the summer. I'm enjoying it, but it is something that does require dedication. The first step you'll probably be taking is memorizing the Arabic alif-baa. Just study the shapes of the letters, and how they connect with each other. After you're done with class that day, go home and review and review. You should be set by the time any exams come around.

That being said, have fun with it! It's a unique opportunity to explore a language and culture that is entirely different from what we know. If you need any help, ask your teacher. A good idea would be to see if there are any native speakers on your campus, and ask them if you can study with them an hour or two a week. My instructor had assigned us native speakers, and it really does help.

[JCMach1]

14. Arabic is difficult for most English speakers... my daughters

have had 4 years of it now and still are at the most basic level.. Ages 8 and 11...

I have only learned rudimentary phrases and certainly cannot read it.

For me, I had little incentive as English is the Lingua Franca in the UAE. There are as many Hindu and Urdu speakers here as there are Arabic ones.

If you do decide, my University (American University of Sharjah)... the best school in the UAE and one of the best in the whole region... has an exchange program. They have an excellent International Studies program here.