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I consider learning to speak Arabic one of the most wonderful and satisfying accomplishments of my life. To learn to speak Arabic is to re-wire your brain. Not only does Arabic writing go right to left, but many other features of the language are new and strange to the English-speaking mind. How did I learn how to speak Arabic? I'll tell you as an illustration of what kind of effort is needed. I should also tell you that I'm a good language learner and began Arabic after already becoming fluent in Spanish and getting a large dose of German in the university. I enlisted in the Army National Guard and asked for training as an Arabic linguist. The U.S. Government was happy to train me. I had to go through Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training as an interrogator before I could get to the classroom, but I eventually found myself in a small class (about 8 students) with native Arabic-speaking instructors. The basic course in Modern Standard Arabic was nine months of instruction, about six hours per day, Monday through Friday. Following that, there were four months of classes in the Egyptian dialect. This was because Modern Standard Arabic is only used for television broadcasts; nobody in the Arab World uses it in everyday conversation, though all understand it. It's the language of Al-Arabiya and al-Jazira. Web Design - Small business custom website from EverestWebDesign.com. Rich Christiansen: - Management metaphors at RichChristiansen.com. |
Learn to Speak Arabic
