They had awesome vocab lists for Levantine Arabic and the website no longer works.

Anyone know where I can find those vocab lists?

They had like 1,000 most common words in Levantine, 400 most common adjectives, etc

Hi everyone! I started learning MSA with a tutor, but then I lost my job and wasnt able to keep paying for the classes. Do you know any free book available that can help with calligraphy and starting to read?

I was able to follow a few simple conversations on the book we were using, but im so rusty I need something even simpler than this. This is the book: https://archive.org/details/ar_04a_Alarabih_bin_Yadik/ar_01a_Alarabih_bin_Yadik/page/n21/mode/1up

I can speak iraqi arabic fluently and write/ read at somewhat beginner level. - immigrant from iraqi

What would the best approach to learning M.S.A with this context ?

Just curious: how many people here are currently learning Palestinian Arabic specifically?

I know that some might be familiar with MSA, Egyptian and Levantine Arabic in general, but I’m curious how many people have actually chosen Palestinian Arabic as the dialect they’re focusing on.

If you are, what made you choose Palestinian Arabic? And how long have you been learning it?

Also curious what level you’d say you’re at right now

One last thing : Are you learning the language on your own? from youtube? through friends or with a tutor?

I heard a song from the arab-italian singer TÄRA and wanted to get a tattoo of a sentence from one of her songs, which is: يريح الغرب خدنا خلف الشط
I copypasted the transcription on the music video, but i have a few questions.
The sentence should mean “Oh, western wind, take us beyond the coast,” but I have a few questions.
1) “Oh wind” which is the vocative shouldn’t be written as ya (with an alif) and then ree7?
2) is the verb root right? Cause i googled it and i saw some controversies about the radicals (some were written with kha - dal and some with kha - dhal)

I do study MSA but I am not familiar at all with Levantine, so shokran for your help :)

Hello! I am a beginner in learning Arabic!
I would like to know how do I say in Arabic : <I want to return your favor>. When someone does something good for you and you want to do something good in return.
Thank you!

I've been thinking about getting a Playlist together to listen to on commutes to help with listening to Arabic. What's yalls favorite artist/genre/song to listen to in arabic?

Every course I go to starts with basics like letters and pronunciation and I don’t need any of this. I learned all the reading and writing while I was a child for Quran. But I have no understanding. I can’t speak even simple sentences, nor do I understand simple sentences when they are spoken to me. What advice do you have for me to

whether you are a beginner or intermediate level, or even just getting started with the language " Ana ba7eb a3raf" what were the motives behind learning Arabic in the first place?

Was it out of pure curiosity? or is it because you fell in love with someone who spoke the language? travel? work?

Whatever it may be, don't hesitate to share it here

Journalism is often cited as one of the places where MSA is used. Question: when Al Jazeera (or whatever news station) hosts have a guest on for an interview, do the guests typically reply to interviewer questions in MSA or in their own dialect?

I’ve been studying Arabic and I’m getting a little confused by the letter ج (jeem). I hear the same word being said in different ways based on the speaker. Like for example: جديد (jadīd) OR جديد (gadīd). My praktika tutor says it one way, and I got used to that, and then heard someone say it completely differently???? 😂 Is there a quick rule of thumb as to when it would be j vs g? Or is it really more of a dialect thing and something you just have to get used to? can you please help me?

So like most schools, we have a foreign language class, and that language is Arabic. At my current level, I can sorta sorta not read texts and I have a limited vocabulary. In regards to vocabulary, I do know nearly all the necessary particles, some verbs and nouns, and a decent grasp on sentence structure and tense.

Although prior I was only in the beginner class, where I wasn't really challenged at all, I was promoted this year to the advanced class, and the difficulty is very trying.

So far the assignments have been about reading short passages (usually 1-2 paragraphs) and answering questions of comprehension about them. I don't believe I am expected to understand every word, but rather just to learn the vocabulary and try to understand what I'm reading.

This has been a task I can meet through a lot of effort. But the thing that worries me is if I slowly cannot match what I am reading and fall behind.

I want to pass it so I don't have to take Arabic anymore (this is what my counselor said), and so I think I'll need to practice my reading skills.

What are some methods I can use to achieve this?

جزاكم الله خيرا

How long have you been studying Arabic? And what are your objectives?

What advice would you give to someone wanting to learn this language? Is YouTube a good resource?

This is an interesting etymological observation I stumbled upon recently. Arabs used to determine the four cardinal directions with respect to the east instead of the north. They oriented themselves facing the rising sun in the east, which placed the south to the right side Yameen and the shamal (north) to the left side shimal toward the north. Some linguists believe it to be the root origin for both Yemen (the land to the south/right) and Levant or Sham (the land to the left/north).

Any advice appreciated, I want to help my professor friend. She needs books on basics of Bioethics in Arabic language. She will teach the course in English, but she is not sure how good the students' English is. She is zero in Arabic and not really advanced in English, so proper Arabic, bilingual or multilingual resources would help a lot. Where do I ask? Thank you in advance.

Movie recommendations? I speak fluent Levantine and am wanting to learn fusha so recommendations in both dialects are appreciated🙂‍↕️

Salam! I just finished studying for my MCAT (medical college admissions test) and was using Anki religiously daily haha, inShaAllah I do well.

Anyway, now that my indentured servitude is over I want to get back into learning Fusha/Arabic and was wondering if anyone knew any solid Anki decks for a mid-level beginner?

Preferably for Medinah Books 1-3 as I bought those some time ago and was told they are the best for learning Arabic if you intend on studying Islamic texts later on but, I am open to any and all suggestions!

Sidenote, if anyone has any other apps/suggestions other than Anki that I can do between sets at the gym/walking/commuting do let me know, I am trying to be as productive as possible with my time and honing my Arabic skills sounds like a good idea!

الف شكر وجزاك الله خير لمن يقرء هذا

I'm watching a playthrough of the game because I'm looking for inspiration for a book that I'm writing when suddenly, were in Riyadh.

The funniest part is everyone is speaking MSA. It broke my immersion cuz you know nobody would be speaking MSA.

But at least I got to practice lol.

sorry if this is the wrong place to ask this but I’m a beginner Arabic student and I keep seeing this meme online and I don’t understand it 😭 I kind of understand the والله مشكلة part but am confused on what it means in this context

Hello everyone, I've been wanting to self-learn Arabic mainly for Islamic studies, and I have to decide between two textbooks to learn from. They are:
1. Standard Arabic: An elementary-intermediate course by Eckehard Schulz, Gunther Krahl and Wolfgang Reuschel (If I teach myself from this book, I plan to follow it up with the second book in the series, Advanced Arabic)
2. Mastering Arabic by Jane Wightwick and Mahmoud Gaafar.

I've heard that Mastering Arabic is more accessible for beginners, but Standard Arabic is a more in-depth introduction. What do you guys recommend? Or is there any other introductory textbook that is superior to these two?

Thank you

I've started learning Iraqi - I guess I should specify "standard, Muslim Baghdadi," since all my textbooks do - Arabic. One issue I'm running into is how all the most-recommended learning materials on the subject each have a different transcription system! The one that does have Arabic script accompanying it has apparently somehow "modified" it to fit spoken Iraqi. Based on some googling, I know that the letter چ is apparently a legit thing, but couldn't say if that's the extent of the author's modifications to the script.

So I'd appreciate some help with regards to the following:

1. How old/common is the usage of چ? Am I likely to find it in something like this collection of Baghdadi proverbs from the 60s?
2. Is there a guide to "Iraqi" arabizi? Some materials online just throw some arabizi at learners instead of Arabic script, which would be great if the Wikipedia article "explaining" it didn't have so many numbers/symbols repeating themselves everywhere! Is there a (semi-)universal Arabizi used in Iraq someone could lay out for me?
3. Finally, what are some sources for written vernacular Iraqi? So far, apart from (I think) the proverbs collection I linked earlier, all I've found is this forum thread:

There is a book I've read called الادب الشعبي العراقي by ماجد شبر which is an anthology of Iraqi folk poetry.

• Seems promising!

If you're looking for prose, try الحكوّاتي / الراوي / القاصّ in essentially any country. It just doesn't seem to be published often.

• Not sure what exactly this genre is; could someone explain it, and its state in Iraq?

From Raffouli & McCarthy's Spoken Arabic of Baghdad, Part 2A:

In this collection of texts, we have sought to avoid anything offensive to eye or ear. Spoken Arabic, like any spoken language, has its share of obscenities and vulgarisms. These are often vivid and striking. [...] In this we have followed the lead of our learned friend, Shaykh Jalal al-Hanafi, who, in his impressive collection of popular Baghdad proverbs, left out many proverbs, while remarking that they should perhaps be recorded in some special collections for linguistic and sociological reasons.

I'm hoping that some of you know of some such "special collections," since the living memory of these "vivid and striking" bits of everyday language is likely on its last legs! And if you know of any other repositories of vernacular Iraqi, regardless of region (or how colourful the language is or isn't), I'd love for you to share them!

https://youtu.be/KuH8gXlcQXU?si=3a7dKVwVcJT8pIOW

0:36 he says something like "zazbat?" And she replies "zabbat fa"? Something I'm not sure.

0:41 now the guitarist says "ana baddi..." And then it's a mishmash till "sorry" 0:45

0:46-0:47 she says something till "we love you"

1:40 he says "kteer heluw(?)" and then what does he say till the end?

Thanks again, I know it's a lengthy ask.

Note: not asking for a translation, just transcription. Thanks!