Thread: Arabic instructional web site?

Has anyone used the web site called "The Green Gate" to learn Arabic?

The Green Gate - ÇáÈæÇÈÉ ÇáÎÖÑÇÁ

If so, what did you think? Did it teach the Egyptian dialect? Did you learn anything?

Hi Shira. I just visited. From what I can see, they are using MSA, not dialect specific. What are you using currently to learn Arabic? I may be able to point you to some great resources.

-Bella

ArabicPod is free and very good. You download the mp3s for free and if you want the transcript it's a modest fee.

Originally Posted by princessisabella

Hi Shira. I just visited. From what I can see, they are using MSA, not dialect specific. What are you using currently to learn Arabic? I may be able to point you to some great resources.

-Bella

I'm currently using Pimsleur's audio CD's to learn Arabic. I'm currently working with lesson 18 out of 30. I'm only interested in Egyptian Arabic at this point.

I'm not sure what I'll use after finishing this one. Someone on Oriental Dancer suggested Michel Thomas. Another idea I've had was to get audio CD's from an "Arabic for tourists" company like Berlitz to expand my vocabulary.

I like the audio CD format for several reasons. One is that I want to train my ear/brain to comprehend the spoken/sung word so I can start to pick out lyrics from songs and bits of movie plots. Another is that I find it works really well for me to do my studies when I'm driving my car, with the CD's in my car's sound system.

Originally Posted by *Shira*

I'm currently using Pimsleur's audio CD's to learn Arabic. I'm currently working with lesson 18 out of 30. I'm only interested in Egyptian Arabic at this point.

I'm not sure what I'll use after finishing this one. Someone on Oriental Dancer suggested Michel Thomas. Another idea I've had was to get audio CD's from an "Arabic for tourists" company like Berlitz to expand my vocabulary.

I like the audio CD format for several reasons. One is that I want to train my ear/brain to comprehend the spoken/sung word so I can start to pick out lyrics from songs and bits of movie plots. Another is that I find it works really well for me to do my studies when I'm driving my car, with the CD's in my car's sound system.

Pimsleur is actually really good. I always recommend it for my students. It's the most natural way to learn a language. When young children learn to speak, they don't begin with Grammar 1st. I myself benefit from the " I ran, You ran, they ran." method. but for a language as complicated Arabic, learning by ear, without paper, is great.

Michel Thomas is similar in style to Pimsleur. I believe it's paperless as well.
If you're far enough in your training, I also recommend incorporating some Egyptian Dialect movies(unsubtitled ) for practice. I assign DVDs to some of my advanced students. They have to watch the movie and try to get as much out of it as they can. They enjoy it, as the movie can be a drama, comedy, or love story. They get to choose the genre. We also use words from the DVD as vocab.

So far, I think your technique is great, INMHO. Thanks for sharing...g.:

Originally Posted by princessisabella

If you're far enough in your training, I also recommend incorporating some Egyptian Dialect movies(unsubtitled ) for practice. I assign DVDs to some of my advanced students. They have to watch the movie and try to get as much out of it as they can. They enjoy it, as the movie can be a drama, comedy, or love story. They get to choose the genre. We also use words from the DVD as vocab.

So far, I think your technique is great, INMHO. Thanks for sharing...g.:

Thanks much for your feedback! I have a number of Egyptian movies I haven't yet watched, and I'm looking forward to watching them and seeing how much of the dialog I can comprehend.

I'm finding that now when I look at song titles in my CD collection (ones that are spelled out in Roman alphabet), I'm starting to be able to figure out what some of them are about without having to look at a translation! Woo hoo! Someday I'll figure out how to read the Arabic alphabet, but right now my priority is on comprehending a little spoken and sung Arabic in movies and songs.

Originally Posted by *Shira*

I'm finding that now when I look at song titles in my CD collection (ones that are spelled out in Roman alphabet), I'm starting to be able to figure out what some of them are about without having to look at a translation! Woo hoo! Someday I'll figure out how to read the Arabic alphabet, but right now my priority is on comprehending a little spoken and sung Arabic in movies and songs.

That's pretty amazing that you can do that already!

I'd guess that you're already exposed to a lot of Arabic lyrics. ( I mean come on, you're ShiraDOTNET ..l;,) but watching Arabic movies may really help, especially with putting things in context. Arabic can get confusing sometimes.

If you're interested, there's a cool Arabic word of the day online.It's pretty fun. I'll see if I can find the link.

Originally Posted by princessisabella

I'd guess that you're already exposed to a lot of Arabic lyrics. ( I mean come on, you're ShiraDOTNET ..l;,)

Hee hee, yes, it does help to already know words like "qalbi", "qamar", "rouh", "habibi", "leila", "hob", and so on! Posting translations for almost 100 Arabic songs to Shira.net certainly made me aware of these words, because they come up so often.

Just today, as I was driving around in my car, Pimsleur's "taught" me how to say "Ahlan wa Sahlan". I smiled, of course, because having been to Raqia's festival 5 times I know that expression quite well!

Originally Posted by *Shira*

Hee hee, yes, it does help to already know words like "qalbi", "qamar", "rouh", "habibi", "leila", "hob", and so on! Posting translations for almost 100 Arabic songs to Shira.net certainly made me aware of these words, because they come up so often.

Just today, as I was driving around in my car, Pimsleur's "taught" me how to say "Ahlan wa Sahlan". I smiled, of course, because having been to Raqia's festival 5 times I know that expression quite well!

..l;,..l;,..l;,..l;,..l;, Belly dance background to the rescue again, huh? It's great. I wonder if most dancers get into Arabic studies for lyric purposes. It's so important, IMHO. That'd be my biggest pet peeve: dancing to songs w/out knowing the lyrics.

Did you get interested in Arabic for lyric study or during your trips to Cairo?

Originally Posted by princessisabella

Did you get interested in Arabic for lyric study or during your trips to Cairo?

It's hard to say. You see, I believe that realistically I'll never know Arabic well enough to understand song lyrics. It's partly because my vocabulary will remain rather limited, and partly because the diction of singers can make it harder to recognize words I actually do know.

I have a university degree in French, which included reading books written in French by classic authors (Flaubert, Zola, etc.) and taking university courses taught entirely in French. Despite that, I still often find it difficult to figure out what the lyrics are saying in French-language songs. I also had 3 years of university classes in German, and I have the same problem when listening to songs sung in German.

On my trips to Cairo, I have always been frustrated with my inability to communicate with the locals who don't know English, especially the women. I do believe that even the small amount of Arabic that I have learned so far will prove useful when I go to Cairo. Actually, it already has - this past summer when I was there, I was able to use some of what I had learned from Pimsleur's.

So, although I'm working on my Pimsleur studies, it's not one of my goals to be able to understand song lyrics, because I believe that goal would fail. My goal is much more humble, to be able to pick up nuances that translations don't give me, and to be able to communicate just a little with Egyptians who don't speak English.

Originally Posted by *Shira*

the diction of singers can make it harder to recognize words I actually do know.

That's an excellent point! It's very true. Also, Arabic singers, the famous ones anyway, come from many different countries. The dialects would muddle things, as well.

Originally Posted by *Shira*

On my trips to Cairo, I have always been frustrated with my inability to communicate with the locals who don't know English, especially the women. I do believe that even the small amount of Arabic that I have learned so far will prove useful when I go to Cairo. Actually, it already has - this past summer when I was there, I was able to use some of what I had learned from Pimsleur's.

How? Did you use it in the shops?

Originally Posted by princessisabella

How? Did you use it in the shops?

A few different ways. Here are some examples:

One day, I fell in front of the Mena House and sprained my foot. The driver of the shuttle bus that I was intending to take to my hotel saw it happen, and rushed to help me. He didn't speak English, and it was useful to be able to comprehend him when he asked me "Kwyissa?"

Because of the injury, I learned how to say "ice" in Arabic. It was helpful to know the word for "please" when requesting ice at the hotel when I got back there and also later that night when I went to the nightclub with Leila Lanty and Saqra.

One evening, as we were leaving Khan al Khalili, Morocco was hailing cabs for our group, negotiating the price for us, and sending us off in them. (She was doing this for the whole group, and obviously couldn't ride with all of us.) As we approached our street, the cab driver asked me (in Arabic) which hotel (Morocco never gives them hotel names for fear it will inflate the price). I understood the question, and was able to answer.

So, I used it in lots of little ways throughout my stay.

I still consider my skills pretty primitive, but it felt good to be able to use what little I had. It validated Pimsleur's quality in my mind - Egyptian dialect really did express things with the vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation that they taught. And I always find it empowering to know some of the local language when I go somewhere.

But my favorite anecdote is from right here in the U.S. In October, my brothers took me to an Algerian restaurant in rural Iowa. This town is an hour's drive from the nearest first-run movie theater, and the town's population is about 1,400 people. The population is very white, very European-descended. So imagine the reaction of the owner when he brought me my beer and I said "Shukran"! His jaw dropped, and he did a double-take. I gave him a bright smile, and he asked, "Do you speak Arabic?" so of course I had to say "Ana befham schwayit Arabi, schwaya, schwaya." It was highly entertaining!

Originally Posted by *Shira*

But my favorite anecdote is from right here in the U.S. In October, my brothers took me to an Algerian restaurant in rural Iowa. This town is an hour's drive from the nearest first-run movie theater, and the town's population is about 1,400 people. The population is very white, very European-descended. So imagine the reaction of the owner when he brought me my beer and I said "Shukran"! His jaw dropped, and he did a double-take. I gave him a bright smile, and he asked, "Do you speak Arabic?" so of course I had to say "Ana befham schwayit Arabi, schwaya, schwaya." It was highly entertaining!

..l;,..l;,..l;, I think that's my favorite, too. I'll bet he got quite a shock when the blond woman thanked him in Arabic...g.:

Being able to Communicate in a foreign place is so key. It really gives you a sense of control.Cabbies in Cairo are especially hard to deal with. They are so rushed.

Originally Posted by *Shira*

I still consider my skills pretty primitive, but it felt good to be able to use what little I had. It validated Pimsleur's quality in my mind - Egyptian dialect really did express things with the vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation that they taught. And I always find it empowering to know some of the local language when I go somewhere.

This is one of the reasons I like recommending Pimsleur. It gives you useful tools. Giving directions is more important, IMHO, than being able to say "It's raining."

Originally Posted by princessisabella

..l;,..l;,..l;, I think that's my favorite, too. I'll bet he got quite a shock when the blond woman thanked him in Arabic...g.:

I love doing that to unsuspecting Arabs - like the salesman at Frys (local chain of computer stores) last week when I saw his Arabic name on his name tag. At the end of the transaction, he said something like "have a nice day" and I answered "Shokran, ma3asalaama". His expression was priceless - the very short conversation continued in Arabic. Probably made his day. ..l;,

Being able to Communicate in a foreign place is so key. It really gives you a sense of control.Cabbies in Cairo are especially hard to deal with. They are so rushed.

Couldn't agree more. I speak enough Arabic to be able to tell cabbis where I'm going, sometimes how to get there.

Originally Posted by leylalanty

I love doing that to unsuspecting Arabs - like the salesman at Frys (local chain of computer stores) last week when I saw his Arabic name on his name tag. At the end of the transaction, he said something like "have a nice day" and I answered "Shokran, ma3asalaama". His expression was priceless - the very short conversation continued in Arabic. Probably made his day. ..l;,

That's so funny..l;,..l;,..l;,..l;, Bet he talked about you for a quite a while..g.:

I'm taking classical fusha arabic courses at my university- I'm in the 267 conversational level now.. what movies would you reccomend???? that would be very useful/fun for me!

enjoying the conversation (I'm still trying to FIND my pimsleur, resisting ordering a new copy!)

I can't even understand lyrics in English most of the time...
looking forward to suggestions on movies that wouldn't be too hard to find