My Process of Learning Arabic

Ahalan!

     First of all, leaning a new language can be difficult if you don’t have the right tools at your disposal. Luckily, when I decided that this is something I really wanted to do, I had numerous tools available. Major things that helped me were:

• Passion for learning the language (and culture)

  • This is the MOST important!!! You can’t fluently learn a language if it is just a fleeting thought to you. You have to be interested on a deep enough level that you will continue to practice it, even just online by yourself. 

• Close native Arab friends

  • I was going to college in a pretty small town, but luckily, there was a small percentage of Arabs there that I started to befriend and become close with. If you can connect with native speakers (even online), it will help you by: 1. getting excited about speaking the language with a native speaker, 2. It will give you practice, practice, and more PRACTICE!! and 3. You will have a deeper understanding of where the language comes from, and you will see and enjoy the culture with it (which will feed your hunger for learning the language)!

• Arabic classes at my university

  • Georgia Southern University has about 20,000 students. When I first wanted to learn the language, the international program at the college was just starting to grow. I started to take Arabic 1001, and I have continued throughout my college career. Now, we have a study abroad trip to Morocco. In addition, my teacher is AMAZING.  

     The Arabic classes really are helping, but honestly, I’ve learned most of my vocabulary by just practicing. There are a lot of ways you can practice a language, and you can choose the best method to satiate your needs. You can read the news (or anything) in that language. In the beginning, you may have to translate a lot, but you will start remembering word after word, and you’ll get pretty excited when you are able to read an article and explain it to your friends and family. For me, it was just talking with native speakers. I can finally hold my own in a conversation, and you have no idea how amazing that feels. All of my efforts have paid off immensely.

     I have been studying Arabic since the fall of 2012 now, and I love every minute of it. You may worry about the alphabet, because it probably looks like little squiggles and dots. But, trust me! That is the easiest part. You can actually read in Arabic within the first day or two. (You won’t know what you’re saying, but you can read it. haha)

     Don’t worry if you get discouraged one day. Take a day or two off, or MORE if you need it. (I surely did!) Relax. When you’re ready, pick it back up again and start trying. You WILL get there, and faster than you think! It’s really not that hard as long as you TRY. It truly depends on how much effort you put into learning. 

     On another note, I said that I practice mostly by talking with native speakers. However, I just started my first Arabic novel today (Eeek!). I have spent a WHILE just trying to translate the first page. I’m using a few different methods to see what works best for me. I’ll update on what happens. 

     If you have any questions, comments, or advice on learning a language, please share! I would love to get your insights if you are also learning a language.

Anyone up for learning the basics of Arabic? I would love to teach someone. Should I start a blog on the basics of Arabic? Please answer in the comments.