small groups studying arabic

Proven Course Teaches Arabic Quickly with Audio, Video and Mobile Apps

Beginner and advanced levels alike will enjoy ArabicPod101, an excellent online and mobile way to learn Arabic quickly.

ArabicPod101's fun method and modern platform immerse you in the Arabic language, giving you just what you need to achieve your goals for travel, business, family and other needs.

ArabicPod101 is web and mobile based, giving you a custom Arabic Learning Center anywhere. Download podcasts on your iPhone, Android, iPod Touch, iPod or any mp3 player and take them with you for practice and learning on the go.

High-Quality Content for Learning Arabic

A key aspect to learning a language is quality content. ArabicPod101 creates a steady flow of fresh content covering everything from cultural aspects of Arabic to tidbits about navigating in Arabic-speaking countries, plus practical information to help you get by.

Beyond Audio and Video

Engage in a combination of audio and video lessons, lesson notes and checklists, transcripts, PDFs, vocabulary training with flashcards and quizzes plus a Arabic dictionary, grammar bank, a verb reference, social network and plenty more.

It's simple to get a free lifetime account.

Outstanding Language Resource Localized in 20 Languages

Bab.la offers free dictionaries, vocabulary sets, flash cards, quizzes, games, conjugation tables, phrases, travel survival guides, a forum and, yes, even more.

The website is localized in Arabic, Chinese (Simplified), Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto (!), French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish and Turkish. Wow!

What does "localized" mean?

"Localized" (localised in British English) means that Bab.la's interface is available in all these languages, so speakers can surf the site in their native tongue. This can be useful for intermediate and advanced learners who want the challenge of surfing in their target language.

Learning Resources for 20 Languages

All the above languages also have learning resources available!

Of special note on Bab.la are the free Survival Guides, downloadable PDFs for quick access to phrases and language essential for travel conversation, complaints and computers. Chatting, computing and complaining has never been so simple!

The phrasebooks available are also of special note, as they cover quite a lot of ground that is often not covered in traditional phrasebooks. These are separated into four main categories: Application, Academic, Business and Personal, and are available for all the languages above - quite a boon to anyone needing quick access to phrases used commonly in application processes and academic, business and personal settings.

To give a quick example of this, you can quickly find useful common phrases for email communication, invoicing, reference letters, announcements and invitations, reservations and more.

Dictionaries, Vocabulary Sets, Quizzes, Games and Conjugation Tables

The dictionary area of Bab.la offers quick and easy translation between all the languages above.

The vocabulary section offers vocab sets for job, school & university, travel, self-study, fun & hobbies and official exams.

The quizzes and games are fun for children and can even help keep teens and adults entertained while learning.

The conjugation tables are quite useful for the appropriate languages, which currently include Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Polish and Portuguese. Some of these are also offered in sets, such as Polish <> German or French <> Italian, for the polyglots out there who like learning another language via a foreign language they already know :)

Tools: Broswser Plugins, Webmaster Widgets, Mobile Apps

All in all, Bab.la offers an amazing amount of material for free! There's even more that hasn't been covered here which is included in their Tools section. This includes dictionary toolbars and plugins for common browsers, dictionary widgets for websites and mobile dictionary apps (the apps are not free).

Summary

LQToronto.com is the official website of the Institute of the Language of the Quran in Toronto. The website is not for profit, and offers all of the Madinah Arabic courses for free as downloads of the texts and viewing of the videos.

There is an amazing amount of material available for free on this website. It is enough to allow an individual learner to learn to read, write and speak the Arabic of the Qu'ran without any further materials - truly amazing!

Also on the website is a shop where you can purchase the texts at cost, with no additional fees. Finally, you may want have a look at and participate in the site's nascent forum.

From Website

V. Abdur Rahim was born in the small town of Vaniyambadi in the state of Tamil Nadu, India in 1933. After finishing his secondary school studies, he joined Presidency College, University of Madras where he majored in English Language and Literature. He graduated in 1957. In 1964, he joined al-Azhar University, Cairo, where he did his M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Arabic Philology.

It is to be noted that Abdur Rahim learnt Arabic by himself. The school where he did his secondary school studies offered Arabic, but the lessons it offered consisted of only memorizing the conjugation tables. Abdur Rahim detested this method. He thought that it was the most unnatural way of learning a language. Only dead languages like Latin, Syriac, etc. are taught this way. Living languages teach sentences straightaway. He decided to design a curriculum to teach Arabic to non-native speakers of Arabic.

In 1969, he joined the Islamic University of Madinah to teach Arabic Philology. Here, he was also associated with the Programme of teaching Arabic as a foreign language. The course he designed for this purpose is now known as Durûs al-Lughaħ al-‘Arabiyya ħ li-Ghair al-Nâtiqîna Bihâ. (Now these books are popularly known throughout the world as “MADINA BOOKS”.)

When he was learning Arabic by himself, Abdur Rahim studied the many problems that beset the non-native students of Arabic, and tried to solve them. He discovered that all these problems can easily be solved by applying the principle of taqdîm al- usûl ‘ala al-furû‘, i.e. teaching the primary elements before the secondary elements. The following are some of the manifestations of the application of this principle:

1. Teaching the primary case-endings before the secondary endings, so you teach the masrûf noun before the mamnû‘ min al-sarf, and the al-af‘âl al-arba‘aħ before the al-af‘âl al-khamsaħ.
2. Teaching the sâlim verb before the other categories.
3. Teaching the al-mudâri‘ al-marfû‘ before the al-mudâri‘ al-mansûb or al-mudâri‘ al-majzûm.
4. Teaching the plural of intelligent nouns before that of non-intelligent nouns.

Another principle Abdur Rahim advocates is that rules of waqfshould not be applied during the teaching stage, for in that case the student cannot learn the correct ending of the last word in the sentence as, ma smu-ka and ma smu-ki, for example, are both reduced to ma smu-k.

The following are the books Dr. Abdur Rahim has written in field of teaching Arabic as a foreign language:

1. Durûs al-Lughaħ al-‘Arabiyyaħ (3 parts).
2. Key To Durûs al-Lughaħ al-‘Arabiyyaħ (3 parts).
3. Key To Exercises of Durûs al-Lughaħ al-‘Arabiyyaħ (3 parts).
4. Teachers' Guide To Durûs al-Lughaħ al-‘Arabiyyaħ (3 parts).
5. A Glossary of Words used in Durûs al-Lughaħ al-‘Arabiyyaħ.
6. Ahadith Sahlaħ.
7. Nusûs min al-Hadîth al-Nabawyyi al-Sharîf.
8. Nusûs Islâmiyyaħ.
9. From Esfahan To Madinah.
10. Al-Bâhith ‘an al-Haqq.
11. Innahumâ min Mishkâħ Wahidaħ.
12. Fi Balât Hiraql.
13. Abshir bi-Khayri Yawm.
14. Arba‘ûna Hadîthan.
15. Al-Mus‘if fî Lughati wa I‘râbi Suraħi Yûsuf.

Currently, Dr V. Abdur Rahim is Director, Translation Centre, King Fahd Qur'an Printing Complex, Madinah Munawwarah.

Visit www.lqtoronto.com

Summary

Omniglot is an excellent resource for learners of just about any major world language. Simon Ager has put together an exceptional amount of information about the systems used to express language in the written form, complete with images, explanations and audio samples.

This article in particular brings attention to Simon's resources regarding the Abjad (consonant alphabets) used for writing in Arabic.

From Website

There are two main types of written Arabic:

1. Classical Arabic - the language of the Qur'an and classical literature. It differs from Modern Standard Arabic mainly in style and vocabulary, some of which is archaic...

2. Modern Standard Arabic - the universal language of the Arabic-speaking world which is understood by all Arabic speakers. It is the language of the vast majority of written material and of formal TV shows, lectures, etc.

Visit Omniglot.com Arabic Alphabet, Pronunciation and Language

Summary

FSI is an acronym for the Foreign Service Institute, "the (US) Federal Government's primary training institution for officers and support personnel of the U.S. foreign affairs community".

Over the years, the FSI has researched, designed and taught language courses to Foreign Service staff and diplomats. These courses are now available and licensed to the Public Domain.

FSI-Language-Courses.org is a sweet and simple website that provides users with the ability to view and download the Foreign Service Institute's courses for 31+ languages. The content is provided by individuals donating time and resources in an overall effort to provide quality languages-learning materials for free worldwide.

Sounds good to me. :)

In the Arabic section of the site, there are currently 5 courses available for download:

• Classical Arabic: The Writing System
• From Eastern To Western Arabic
• Levantine Arabic: Introduction to Pronunciation
• Levantine and Egyptian Arabic Comparative Study
• Saudi Arabic Basic Course (Urban Hijazi Dialect)

From Website

Welcome to fsi-language-courses.com, the home for language courses developed by the Foreign Service Institute. These courses were developed by the United States government and are in the public domain.

This site is dedicated to making these language courses freely available in an electronic format. This site is not affiliated in any way with any government entity; it is an independent, non-profit effort to foster the learning of worldwide languages. Courses here are made available through the private efforts of individuals who are donating their time and resources to provide quality materials for language learning.

Visit FSI-Language-Courses.org