Arabic is currently the most widespread of the group of Semitic languages and belongs to its southern branch. The Arabic language reached the peak of its perfection with the revelation of the final Divine Scripture, the Holy Quran, before the beauty and greatness of which many word experts of that time bowed. The Almighty Lord announces:
“We have brought it down with the Qur'an in Arabic, in which there is not the slightest defect. Perhaps piety before God will awaken in the hearts of people” (see:).
Modern literary Arabic, the result of the gradual development of classical Arabic, is widespread in many countries of the world, the total population of which exceeds 100 million people.
Along with literary Arabic, which is a single and common official language in all Arab countries, there are also local Arabic dialects. In contrast to the literary language, which unites not only all Arabs, but also educated Muslims of the world, dialects and dialects have a narrow local, territorial meaning.
Phonetically, literary Arabic is characterized by an extensive system of consonantal phonemes, especially glottal, emphatic and interdental. There are six vowel phonemes: three short and three long.
In grammatical terms, Arabic, like other Semitic languages, is characterized by a significant development of inflection and belongs to the group of inflectional languages. Each grammatical form is based on a three-consonant (less often four-consonant) root. The formation of words occurs mainly due to the internal structural change of the word.
Arabic letter
The Arabic alphabet consists of 28 letters, displaying only consonant sounds in writing. There are no special letters for writing vowel sounds in Arabic writing. But due to the fact that the Arabic language distinguishes between short and long vowels, some letters used to write consonants are used to convey long vowels in writing. Short vowels are conveyed in writing using vowels.
Thus, the Arabic writing system is based on the written representation of only consonant sounds, and the vowels that make up the word are completed by the reader during the reading process, depending on the meaning of the word and its role in the sentence.
The letters of the Arabic alphabet are characterized by the fact that each of them has, depending on its position in the word, several styles: independent, initial, middle and final. The nature of the writing of a letter depends on whether it is connected on both sides to parts of a given word or only on the right.
Of the 28 letters of the alphabet, 22 are connected on both sides and have four forms of writing, and the remaining 6 are only on the right, having only two forms of writing.
Based on the nature of the writing of the basic elements, most letters of the Arabic alphabet can be combined into several groups. Letters of the same group have the same descriptive “skeleton” and differ from each other only in the presence and location of the so-called diacritic points. Letters either have no dots at all, or have one, two or three dots, which may appear above or below the letter. Letters are connected to each other using connecting bars.
The printed and written styles of the letters of the Arabic alphabet are not fundamentally different. There are no capital letters in the Arabic alphabet.
Vocalizations
The Arabic writing system provides for the transmission of only consonants and long vowels. Short vowels are not depicted in writing. However, to clarify the nature of short vowels in certain cases, for example, in the Holy Quran, prophetic traditions, textbooks, they are indicated using special subscript or superscript signs called vowels.
The vowel is placed above or below the letter indicating the consonant sound. There are three vowels in Arabic:
− “Fatha”
The vowel “fatha” is placed above the letter in the form of an oblique dash َ_ and conveys the short vowel sound [a]. For example: بَ [ba], شَ [sha].
− “Kyasra”
The vowel “kasra” is placed under the letter in the form of an oblique dash ـِ and conveys the short vowel [i]. For example: بِ [bi], شِ [shi].
− "Damma"
The vowel “damma” is placed above the comma-shaped letter ـُ and conveys the short vowel [у]. For example: بُ [bu], شُ [shu].
− "Sukun"
The absence of a vowel sound after a consonant is indicated by a symbol called a “sukun”. “Sukun” is written as ـْ and placed above the letter. For example: بَتْ [baht], بِتْ [bit], بُتْ [but].
Additional symbols in Arabic include the “shadda” sign, indicating the doubling of a consonant sound. "Shadda" is written as the Russian capital letter "sh". For example: بَبَّ [bubba], بَتِّ [batti]
Transcription
Due to the fact that in the Arabic language there is a significant difference between the system of depicting words in writing and their sound composition, for practical purposes they resort to the so-called transcription. Transcription is the transmission of the sounds of a language using accepted conventional signs or letters of the same or another language, equipped, if necessary, with additional symbols.
In this textbook, the Russian language is used as transcription marks for Arabic sounds. To depict those sounds that do not exist in the Russian language, some Russian letters are equipped with additional icons: a dash and a dot under the letter. A dash indicates an interdental consonant, and a dot indicates a hard sound.
The author's method of quickly learning Arabic.Tested on children.
If someone can read the Koran after this, the author is not to blame.
He had other goals, but - Good luck!
Different people have different ways of thinking, which is why, for example, physicists and lyricists need to be taught foreign languages in completely different ways. However, in all existing foreign language textbooks, one can feel the same and “shady” German approach: unnecessary thoroughness, an abundance of unnecessary, stupid, unstructured information at the start, tediousness that kills mood and motivation after 5 pages and puts you to sleep after ten.
That is, it is often not the student’s fault, but rather the teaching system that “fucks up.”
Roughly speaking, the teacher is to blame.
It’s as if someone put a filter on the “unworthy” foreign language.
And this is how the “cut-off” is carried out...
But why did they write a book for this, why was it called a “textbook”
and why were you sold “crap” that is of little use for learning??
Some books should be called - not textbooks, but "turnstiles",
like, if you made it through, you move on, if you didn’t make it through, sit, smoke, and smoke bamboo...
Existing textbooks are poorly designed for the thinking of a normal Russian person.
modern, not "outdated" version. When you are told obvious platitudes that have clearly been rewritten over the last 100 years, you get the feeling that you have “gotten it”... thoughts that you turned out to be smarter than your teacher, and the teacher is “acting out” - really interfere with learning.
Perhaps philologists wrote textbooks - for people with a different background,
Perhaps the “background” of the average student has grown over 100 years
or the methods are outdated.
It may also be that people who don’t know anything useful except languages increase the value of their knowledge by making show-offs and meaningful snot - where everything can be explained more simply, on the fingers, faster and more interestingly.
Can a teacher be boring?
After all, language is a means of communication.
The author of the textbook, the teacher, already has a “credit” from the student who bought and picked up the textbook. And if a student quits studying, maybe also because the author doesn’t “pull it out” - maybe because he’s a bad teacher? It is not customary to criticize teachers, but here the criticism is not from a student, but from a “colleague.” And in this case, criticism is more than appropriate. Because there is no need for bad teachers to scare students away from all teachers.
Let's take Arabic.
Most fears about learning Arabic stem from its written form.
Which the textbook presents in such a way that... you begin to understand the Inquisition...
Often textbooks focus on layers of language - from Islam and the Koran.
if the textbook is Soviet, then it is based on the experience of building communism.
For what??
Why frighten a person by aggressively imposing archetypes of behavior that are alien (for a Russian). Orthodox Christians and atheists do not need to immediately give words meaning “namaz” and “Akbar”.
That is, these words must be present, but then, where their presence will be justified by the logic of teaching, and not just by the teacher’s desire to immediately “convert” the student to his Faith. The student came for another. And the market says that you should respect your consumer. In the end, the student came to the Arabic teacher, and not to the madrasah.
How to interest a student.
How to awaken motivation?
The Arabic language gives precisely the Russian and Orthodox Christian the opportunity to touch the Biblical texts - in a different coordinate system. And understand the hidden meanings that (alas) disappeared without a trace in Russian translations - from Greek translations.
Eg. King Herod turns out to be the "king of the Earth." Ard and Herod (land) are spelled the same.
Bethlehem - (beit lahm) - turns out to be a sheep house, a barn. Like in popular prints showing the stable where Jesus was born.
The English Queen "Bloody Mary" turns out to be the "Mother of the State".
The Pharisees turn out to be ordinary Persians or horsemen.
Saducees - friends, brothers, monks.
Pharaohs turn out to be simply the leaders of these horsemen.
Kagan - High Priest.
The possible meaning of the “new spelling” of the name Jesus (the appearance of the second letter “i”) during the Great Schism of the 17th century becomes clear - precisely as a result of the translation of Arabic texts into “Cyrillic”. the stroke under the consonant “and” is the second “and”, which is written but not necessarily read. And the main dispute of the split takes on a different logic and harmony. This is precisely from the translation of Semitic texts - through Greek - into Russian.
The best motivation.
There is such an “Old Belarusian language”. This is a language in which ordinary text in Old Russian is written in Arabic letters. Agree, it’s nice when, in the process of learning one modern language, you find yourself “in the load” as a speaker of another, and ancient one.
The laws of “Freebies” (sweets in Arabic) have not been repealed. And the learning process turns out to be more effective if you lead the student “from freebie to freebie.”))
An example of the text of the "Old Belarusian language" from the Internet. This is an Old Church Slavonic language written in Arabic script.
My teacher, a KGB officer, once gave advice that was very appropriate in that situation - not to try to translate your life into Arabic. University, cinema and clubs are images of another culture for which another language would be better suited.
It’s more useful to come up with an “image” of an Arab and tell it from him. It is the language of nomadic peasants and has 70 words for camel and 5 verbs for “to think.” No need to complicate...
May I have 5 brothers and 6 sisters,
your father has three wives and three houses.
It’s easier to learn from an authentic map than to pull out of thin air, as if to delicately name the concepts “airborne troops”, “institute”, “potatoes”, “privatization” and “investment banking business” that are absent in Arab culture.
So, the first principle of memorizing letters is “Shemakha”.
As the hero of Pushkin’s fairy tale said: “Reign while lying on your side”...
There are many Arabic symbols - you can memorize them by tilting your head to the right or to the left.
For example, the “European” numbers 2, 3, 4, 6, 7 are frankly of Arabic origin. It’s just that someone “messed up”, sat “drunk” and wrote down numbers, sitting “to the left” - from the source. Or poked him from behind his shoulder.
Second.
For some reason it is not customary to talk about this, but almost all Latin and Slavic letters were derived from Arabic script. Don't believe me? It’s simply not customary to talk about this. But calmly and without panic, take a closer look at the letters. If you can’t do it straight, try writing them not from right to left, as the Arabs themselves write. And reproduce them “our way”, as we write, from left to right.
If you don’t recognize them, try to relax, imagine how Cyril and Methodius “stole” the letters from the Arabs without indicating their sources. In order not to deduct copyright. Still, the Arabs have “close relatives” (perhaps even Cyril and Methodius themselves). Try writing the letters from left to right again. And look at the clues.
So, in order to convey information in the Old Belarusian language, you need to write Arabic letters - from right to left.
And these letters are modified Russian (Latin letters).
In Arabic, only consonants and long (stressed) vowels are written.
Short vowels are not written.
- there is no letter “p” in the Arabic alphabet, Arabs use the letter “b”
- the letter "g" is similar to the Russian one.
- the letter "i" twice. Once at the end of a word, the other in the middle. It can be seen by two points below it. The spelling is different, but these two dots “give it away”.
The letter "v" twice. Its writing anywhere (at the beginning in the middle, at the end - the same)
Vocalization rule
There are only 28 letters in the Arabic alphabet.
Strictly speaking, they are all consonants. Vowel sounds (and there are only three of them) are conveyed by special signs that are placed “above” or “below” the letter. The icons are called "vocals".
The vowels “a”, “i”, “u” are called “Fatha, kesra, damma”
A - stroke above the consonant
"and" is a stroke from below,
"y" - comma on top,
“without a vowel” - circle, “sukkun”,
ending "an" - two strokes above the consonant
shadda "w" - doubling of a consonant.
ending "in" - two strokes under the consonant
This is how the previous sentence “let’s talk” -
will look like “Old Belarusian” with vowels.
In most cases, you will not find texts with vowels in Arabic books and media. Why? Because Arabs read and understand these texts perfectly even without vowels. This is comparable to when in Russian we encounter the letter “Ё” without dots, but we understand that it is “Ё”. This is experience and skill. A couple of months of reading the exercises in their textbook - and anyone will have it.
Vocalizations were developed by medieval philologists. One of the theories of their origin is this: in those days, a large number of people accepted Islam - without knowing the language. And so that “fresh” Muslims could read the Koran without errors, a system of vowels was adopted. Now vowels can be found mainly in textbooks, in some Holy books (Koran, Bible), in reference books and dictionaries. But moving in this environment, anyone begins to read and understand texts without vowels at all.
Arabic writing allows us to better understand the speakers of Turkic, Iranian and Caucasian languages. And due to the fact that Moscow is already the largest Tajik, Tatar, Azerbaijani, Uzbek city - it is advisable to have this just in case, let it be... Because this writing allows you to better understand the grammar of the language. After all, doubling, transferring vowels - in these languages was historically justified by "Elm", and when written in Latin or Cyrillic - the logic turns out to be much more complicated.
The main thing is not to be afraid and to understand that the rejection of the Arabic language in the Russian cultural field may not have always been the case. One may discover that someone actually deliberately destroyed “Semitisms” (Arabisms) in Russian culture. You can see that many principles of Russian cursive writing/stenography amusingly repeat the laws of Arabic calligraphy (of course, in their mirror image).
Russian endings (for example, for adjectives) are written in Arabic not with 2-3 letters that do not carry information (-ogo, -ego, -ie, -aya), but are written in one short stroke. After all, the Slavic ancestors were not masochists when they left endings in their language that sometimes turned out to be longer than the word itself. In a word, the experience of the Arabic language is only an opportunity to regain what your ancestors had.
By the way, all European languages may have such an “Arabic” experience. It is known that the most ancient documents of the Afrikaans language (which, excuse me, is the language of the Dutch settlers of the 17th and 18th centuries in Africa) were written in Arabic script. It is known that in the 20th century there were translations of writing into Cyrillic and Latin, after which in Russia and Turkey ALL documents written in ligature were destroyed.
That is, perhaps it is necessary not so much to “teach” as to try to “awaken” the subconscious.
Arabic script is not at all complicated, but it amazingly helps to “reveal” different ways of thinking in a person: analogue, creative, composite...
True, there was such a story. Once, in a large Russian bank, I had to teach the basics of economics to local managers. I discovered with horror that the top management did not understand the diagrams at all and could not read pictures. And it can only read sequential text.
That is, the evolution of the banking business in the country has taken place - very strange. According to the principle of “washing out” people with abstract thinking. That is, those who do not know how to think abstractly have come together. Their entire advantage is the ability to “be shit”... With Arabic training, it will be more difficult to become a banker. But we learn a language - for a different development...
So if you are going to work in banks (or with such a category of people), stop learning Arabic (and forget what I already said). Otherwise, then you will have to stupidly hide a third of your brain in order to fit in with the “environment” and especially with your superiors.
But there is nothing wrong with abstract, creative thinking. In the end, when a crowd of Caucasian youth stops you in a dark alley, there is no need to panic. Really use your brains. As a rule, this does not mean anything bad, except that young people have nothing to occupy their time, and you have a reason to drink together. And you need to know how to see this reason. And how to develop it correctly.
Here in the picture below are two Arabic words of three letters.
Of course, since we are learning Old Belarusian, it might be worth writing an Old Belarusian word of three letters, but whoever needs it will write it himself by the end of the lesson...
three letters are three troughs. The dots above the letter indicate that the first word is “BIT”, the second is BNT.”
as already mentioned, even without vowels, a literate Arab will guess
that these are the words Bayt - house (hamsa and two sukkun - in vowels),
and Bint - a girl (kesra and two sukkun).
With vowels - two words will look like this.
I draw in Adobe with a mouse, if you don’t like it, draw it yourself.
Pencil, paper, sharpener - go ahead.
Beautiful handwriting for many is sufficient aesthetic satisfaction,
to practice Arabic. But we are talking about the harmony of language in general here,
and not about the beauty of his handwriting. Although - you will be pleased to think that after one day of training you will be able to write Arabic words - more beautifully than your teacher.
Lastly.
There is no need to feel complex about your lack of knowledge of the Arabic language in front of today's speakers of Arabic culture.
Firstly, all the Arabs you are interested in (for one reason or another) speak Russian or English. And English will be objectively more comfortable for them to explain the terms of European culture. The Arabic language is an opportunity to touch Arab culture in general, and not to a specific person in particular.
Secondly, we must understand that the Arab culture of the Middle East is, after all, rather a young culture. Its renaissance in the Middle East began only at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. And when you get acquainted with the works of German and Russian Arabists (Krachkovsky’s four-volume work), you see and understand that at the end of the 19th century, the centers of study of the Arabic language and the Koran were Berlin, Kazan, St. Petersburg... And not Cairo and Damascus .
Jerusalem and Riyadh became centers of Arab culture only in the second half of the 20th century... and before that, an ordinary Arab in the desert in the morning washed himself with camel urine, jumped on a camel, and wandered to the neighboring oasis. And the harsh desert life then left no room or resources for higher manifestations of culture. This is neither good nor bad. Walk through museums in Arab countries to understand the meager and dreary life of nomads - even half a century ago.
To catch up.
Arabs consider "a" and "o" as one vowel,
they do not distinguish between these vowels.
they distinguish consonants as front ones.
They have different consonants with which the syllables “sa” and “so” begin.
That's why they have two consonants - where we have one.
And there are two different letters - “t”, “s”, “d”, “th”, “z”. One of them is “front” - after it you hear “a”,
and the other is the back one, after it you hear “o”.
The difference between them is colossal.
Kalb and Kalb are almost imperceptible to the Russian ear, but to the Arab they mean “heart” or “dog”. A gentle compliment - or an insult. They always call one famous Israeli politician “Kalb-va-ibn-al-kyalb” (The Dog and the Son of the Dog).
And if you mess it up... it won’t turn out very nicely...
The letter, which simply means the short sound "o" - they convey it through the special letter "ain", means a guttural "semi-wheezing" and which in writing looks similar to the "non-Russian" letter "Ъ", as in the word "B-Ъ- Bulgaria"
Cyril and Methodius were stealing ideas - clearly not from the Greeks (or not only from the Greeks).
But for some reason it was forbidden to see Semitic roots in the Russian Empire.
That is, one could see the roots - from a certain “Greek” language 2 thousand years ago. But the “Arab” roots are relatively young - they didn’t notice.
Soviet Arabist Vashkevich. By the way, I found hundreds of parallels between the Russian and Arabic languages. You can find a lot about this on the Internet. Here are examples only starting with the letter "e".
BARELY, barely - the same as barely. ♦ From Arabic علة yillah "weakness".
EMELYA, Give up Emelya is not your week (proverb. Dahl) - Behind the name Emelya is the Arabic عمل amal “work”.
EREMEY, every Eremey understand to himself (proverb. Dahl) - on his own mind. ♦ Behind the name Eremey is the Arabic آمر "a:mara" to plot.
YERMIL, the hillbilly Yermil, is dear to the townswomen (proverb. Dahl). ♦ behind the name Ermil is the Arabic أرمل “armal “widow”.
Nonsense, talk nonsense - tell lies, talk nonsense. ♦ Behind the Russian nonsense lies the Arabic ده غير gerun da “not that,” i.e. wrong. For Russian, carry the Arabic نصت nassa(t) (feminine gender) “pronounce the text”, “read”. The grammatical term of Latin grammar comes from ar. جرد garrada "to form the original simplest grammatical form of a word."
To learn a language you need practice.
beautiful handwriting is in itself a reason to be proud.
After 10 conscious writings, a person automatically remembers everything.
Paper, pencil, sharpener - and as in childhood - through copybooks.
What frightens us in Arabic studies is the multiplicity of spellings for the same letter. initial, final, middle, separate. But these are just the principles of adding a letter.
As in the Georgian joke:
Vilka - bottle - written without a soft sign,
salt beans - with soft
This is impossible - we need to believe in it...
Here it is worth telling an anecdote that all Russians who have lived in Arab countries for a long time know about.
When “another Arab” decides to learn Russian, he spends several days learning the Russian alphabet, in the process of learning which he annoys everyone around him. Who can hardly tolerate his senseless tediousness. we know that the Russian language must be taught differently. And those who change the way they study achieve success in it. But - Arabic really needs to be learned, starting with letters - and going from the roots of words - to more complex meanings.
And to the oral language - it is advisable to go through the written one.
sometimes you think that those who developed methods for teaching children English and French went through the “torture of Semitic languages.” Because you can see the “ears” of other methods that are poorly suited for European languages.
Why did I start telling all this?
exactly - not only to teach the basics of the Arabic language.
And certainly not so that you sit down with the Holy Books this evening. Although - I repeat - if anything happens, it’s not my fault. This is your subconscious. Arabs sincerely believe that Arabic is the language of angels. So perhaps there is something “in the subconscious”.
More to tell in detail that the connections between Russian, Slavic culture - and Semitic, Arabic languages - are much stronger than we were taught from childhood. We were even forced to read the Bible translated from Greek and German. Although Arabic is the closest of the world languages to the biblical one. When they take the long route to get acquainted with the Truths, this means that they want to deceive someone, to fool someone. And perhaps there is a reason for not revealing everything to us.
Congratulations on such an important decision! You are determined to learn Arabic, but how to choose a method? Which book should you choose to study and how can you start “speaking” as quickly as possible? We have prepared a guide for you on modern courses and methods of learning Arabic.
First, decide on the goal for which you need to learn Arabic. Do you want to study works on Sharia sciences without waiting for translation? Understand the Koran in the original? Or maybe you are planning to visit an Arabic-speaking country? Are you planning to attract new partners to your business?
It’s one thing if you need to learn a language for simple everyday situations in order to communicate at the airport, in a store or hotel, and another if you plan to read books by early scientists in the original.
Defining your end goal is a very important step in making your training as effective as possible. Learning a language is a long and challenging journey, and having a clear understanding of your motivations for learning a language will help you avoid giving up midway.
Arabic alphabet
Whatever goal you set for yourself, start by learning the alphabet. Many people try to skip this step, relying on the transliteration of Arabic words. But sooner or later you still have to return to this step, and you will also have to relearn the words that you have already memorized. It's better to start right away with the basics. At first, when learning the alphabet, difficulties may arise, but then you will see that it will not take much time. Also, do not forget about developing your writing skills, buy or print copybooks and try to study them regularly and write as many Arabic words as possible. It is reading syllables and writing that will help you learn letters in different positions. Of course, it will be bad at first, and it will take time for you to get used to the writing method, but with a little effort you will learn to write Arabic text.
Practice pronouncing letters more, even in a whisper. Our articulatory system needs to get used to new positions, and the more you repeat, the faster you will learn.
Choosing to Study Islamic Sciences
To prepare for understanding and reading Arabic-language literature, and Sharia books in particular, in addition to vocabulary, it is necessary to master the grammar of the language. A good choice would be Dr. AbdurRahim's Medina course. Despite the fact that there is little vocabulary, the course is very global and systematic in terms of grammar and provides gradual learning for the student. The main advantage of the Medina course is a clear system of presenting material without dry formal statements of rules. “Ajurrumia” is practically dissolved in it and, with stable training, by the end of the second volume you will have half of the basic grammar in your head.
But the Medina course requires additional effort to gain vocabulary. There are many additional materials for it - like taabir or qiraa (small reading aids), and any aids for strengthening vocabulary or listening skills. For the most effective learning, the Medina course should be taken comprehensively, or additionally take a course that is aimed at developing reading and speech, such as Al-Arabiya Bayna Yadeyk.
Choice for spoken language
To develop communication skills, a good choice would be the Al-Arabiya Bayna Yadeik or Ummul-Qura (al-Kitab ul-Asasiy) course. The study of Al-Arabiya Bayna Yadeyk is more widespread, the emphasis in the course is on conversational practice. The big advantage is that from the very first lessons you can learn the phrases necessary for simple communication and practice the pronunciation of letters. Particular attention is paid to listening. This course was written for foreigners who came to work in Saudi Arabia, and is designed in such a way that the student can “painlessly” gain vocabulary and speak Arabic. Having completed the first volume, you will be able to speak correctly on simple everyday topics, distinguish Arabic speech by ear, and write.
In the future, when studying these courses, you must additionally take grammar. For example, after finishing the second volume, you can additionally take the Ajurumia course.
How to replenish your vocabulary
One of the problems that students of any foreign language face is insufficient vocabulary. There are many ways to learn new words, and they are also effective for Arabic. Of course, the best way to learn words is to memorize them in context. Read more books in Arabic, and at the initial stage, short stories and dialogues, underlining and highlighting new words. They can be written out and posted around the house, they can be entered into special applications that allow you to learn words anywhere (such as Memrise), or simply written down in a dictionary. In any case, set aside at least 30 minutes to repeat the words.
When pronouncing a word, imagine it in the most colorful way, or use illustration cards - this way you will use several parts of the brain at once. Describe the word for yourself, draw parallels and create logical chains - the more connections your brain creates, the faster the word will be remembered.
Use the words you have learned in conversation. This is the most effective method, and the most natural. Make up sentences with new words, pronounce them as often as possible, and of course, don’t forget to repeat recently learned words.
Developing auditory skills
Particular attention should be paid to developing the ability to understand Arabic speech by ear. Do not neglect listening, practice shows that many people can read and understand, but not everyone can understand what the interlocutor said. To do this, no matter how trivial it may sound, you need to listen to more audio materials. On the Internet you can find quite a few short stories, stories and dialogues in Arabic, many of them supported by text or subtitles. Many resources offer you a short test at the end to check how much you understand what you read.
Listen to it as many times as necessary, over and over again, and you will notice that you will understand more and more each time. Try to understand the meaning of unfamiliar words from the context, and then check the meaning of the words in a dictionary. Don’t forget to write down new words in order to learn them in the future. The more vocabulary you have, the easier it will be for you to understand speech.
What to do if almost nothing is clear? Perhaps you took too difficult material. Start with the simplest, no need to immediately take complex audios, which are intended more for those who are fluent in the language. Choose speakers who speak clearly and clearly, in simple literary language.
Consistency is important in developing listening skills. You need to study more and not despair, even if it seems that you understand almost nothing. With the addition of your vocabulary and constant practice, you will begin to distinguish words more and more, and then understand Arabic speech in the original.
Let's start talking
You need to start talking as early as possible. You shouldn’t wait until you have a fairly large vocabulary; you can start building the simplest dialogues after the first lessons. Let them be banal, but do not neglect the development of speaking skills and diction. Chat with your relatives and classmates on various topics. Didn't find your partner? You can talk to yourself in front of a mirror, the main thing is to introduce new learned words into your speech, transfer them from the “passive” vocabulary to the “active” one. Learn common expressions and try to use them as often as possible.
Additionally, take tongue twisters, pronouncing them is an excellent simple method of improving diction. What is it for? Our speech organs are accustomed to pronouncing native sounds, and the Arabic language has many specifics. Therefore, a good solution would be, along with measured reading and conversational practice, to practice pronouncing Arabic tongue twisters from time to time. As a nice bonus, this will help you get rid of your accent faster.
Letter
The further you go in learning Arabic, the more you will have to write. For example, already in the second volume of the Medina course, there are up to 20 assignments in a lesson, 10-15 pages long. By practicing in a timely manner, you will greatly facilitate your learning process in the future. Write down every day what you have learned, all new words and sentences. Prescribe even those exercises that are assigned for reading or oral performance. If your vocabulary and basic knowledge of grammar allow, describe what happened to you during the day, invent and write down new dialogues.
By developing these skills, you approach learning Arabic from all angles - and this is the most effective method. Don't forget about constant learning and diligence on your part. Even the most advanced methods do not work on their own. To learn a language you just need to study. Of course, there are more and less effective methods - for example, by learning a language with a native speaker, especially in an Arab country, you will begin to speak faster, because such classes take place with complete immersion in the language environment. But by studying at home, choosing the most effective methods that have been developed over the years, you can achieve good results.
After finishing 10th grade, I went to Dagestan for the summer holidays. Usually you are constantly surrounded by relatives there. But one day I was left in Makhachkala, left to my own devices. And he went for a walk around the city. This was probably my first independent walk through a foreign city. I walked along Gamidov Avenue towards the mountains. And, suddenly, I saw a sign “Islamic shop”. No matter how strange it may seem, my first acquisition in Dagestan was an Arabic script.
Arriving at my uncle's house, I opened it. There were all types of writing letters and their pronunciation was explained in relation to the Dagestan alphabet “The letter ع approximately corresponds to the Arabic gI”, “The letter ح is similar to the Avar xI”. Together with ظ, these were the most difficult letters for me, because... it was hard to imagine how to pronounce them, and the others were mostly in my language. So I began to learn to read Arabic on my own. An ordinary Russian teenager, far from religion. Then I went to my grandfather’s mountain village. It was a time filled with the events of adolescence, when you try a lot for the first time. Along with all this, I tried to learn Arabic. What moved me when I bought this recipe is still mystical for me.
I recently found my first attempts to write in Arabic, which I began just that summer in the village with my grandfather.
Over the summer I learned to read. But then I abandoned this business for many years and remained stuck on this knowledge. The Arabic language seemed something unusually distant and incomprehensible. And my lifestyle was far from learning this language.
Then, already in my 4th year at university, I started doing namaz, started going to the mosque, and met Muslims. One Friday in the mosque I said hello to one of my friends:
- Assalamu alaikum! How are you? What are you doing?
- Wa alaikumu piss! Alhamdulillah. Here, I’m studying Arabic.
- How do you study? Are there any courses?
— No, on your own, using the textbook “Learn to read the Koran in Arabic.”
Then this brother went to Kazan to study and there he got new textbooks, and he sold Lebedev’s books “Learn to Read the Koran in Arabic” to me for 500 rubles when he returned from Kazan on his first vacation.
I worked as a night security guard in a store and took this book with me on duty. I started reading it in my free moments between the fights of the local drunks and until I fell asleep. As soon as I started reading the book, I thought, “Subhanallah, this Arabic language is so easy to learn.”
For so many years I was stupidly able to read and had difficulty memorizing the verses of the Koran - and now I began to understand the logic of the entire language!
My delight knew no bounds. I finished the first book in a month. I didn’t even memorize the words there - I just carefully studied the new rules and read the exercises for them.
Then I got my hands on a textbook" First Arabic lessons ". I began to simply learn a lesson a day (they are very small there). I simply learned new words in the morning - and then repeated them all day (on the bus, while walking, etc.). After a couple of months I already knew almost 60 lessons by heart - all the words and figures of speech that were found in them.
After 2 months of classes, I was visiting an Arab and was surprised to discover that I could communicate in Arabic without speaking a word in Russian!!! It started out as a joke. I said hello in Arabic and my friend answered. Then I asked something else and he answered in Arabic again. And when the dialogue began, it was as if there was no turning back. It was as if we didn’t know Russian. My knees were shaking with happiness.
Previously, I needed to learn the Koran “photographically” - stupidly remember the order of all the letters in words. For example, it took me several days to memorize Surah An-Nas. And after I have learned the basics of grammar, I can read Krachkovsky’s translation and the Arabic text of the verse once (matching the translation to each Arabic word), repeat it a couple of times - and the verse is remembered. If you go through a small surah like this (like An-Naba “The Message”). After half an hour of studying, I can look at Krachkovsky’s translation and read the sura in Arabic (essentially from memory). The most difficult thing is usually to remember the order of the verses.
My tragedy is that having learned to read (it took about two months on my own and haphazardly), I simply could not imagine that it was possible to spend the same amount of time learning the basics of grammar and, if you make an effort and develop an active vocabulary, you can speak Arabic very soon.
The biggest problem for many people is that they think of language as an impregnable fortress that will take many years to storm and siege. And only after that you will master it. In fact, learning a language is better thought of as a small cottage that you build piece by piece. Having studied basic grammar (changing verbs by persons and tenses, changing cases, etc. - this is a brochure of 40 pages in volume) - consider that you have laid the foundation. Next, an opportunity arose - we built a room where we could live and moved there. Then - the kitchen. Then they built a living room, a nursery, and all the other rooms. I saw how houses were built in this way in Dagestan. Instead of renting an apartment, they buy an inexpensive plot of land, pour the foundation and build at least one room where they move. And then, as far as possible, they continue to build the house on the already poured foundation.
If suddenly someone wants to follow my path, which I consider optimal for those who do it mainly on their own, for example, in their free time from their main studies or work, I have prepared a selection of materials (now they have become more accessible and better).
1. Learn to read and write
→ Talking textbook (a self-instruction manual on reading and writing with voiceover of each word and many tips)
2. Basics of grammar.To study grammar, it is better to arm yourself with many books and choose the one that suits you best. The same rule can be given in different words in different books - so that incomprehensible moments can be considered from different angles. Start with one book and download others as needed.
→ Lebedev. Learn to read the Quran in Arabic — an unobtrusive explanation of the basics of grammar using the example of verses from the Koran (I personally went through the first volume. I hated studying foreign languages all my life, but I read this book as fiction, and I realized that Arabic is my language).
→ Yashukov. Arabic grammar tutorial - a compressed volume of 40 pages gives all the basics (a brief summary of any textbook).
→ Khaibullin. Arabic grammar . A new thorough textbook, containing the basics of grammar with numerous examples, as well as the basics of morphology. Very accessible language and sparing volume.
→ Rules of the Arabic language in a simplified and simplified form . (I haven’t tried it myself, but I’ve heard reviews from friends).
→ Kovalev, Sharbatov. Arabic textbook . (A classic of the genre. It is usually used as a reference book where you can find any grammar question).
I think these books should be enough to spare. If you are not satisfied, google Kuzmina, Ibragimov, Frolova and others.
3. Develop an active vocabulary
→ First Arabic lessons . - read the preface to this book carefully and you will understand everything. I actually lived with this book for several months until I learned 100 lessons. If you repeat “my feat,” you will feel close to the Arab world—jokes aside.
4. Language practice
→ Get to know the Arabs, try to communicate with them. For example, you can look for students in the mosque who have just arrived in Russia and speak Russian poorly. If you are hospitable and not intrusive, you can develop very warm and friendly relations. You can learn the language directly from a native speaker. ). This way you can Google materials that interest you, your favorite nasheeds on YouTube, etc. You will be able to plunge into the Arabic Internet, participate in their forums, discussions, make friends on FaceBook, etc.