Which arabic dialect should i learn

If you speak French, I found Assimil's de Poche to be very helpful. And immediately from then, start getting very regular practice with native speakers just from the country you are going to, and make it clear that your priority is to learn the dialect, not MSA. This is probably the most controversial piece of advice I'll give that I know many will disagree on, but if you have a spoken focus, Arabic script is inefficient to represent the words of dialect, especially because of lack of most vowels shown.

So when you are making a note of vocabulary, pick one way to represent sounds not in English such as in the Wikipedia link above , and learn it that way. If you write to your teacher, type a Romanized version. All my flashcards in Anki where representing vocabulary using Romanized script rather than Arabic. Do indeed learn Arabic script though! It's just a few hours work, and you are done. But initially , as a traveller you only need this for recognition, such as in signs and menus.

Reading novels and newspapers can come later. Luckily I've finally come across a decent book that I'd recommend for people to try out after lots of spoken practice, and thanks to this I am finally tying up loose ends. It's kind of technical, but is a huge help for me to speak correctly, so with a bit of practice I can get that final flow I need:. Kullu Tamam. It has some problems like an occasional typo, and it's incredibly dry no pictures, and the dialogues aren't interesting so I definitely can't recommend it to absolute beginners.

But it only discusses dialect, and does so using Romanized script. It gets into technical explanations of why certain things are said in certain ways. I studied this for a couple of days while in Cairo, and got through it quick enough because of all the previous exposure and familiarity with most words and am now finally starting to speak correctly. I am still hesitating a lot as I think about how to process the words in the right way and of course slip up occasionally , but luckily I am getting tonnes of practice every day and should reach a much more comfortable level within the next weeks.

A completely free resource, which is both a dictionary and a pretty detailed grammar explanation is Lisaan Masry. Make this your home page if you are intensively learning Arabic! There is also an Android app that lets you download the dictionary database offline, which has been a huge help for me out and about, as limited as it is. I came across some other highly recommended books for beginner learners, that were indeed about Egyptian dialect, but they were almost always written in Arabic script and this will slow you down too much both because of lack of familiarity with script to read through it efficiently, and because they don't represent a lot of the sounds well enough.

If you are a beginner don't learn through a book written just in Arabic script. With a spoken focus, you can get into reading later, and that's more suited to an MSA focused approach anyway, because dialect is pretty much never written in script I'm told that subtitles for children's TV shows use it for instance.

By not learning them in parallel, but in a written-only context, you are less likely to mix things up, and will use the correct word when writing and the correct one when speaking dialect. I've started reading online newspapers since I got to Egypt, and am glad I didn't focus much on reading text in my initial months. I can already order food off menus and follow directions on signs, because I practised individual word reading of Arabic script throughout my learning period, but reading full texts that are effectively in the wrong language is best left until when you already know one of those languages well enough.

Well, those are my thoughts on the whole thing anyway. All previous languages I learnt by myself, after some time of self-study, when I reached some degree of being understood and understand basic things I usually went abroad to master the language. I plan to do the same with Arabic - learn by myself and then go to Egipt to study more. My choise was to use the Assimil book "Arabic with Ease", which worked very well e. My main goal is to communicate and I have a feeling that repeating the sentences from Assimil is like learning esperanto.

I decided to change the book and leave Assimil for another book based on a real, spoken language. Hey there. I agree with the concept of assimilation.. In fact that is how I learned the languages which I do speak and it is the most respectful way towards a foreign culture. I do have a question about arabic cultures. From my experience in Latin America learning Spanish, I have run into many very uncomfortable and almost dangerous incidents as a white, blue eyed, blond haired female.

In Colombia, I got used to the constant whistling and cat calls, but there were still times when I got followed around or taken to a motel, without knowing that motels are only for having sex, or being hit on by a 60 year old man, who I was dependent on at one point and had no way to get out of the situation. At the end of the adventure, I survived and got to know a lot of wonderful people, fell in love and got a better understanding latin america.. However it has left me with an amount of respect for the unknown and a need to recover from the constant blows to my naivety.

So I want to ask about the arab culture. Is it easier to assimilate for a man than a woman? I think this must really depend from country to country, but if somebody could let me know about their experience as a woman in one of the arab speaking parts of the world, then I will highly appreciate your insight.

Thank you. What you've said about modern standard arabic is so misleading. It is like saying that speaking proper english is archaic and too complicated. Modern standard arabic is the basis for any dialect you find, it is beautifully complex and we're lucky that it is still taught and learn by so many people.

I'd be very happy to help anyone who's wishing to learn Arabic and to have a conversation either in Fusha or Moroccan dialect, in exchange we can talk in English as well because I want to practice mine for educational reasons. Anyone interested send me a message on my facebook account. Hi, I would be really grateful if anyone can help me with this, I want to learn an Arabic dialect for professional and religious reasons like reading the Quran, I've gone through the Egyptian dialect but it seems weird to me to pronoun jameel as gameel which is the case for all jeem j words in egyptian arabic.

Can you tell me which dialects pronunciation is closest to Quran. Kindly consider the request that i am talking about pronunciation. Which dialects are you offering to teach and how much do they cost? Really enjoyed your writing, thank you for sharing your experience!! Currently I am learning MSA, simply for the purpose of being able to read newspapers and know the basic level. It may seem pointless, and I'm sure I'll have to start over with the dialect version, but I'd be remiss not to do both!

Planning on conquering MSA first. My question is what do you think of learning the Levantine version? Will different parts of the Middle East be able to understand me? Will Gulf areas be able to understand me, and vice versa? How about Egypt? Levantine areas of the Middle East is where my interest lies, but maybe it is best to go Egyptian, since I hear it is the most widely understood? Just curious on your opinion of Levantine. I was just wondering whether it is valuable to learn Arabic as a white female from The Unites States.

I really enjoy learning foreign languages and about about different cultures. I have been interested in Arabic for quite some time and even took measures to learn some Arabic when I was in high school, but was quickly dissuaded. I appreciate any feedback!

Which dialect would you recommend for someone who is learning for the purpose of reading Qur'an as well becoming conversationally fluent at the same time.

For example which dialect would be closest without completely confusing me? I'm a high school student, and I'm considering going into international relations. Because of that, there are a few languages I want to learn or get better at, one being Arabic.

The argument against learning MSA first makes a lot of sense to me, but since I'm planning on using it primarily in a diplomatic context, would you say that I should learn MSA first? Hi Donovan A very nice post here, specially for anyone trying to learn spoken colloquial Arabic. Which dialect would most refugees in Germany understand? I want to learn Arab so I can help people better. Hey Donovan, I'm moving to Cairo real soon, and I just came upon your article, it was so helpful!

So thanks. I was wondering if you know where I could find movies, translated or native in Egyptian Arabic? Or do you have suggestions for specific movies? Getting ready to get back into arabic, full time, in Egypt from I'm going to carefully analyze this and a couple of other resources. You do not have to take Arab culture in order to learn Arabic. You don't have to assimilate. To say otherwise is false.

That is like telling English learners "you have to assimilate into white culture in order to learn English". I ask you kindly to explain the difference between RocketArabic and TalkinArabic. I understand the essentials of both of the courses, but if I am a total beginner, which one is more suitable for me? I love language as well and probably the only student who took Latin for fun 20 years ago!!

So, would your recommendation be to learn Egyptian dialect if you want to converse with a possible larger population? Then, later learn MSA to read and such I have been studying Fushha for over a year and speak a little of it.

I want to go to the dialect, but at this time I do not know which one. There are many Arabs in the European city where I live, but they all chat in their dialects. I understand that if I choose one of the dialects even commonly understood, for example, Egyptian , it will not be the language of the heart for another people, for example, Lebanese or Syrians.

Thanks for your effort to help others If anyone wants to practice arabic , just add me in Skype. There is a free comprehensive reading and grammer Arabic course for beginners to advanced students, Muslims and non-Muslims, on Madinah Arabic. Just wondering, what dialect would You recommend for frequent travel to Dubai, Morocco, Israel, Geneva? Thanks for this piece. For translation work, would you recommend learning MSA or a particular dialect. Which would be most in-demand in the translation world?

Thanks, Christian Cain. Hello Nagel Iam in a dilemma ,if there is a language conflict then Iam in one, like cultural shock. Iam kenyan but originally my parents come from yemen.. I was mainly with the sub continent people and even in my work front. I admit that Arabic is fairly hard when you have never really gotten to know the alphabet.

Googling 'how do I learn Arabic' brought me here, so y'all know just where I stand with it currently. Thanks for a super-informative post, Donovan. My question for you and the community of like-minded language enthusiasts is: where do I begin?

From what I'm picking up here, I guess the answer is - abjad Haven't found anything in the Resources tab, so any pointers would be much appreciated. There are about million Egyptians living in Egypt and another 5 million Egyptians scattered around the world. This simply means that the Egyptian dialect is the most widely understood Arab dialect across the Arab world.

Just like with the easy dialect concept, a hard dialect is a subjective matter. The Maghrebi dialect s Algerian, Moroccan, Tunisian are considered difficult by the rest of the Arab world. There are reasons for the perceived difficulty. Due to it being phonetically influenced by Berber, Moroccan Arabic , for example, sounds very fast and hence unintelligible to Middle Eastern Arabs.

Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian dialects are often said to be peppered by French, Italian and Spanish words. While this is true to a large extent, it can make it an easier dialect to learn for European learners than say Levantine or Egyptian. On a side note, Arabs in the Middle East are often oblivious to the fact their respective dialects are equally peppered with Farsi and Turkish words.

This perceived difficulty should make it attractive to learners who want to learn an Arabic dialect for professional reasons and are unimpressed with this talk about difficult dialects.

So, if you prefer the unbeaten path, you should possibly consider Maghrebi dialects, particularly if you speak French, Spanish, Italian or Poruguese. Due to the differences between many speakers of this dialect, phonology can be hard to pin down.

The good news is, it follows the 28 consonants of Arabic pretty closely. There can be big differences in the emphatic sounds that different speakers use. Similar to Egyptian Arabic, Sudanese Arabic is spoken throughout learn Sudan and has over 17 million native speakers. In general, Sudanese Arabic is actually more closely related to Hejazi Arabic in pronunciation more on Hejazi Arabic later. In fact, when it comes to pronunciation, Sudanese Arabic is often referred to as a pure and archaic interpretation of Arabic.

Sudanese Arabic maintained many archaic pronunciations and writing sequences that other dialects have long forgotten. This marks a sea change from Egyptian Arabic, which sticks pretty close to the current modern standard.

Like Sudanese Arabic, Yemeni Arabic is another Arabic dialect that has maintained many classical features.

Spoken by over 15 million people in you guessed it Yemen southwestern Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Djibouti. Additionally, Yemeni Arabic can be subdivided into many different dialect groups. Moreover, Yemeni is the spoken language of the area, but speakers will use MSA for all written purposes.

Hijazi Arabic is an Arabic dialect spoken by over 14 million people in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia. Moreover, this dialect is further divided along city and country lines.