Self-study of the Arabic language. Learning Arabic from scratch

Arabic - one of the most common languages in the world, which every year is gaining popularity. The study of the Arabic language has its own peculiarities, which is connected with the structure of the language itself, as well as with pronunciation and writing. This should be taken into account when choosing a program for training.

Prevalence

Arabic is a Semitic group. According to the number of speakers of the language for which he is native, Arabic takes the second place in the world after Chinese.

In Arabic, about 350 million people speak in 23 countries of the world, where the language is considered official. These countries include Egypt, Algeria, Iraq, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Palestine and many others. Also, the language is one of the official languages in Israel. Given this factor, the study of the Arabic language presupposes a preliminary choice of a dialect that will be used in a particular country, since, despite many similar elements, in different countries the language has its own distinctive features.

Dialects

Modern Arabic can be divided into 5 large groups of dialects, which from the linguistic point of view can practically be called different languages. The fact is that the lexical and grammatical differences in languages are so great that people who speak different dialects and do not know the literary language can not understand each other. The following groups of dialects stand out:

• The Maghreb.
• Egyptian-Sudanese.
• The Syro-Mesopotamian.
• The Arabian.
• The Central Asian.

A separate niche is occupied by modern standard Arabic, which, however, is not used in colloquial speech.

Features of the study

Learning Arabic from scratch is not an easy task, because after Chinese it is considered one of the most difficult in the world. In order to master Arabic, you need a lot more time than studying any European language. This applies to both independent work and classes with teachers.

Self-study of the Arabic language is a difficult way, from which it is better to refuse at first. This is due to several factors. First of all, a great difficulty is a letter that does not resemble either the Latin alphabet or the Cyrillic alphabet, which is written from right to left, and also does not require the use of vowels. Secondly, the structure of the language, in particular morphology and grammar, differs in complexity.

What should I look for before I start studying?

The program for learning Arabic should be built taking into account the following factors:

• Having enough time. To learn a language, you need several times more time than studying other languages.
• Opportunities both for independent work, and for classes in a group or with a private teacher. The study of the Arabic language in Moscow makes it possible to combine different options.
• Inclusion in the learning process of different aspects: writing, reading, listening and, of course, speaking.

We must not forget that we need to decide on a specific dialect. The study of the Arabic language has differences depending on this factor. In particular, dialects in Egypt and Iraq are so different that their carriers can not always understand each other. The way out of the situation may be the study of the Arabic literary language, which has a more complex structure, but it is understandable in all countries of the Arab world, since dialects traditionally have a more simplified form. Despite this, this option has its own negative sides. Although the literary language is understood by all countries, it practically does not communicate. It may happen that a person who knows the literary language can not understand people who speak a certain dialect. In this case, the choice depends on the purpose of the study. If there is a desire to use the language in different countries, then the choice should be made in the direction of the literary variant. If the language is studied for work in a certain Arab country, but the preference should be given to the appropriate dialect.

Vocabulary of the language

Learning Arabic is impossible without the use of words and phrases, which in this case have characteristic differences in comparison with European languages. This is due to the fact that in Europe languages intertwined and strongly influenced each other, due to which they have many common lexical units. Virtually all the vocabulary of the Arabic language has its original origin, which can not be practically associated with others. The number of borrowings from other languages is present, but it takes up no more than one percent of the dictionary.

The complexity of the study also lies in the fact that the Arabic language is characterized by the presence of synonyms, homonyms and polysemantic words, which can seriously confuse people who begin to learn the language. In Arabic, both the newer words and the very old ones are intertwined, which, however, do not have definite links with each other, but they denote almost identical objects and phenomena.

Phonetics and pronunciation

Literary Arabic and its numerous dialects are characterized by the presence of a very developed phonetic system, in particular, consonants: laryngeal, interdental and emphatic. The complexity of the study also presents all sorts of combinatorial possibilities of pronunciation.

Many Arab countries are trying to bring the spoken pronunciation of words closer to the literary language. This is due primarily to the religious context, in particular the correct reading of the Koran. Despite this, at the moment there is no single point of view on how to correctly read certain endings, because the ancient texts do not have vowels - signs for vowel sounds, which does not allow us to correctly state how to pronounce this or that word.

Arabic - one of the most common, as well as one of the most difficult to learn languages in the world. The difficulty lies in a special letter without the presence of vowels, multilevel morphology and grammar, and also a special pronunciation. An important factor in the study of the language is also the choice of dialect, because in different countries the Arabic language sounds quite different.