Learning Arabic - Want to Learn Arabic? Read This!
Do you have any notion as to how many variations of languages there are in the world? Well, if you don't, you definitely picked one of the most interesting ones by wanting to learn Arabic. A word of warning though, before you plough headfirst into learning this language, there are some things you should know. This article is going to fill you in on some of what you have ahead of you. Hopefully, after reading this, you'll be better prepared to learn Arabic.
Firstly, and this is probably the most important thing that you need to understand, is that the Arabic alphabet is very different in structure to our English or Latin alphabets. The characters that make up the alphabet are quite different and very complex. For somebody who has been exposed to nothing but the English language their whole life, this can prove to be a difficult concept to get your head around. This is why Jewish children, who grow up in the US, are taught Hebrew from a very young age as the Hebrew alphabet, is also made up of symbols that bear no resemblance to an English alphabet, and is a much harder concept to learn if you have learned English first. One simple little stroke, barely noticeable, can totally change the inflection of a word, its pronunciation and how it is received.
The Arabic alphabet is the second most commonly used alphabet in the world. A lot of countries and cultures use the alphabet, including Asia and Africa.
Another difficulty western students of Arabic must come to grips with is the fact that, similarly to Hebrew, Arabic is written from right to left. So if you grew up in a Hebrew home, you might have a bit of an advantage when learning Arabic, as opposed to somebody growing up in an English speaking house. Then you've really got your work cut out for you. However, as with Hebrew, some of the vowels are optional symbols. This can make reading a bit tricky at times.
Dont let me put you off learning the language though, I just wanted to point out it isnt a simple process. However having said this, there are some products now that do make the process much simpler and easily achievable.
Firstly, and this is probably the most important thing that you need to understand, is that the Arabic alphabet is very different in structure to our English or Latin alphabets. The characters that make up the alphabet are quite different and very complex. For somebody who has been exposed to nothing but the English language their whole life, this can prove to be a difficult concept to get your head around. This is why Jewish children, who grow up in the US, are taught Hebrew from a very young age as the Hebrew alphabet, is also made up of symbols that bear no resemblance to an English alphabet, and is a much harder concept to learn if you have learned English first. One simple little stroke, barely noticeable, can totally change the inflection of a word, its pronunciation and how it is received.
The Arabic alphabet is the second most commonly used alphabet in the world. A lot of countries and cultures use the alphabet, including Asia and Africa.
Another difficulty western students of Arabic must come to grips with is the fact that, similarly to Hebrew, Arabic is written from right to left. So if you grew up in a Hebrew home, you might have a bit of an advantage when learning Arabic, as opposed to somebody growing up in an English speaking house. Then you've really got your work cut out for you. However, as with Hebrew, some of the vowels are optional symbols. This can make reading a bit tricky at times.
Dont let me put you off learning the language though, I just wanted to point out it isnt a simple process. However having said this, there are some products now that do make the process much simpler and easily achievable.
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