Arabic Language Learning

One of the best ways to learn a language is by studying the media that native speakers themselves listen to and read, and popular songs can also reveal much about the culture and traditions of a country where the language is spoken. Egypt, as one of the great cultural production centers of the Arab world, enjoys a particularly rich musical scene, with songs in many styles in both Modern Standard Arabic and Egyptian Colloquial Arabic. Here, Cairo-based Arabic teacher Bahaa Ed-Din Ossama presents twenty songs in Egyptian Arabic performed by popular singers from Umm Kulthoum to Mohamed Mounir and builds a variety of language lessons around them, with notes on vocabulary, grammar, and usage, and communicative exercises in listening, writing, and speaking. The songs are graded from easiest to most difficult, and each lesson includes a link to a performance of the song on YouTube, the lyrics of the song, and notes on the songwriter, the composer, and the singer. An illustration by cartoonist Okacha accompanies each song, adding not just a touch of humor but an additional departure point for classroom discussions. Students using this unique book will not only improve their Colloquial Arabic skills but will also gain an insight into the cultural landscape of Egypt. The book can be used in the classroom or for self-study. Includes songs by: Ali al-Haggar, Dalida, Farid al-Atrash, Laila Murad, Latifa, Medhat Saleh, Mohamed Abd al-Wahab, Mohamed Fawzi, Mohamed Mounir, Nagat, Riham Abd al-Hakim, Sabah, Samira Said, Shadia, Suad Hosni, and Umm Kulthum.

There are basically two types of Arabic: the local vernaculars—which are used in everyday life—and Modern Standard Arabic, which is restricted to writing and to speaking in formal settings. Anyone wanting to have a good command of the Arabic language must learn both varieties.
kullu tamam! takes account of this diversity in two ways: it introduces the student to the language by means of Egyptian Colloquial Arabic, and provides a basis for those who want to go on to learn Modern Standard Arabic. This is done by using the grammatical terminology common to both varieties of Arabic, by offering many vocabulary items current in both the vernacular and the standard variety, and—in the later lessons—by introducing the Arabic script.
kullu tamam! uses a cognitively oriented approach, presents Arabic mainly in transcription, gives grammatical rules, and presents a wide range of pattern drills and translation exercises (with key), as well as vocabulary lists for both Arabic–English and English–Arabic. Illustrative texts are either short dialogues, as may be encountered in daily life in Egypt, or descriptive passages dealing with more abstract topics and using a vocabulary typical of Arabic newspapers. The accompanying online audio files carry recordings of the texts, made by Egyptian native speakers.
For over ten years now, the Dutch edition of kullu tamam! has been used successfully as a textbook in first-year Arabic courses at university level in the Netherlands. Now students in the English-speaking world can benefit from its clear, fresh approach. kullu tamam! is also suitable for self-study purposes. Click here for the accompanying online audio files on Soundcloud.

Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the literary language of today’s books, media, and formal communication throughout the Arab world, the region’s principal shared language of written and official discourse. The first book in this new series for the classroom is designed for adult learners of the language at the beginner stage. Drawing on her years of experience as an Arabic instructor, author Samia Louis has developed a course rich in everyday contexts and real-life, practical language, along with a wide range of grammar-learning strategies to allow students to deploy the language with confidence. Written in accordance with the ACTFL guidelines for teaching Arabic as a foreign language, the course is conceived in such a way to make the study of Arabic language and grammar easier for the student. Book 2 is divided into ten chapters, focusing on real-life situations, including introductions; asking people about jobs and nationalities; talking about daily activities; describing apartments, people, and cities; asking and giving directions; and discussing future plans and past events. The chapters allow for the gradual acquisition of vocabulary and grammar, the exercises at the end of each chapter covering all the crucial skills, with emphasis on reading and writing. The accompanying DVD includes audio material for all listening activities, dialogs, and pronunciation exercises, as well as video films of real-life situations covered in the chapters. The book is further supported by online interactive reading, writing, and grammar drills.

Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the literary language of today’s books, media, and formal communication throughout the Arab world, the region’s principal shared language of written and official discourse. The fifth book in this new series for the classroom is designed for the Advanced levels, the low–mid stages of the ACTFL proficiency level, and C1 in the Common European Framework for Arabic learners. The aim of this book is to help students to read and write long and complex factual and literary texts in order to appreciate different writing styles. The students’ facility with sentence structure and vocabulary is increased by reading newspapers and listening to news broadcasts, and by writing about real-life interests such as social, economic, political, and gender issues, technological advancements, and education. The chapters guide students through the gradual acquisition of vocabulary and grammar. Exercises at the end of each chapter cover all essential skills and translation, with emphasis on reading and writing. The accompanying DVD includes audio material for all listening activities, dialogs, and reading exercises. The book is further supported by online interactive reading, writing, and grammar drills.

In light of the rapidly growing number of people studying Arabic—in academia, governments, NGOs, and business—Media Arabic is a unique and timely learning tool for anyone looking to access news information from this important global region firsthand. Media Arabic introduces the language of the newspapers, magazines, and internet news sites to intermediate and advanced level students of Modern Standard Arabic. Using this textbook, students will be able to master core vocabulary and structures typical of front-page news, recognize various modes of coverage, distinguish fact from opinion, detect bias, and read critically in Arabic. Drawing on their long experience as Arabic instructors, Alaa Elgibali and Nevenka Korica have organized the book into six chapters, each covering a dominant news topic: Talks and Conferences, Demonstrations and Protests, Conflicts and Terrorism, Elections, Rule of Law, and Business. In addition, the book offers three self-assessment units and a glossary organized by theme. The book enables students to read extended texts with greater accuracy and speed by focusing on the relationships among meaning, language form, and markers of cohesive discourse. The activities include pre-reading discussions as well as extensive practice on vocabulary in context, organizing information, skimming, scanning, critical reading, and analyzing content.

In a compact, easy-to-use format, this new book offers a convenient guide to grammar for any student of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), the version of Arabic most commonly used in journalism, formal writing, and litera-ture. Drawing on over a decade of experience as a full-time teacher of Arabic, Azza Hassanein explains the rules in straight-forward English, illustrating usage with examples throughout. The book covers all the rules of grammar and morphology that students require for elementary, intermediate, and advanced levels of Arabic. As a compact guide, it is an ideal auxiliary, no matter what textbook the student is using. While students of the language will find Modern Standard Arabic Grammar extremely helpful, it is also a valuable tool for linguists who want to acquire a clear idea about the skeletal structure of the language, as well as translators who are working with written Arabic. Covering all the important grammatical rules of MSA, from nisba adjectives and nominal and verbal sentences to more complex constructions such as condi-tional sentences and the subjunctive, this unique handbook fills a real need for the growing number of people worldwide learning Arabic.

In an innovative approach to teaching Modern Standard Arabic, this new content-based book aims to bolster study for advanced high students in both linguistic skills and literary appreciation. Learners will read original one-act plays in Arabic by four great but very different playwrights: Tawfiq al-Hakim, Salah Abdul Sabur, Saadallah Wannus, and Abdel Karim Berrechid. The book’s main aim is to allow students to understand the content as a basis for studying, evaluating, and appreciating these authors’ plays. Creative reading tasks and exercises focus on the writing and literary styles of the four writers, while grammar is reinforced through text analysis and writing assignments, with an emphasis on building vocabulary and idiomatic expressions, as well as on developing a deeper understanding of cultural and historical issues. With an integrated skills approach, al-Rubaa contains not only reading but also writing, listening, speaking, and performance activities. The plays included in the book are: • Tawfiq al-Hakim, “The Council of Justice” • Salah Abdul Sabur, “A Night Traveler” • Saadallah Wannus: “The Elephant, O King of The Age ” • Abdel Karim Berrechid: “Imru’ al-Qays in Paris”

This book is designed to help students of written Arabic, as well as visitors and people doing business in Egypt and the Middle East, over the initial hurdle of the alphabet. The book proceeds step by step through all the letters, showing how they are formed, the sounds they stand for, and how they are combined into words.

This classic learning aid, popular with teachers and students alike, has now been fully revised and substantially expanded for a complete new edition. With a fully vocalized Arabic text in clear, legible type, this invaluable lexicon now contains more than 3,500 Arabic verbs from 1,450 verb roots. Entries feature concise English definitions, the perfect and imperfect tenses and verbal noun of each verb, and carefully crafted context sentences to illustrate the correct usage and clarify the meaning. An index of English definition helps the user navigate the entries.

This new series of three books aims to develop the writing skills of students learning Modern Standard Arabic, enabling them to move from forming correct words, phrases, sentences, and simple texts, to writing simple paragraphs and ultimately producing texts with the competency of a native speaker. The Advanced level volume introduces students to authentic Arabic written texts; strengthens and enhances their grammar; includes more sophisticated key words, collocations, expressions, and idioms; reinforces linguistic accuracy; and trains them to use handwriting script. Practical skills such as how to write letters are included. Developed and piloted in the classrooms of the Arabic Language Institute at the American University in Cairo, this series has benefited from the expertise and knowledge of leading teachers of Arabic. Forthcoming: Beginners Writing Skills in Modern Standard Arabic Intermediate Writing Skills in Modern Standard Arabic

This new series of three books aims to develop the writing skills of students learning Modern Standard Arabic, enabling them to move from forming correct words, phrases, sentences, and simple texts, to writing simple paragraphs and ultimately producing texts with the competency of a native speaker. The Intermediate level volume introduces students to authentic Arabic writing styles; strengthens and enhances their grammar; includes more sophisticated key words, collocations, expressions, and idioms; reinforces linguistic accuracy; and trains them to use handwriting script. Practical skills such as how to write memorandums, messages, and e-mails and how to compile information are included. Developed and piloted in the classrooms of the Arabic Language Institute at the American University in Cairo, this series has benefited from the expertise and knowledge of leading teachers of Arabic. Other books in the series: Beginners Writing Skills in Modern Standard Arabic & Advanced Writing Skills in Modern Standard Arabic

This new series of three books aims to develop the writing skills of students learning Modern Standard Arabic, enabling them to move from forming correct words, phrases, sentences, and simple texts, to writing simple paragraphs and ultimately producing texts with the competency of a native speaker. This beginners’ introduction starts with the development of reading skills through recognition, identification, listing, and recall, before progressing to activities based on different reading strategies that target seeking information, visualizing, solving problems, and interpreting. Grammatical structures are embedded in these exercises, which range from letter sequencing to simple paragraph writing. Developed and piloted in the classrooms of the Arabic Language Institute at the American University in Cairo, this series has benefited from the expertise and knowledge of leading teachers of Arabic.