Still Learning Arabic...
Sort of. Unexpected life events this week have probably ended my summer studies of Arabic, but I did make some progress. Working with a friend on our own, we were able to learn the Arabic alphabet, though reading is still a bit of a challenge because the letters change shape somewhat when they are in different positions in a word (initial, medial, terminal, independent). But I feel like I at least cracked the code and can peek in a bit on the Arabic world, even if with very limited understanding.
What excited me even more than learning the Arabic alphabet was learning to speak some Arabic. I had bought Pimsleur's Quick & Simple Eastern Arabic, which consists of 4 CDs, with 8 30-minute lessons. Pimsleur then sent me the complete Arabic 1 course, which consists of 16 CDs, or 32 30-minute lessons (including the 8 I already had). They wanted me to try out the full course and then pay for it if I liked it--but I have not had any time to move beyond the initial 8 lessons and will be returning the full course, though I would really like to do it if I had time.
I listened to the Quick & Simple CDs during my trip to and from Montreal a few weeks ago. They are only 30-minute lessons, but sometimes you have to listen to a lesson a couple of times. (And I also took breaks and listened to other things during the trip.) Though I couldn't listen to the Arabic lessons the whole time, I enjoyed them a great deal and made fast progress. You don't learn reading and writing, but you start speaking right away. It is not total immersion, but I think, apart from a total immersion context, this is the best communicative approach I have ever used. I have not listened to the CDs since my trip, but I can still remember all the vocabulary and conversations that I learned. And I did not memorize them--I mean that I can still use them all in context. If I ever have time, I would definitely like to continue using Pimsleur for Arabic and can recommend it for any language.
What excited me even more than learning the Arabic alphabet was learning to speak some Arabic. I had bought Pimsleur's Quick & Simple Eastern Arabic, which consists of 4 CDs, with 8 30-minute lessons. Pimsleur then sent me the complete Arabic 1 course, which consists of 16 CDs, or 32 30-minute lessons (including the 8 I already had). They wanted me to try out the full course and then pay for it if I liked it--but I have not had any time to move beyond the initial 8 lessons and will be returning the full course, though I would really like to do it if I had time.I listened to the Quick & Simple CDs during my trip to and from Montreal a few weeks ago. They are only 30-minute lessons, but sometimes you have to listen to a lesson a couple of times. (And I also took breaks and listened to other things during the trip.) Though I couldn't listen to the Arabic lessons the whole time, I enjoyed them a great deal and made fast progress. You don't learn reading and writing, but you start speaking right away. It is not total immersion, but I think, apart from a total immersion context, this is the best communicative approach I have ever used. I have not listened to the CDs since my trip, but I can still remember all the vocabulary and conversations that I learned. And I did not memorize them--I mean that I can still use them all in context. If I ever have time, I would definitely like to continue using Pimsleur for Arabic and can recommend it for any language.
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