Modern Standard Arabic

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Arabic Question words in MSA (Interrogative Particles)

March 4, 2020 by

How do Arabic question words (also known as Interrogative Particles) work in Modern Standard Arabic? Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? How many? Which?

Here’s a short video that will walk you through the way that each of these words is used. These words are powerful because they allow your Arabic to become more interactive, as you recognize and form questions.

Interrogative Particles (Arabic question words) is the second in a series of short videos explaining key grammatical concepts in Modern Standard Arabic. The textbook I am using is Azza Hassanein’s Modern Standard Arabic Grammar: A Concise Guide. I find this book incredibly useful for me as an Arabic learner, which is why I am using it as the basis for this series.

If you are interested in Modern Standard Arabic, you might also find my MSA Absolute Beginner’s Course helpful. Feel free to take a look at some of the preview videos on it.

Grammar - Learn Arabic - Modern Standard Arabic - MSA Grammar Videos

The Arabic Definite Article ال and Solar Letters

February 5, 2020 by

How does the Definite Article (“the” in English) work in Arabic? Here is a short video that will show you the 3 key rules for pronunciation of ال, plus an explanation of the sun and moon letters. 

This 4 minute video will teach you a simple but important Arabic language concept (or review it for you if you already know it)

This is the first in a series of short videos explaining key grammatical concepts in Modern Standard Arabic. I will be releasing them on a monthly basis. This semester I am making time to work on this, and I hope to slowly build up a library of short, simple, effective teaching tools for Arabic. The Arabic definite article is the first stop on that journey.

Continue reading “The Arabic Definite Article ال and Solar Letters”
Grammar - Modern Standard Arabic - Quiz

Arabic Interrogatives – Quiz Yourself!

March 30, 2016 by 2 Comments
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Arabic Interrogatives Quiz

Modern Standard Arabic grammar

This week I am taking a break from writing about the 15 Essential Skills of an Arabic Learner, because I have been wanting to create some resources that can actually be used by learners.

A few people have asked me about resources for intermediate level learners, and this quiz is aimed toward that skill level. I hope it’s helpful for some (or even most) of you.

 

Colloquial - Learn Arabic - Modern Standard Arabic - Sociolinguistics

Arabic use in real life – five levels

May 20, 2015 by 2 Comments
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Five levels of Arabic

This week’s blog post is an infographic I made the other day, after speaking with Laila Al-Sawi of the Intensive Arabic Program at the American University in Cairo.  She made reference to the five levels of Arabic use described by the late El-Said Bedawi, and it got me thinking about how Classical Arabic (فصحى) and colloquial Arabic (عامية) are not as distinctly separated as many books and teaching approaches make it out to be. Rather, there is a spectrum of use. I hope this infographic is helpful in describing one model of what that looks like. Continue reading “Arabic use in real life – five levels”

Learn Arabic - Learning Resources - Listening - Modern Standard Arabic

Modern Standard Arabic, anyone?

May 16, 2015 by
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NCLRC

A free website  focused on Modern Standard Arabic

Over the years, I have gradually ended up using my Egyptian colloquial Arabic (عامية) much more than Modern Standard Arabic, but it remains a very important and helpful part of my Arabic. I use it for reading news articles, instructions, legal stuff, religious texts, general history, and more. Since 2011, being able to read Arabic on Twitter and Facebook has been an essential part of living in the midst of the Revolution and the upheavals that took place. This week I am reviewing a website that is great for learners of Modern Standard Arabic.

The site is a project of the National Capital Language Resource Center, and uses news broadcasts in simplified Modern Standard Arabic to provide a “stepping stone” between the classroom and authentic Arabic news media. I have spent some time going over it this past week, so I thought I’d share a bit about it with you. While I am not going to do reviews of every resource for learning/teaching Arabic that I find, this one caught my attention, and so for what it’s worth I am sharing it with you. While the content does have somewhat of an American focus in certain sections, it is nonetheless useful for learners of any nationality.

Simplified Modern Standard Arabic Webcasts آخر الأخبار باللغة العربية المبسطة 

On the site, there are 16 webcasts. Each webcast includes approximately 5 different lessons, and each lesson includes:

Continue reading “Modern Standard Arabic, anyone?”

Grammar - Learn Arabic - Learning Resources - Listening - Modern Standard Arabic - Reading - Speaking - Writing

Arabic Without Walls Online Course

February 13, 2015 by
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Arabic Without Walls

Arabic Without Walls

This is a full fledged online course in Arabic by the UC Consortium for Language Learning and Teaching that is designed around two textbooks with accompanying DVDs: Alif Baa: Introduction to Arabic Sounds and Letters and Al-Kitaab Fii Ta’allum Al-’arabiyya Part 1 by Kristen Brustad, Mahmoud Al-Batal and Abbas Al-Tonsi.  Its program includes sections on: Continue reading “Arabic Without Walls Online Course”