Arabic Question words in MSA (Interrogative Particles)

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.

Modern Standard Arabic, anyone?

Read More
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?”