Customer Reviews

Al-Kitaab fii Ta^callum al-^cArabiyya with DVDs, Second Edition: Al-Kitaab fii Ta'allum al-'Arabiyya with DVDs: A Textbook for ... Two, Second Edition (Part 2) (Arabic Edition)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

While the al-Kitaab series is not without its flaws--among which must be counted an overemphasis, in this reader's opinion, on the Egyptian dialect of Arabic--it remains the best of the several offerings available. And this second volume is notable for correcting what was perhaps the most lamentable weakness of the first volume; namely, a lack of attention to the acquisition of vocabulary, which must necessarily underwrite advanced language learning (particularly in the context of Arabic, whose grammar is not especially difficult). Still and all, an attractive and eminently useful course, made the more so by the inclusion of well-designed DVDs to aid in oral comprehension. Recommended, with only very minimal reservations.

One thing must be said about Ms. Brustad and Messrs. Al-Batal and At-Tonsi: They do not embarrass easily. Those learners who made it to the end of Book One in this numbingly shoddy trilogy of unedited mediocrity find themselves with another nearly insurmountable obstacle to overcome and very little and inadequate help to do it with.

The flaws in this volume are the same as those in the first, only more so: little explanatory material is offered, and the student is expected to read original materials from Arabic newspapers and magazines without new vocabulary being glossed, so the choices come down to struggling for hours with a dictionary to finish a reading section, skimming the material to get the sense without using a dictionary (which the authors actually recommend) or waiting for a teacher patient enough to spoon feed it in a class. If we knew Arabic well enough to read it on our own, why would we need a textbook?

It is widely considered that Arabic is a difficult language, and in some respects that may be so, but the lagging state of Arabic education in this country has less to do with the complexity of its grammar than it does with the sheer inferiority of the pedagogical materials that are available. There are equally difficult or more difficult languages which have much higher proportions of successful students (Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew- to name just a few)because the textbooks available for their learners present their material systematically and comprehensively. There is no reason why this could not be done for Arabic as well -it is simply an effort that these authors did not choose to make.

Having used this textbook, I must say I am somewhat baffled by the vitriol employed by some reviewers, a few of whom have gone so far as to hurl personal insults against the authors. While there is always room for criticism, I find the harsh invective is to be completely unmerited.

First, some basic information for the unfamiliar:

-- The book consists of 10 chapters. Each chapter is built around a main text, which is an authentic piece of writing (usually nonfiction, though Chapter 7 does introduce us to the classic "Alf Layla wa Layla," aka "A Thousand and One Nights").

-- To prepare us to read the text, each chapter begins with a list of vocabulary that will appear in the reading, followed by a number of vocabulary exercises. The DVDs also have the reader use each vocabulary word in a sample sentence -- very helpful.

-- Grammar topics are presented after the reading, and are based on actual grammatical forms and structures encountered in the text.

-- This is followed by additional reading and listening exercises, also taken from authentic Arabic sources.

-- Ending each chapter is a section on 'aamiyyah (colloquial), which, like Part I of Al-Kitaab, focuses on the Egyptian colloquial. (In my course we skipped this section, so my review cannot reflect any judgment on it.)

I admire the thought that went into organizing the content of each chapter. The vocabulary list at the beginning of each chapter first presents those words that share a common root with a previously learned word. This not only helps remind us of the meaning of the "old" word, but it also helps us to internalize derivation patterns and trains us to be "root-conscious" as we are learning new words. This is hugely important in Arabic.

The vocabulary exercises are well conceived, and the authors do a great job of "recycling" the vocabulary from previous chapters in the new vocabulary exercises. Also, I noticed that the sentences in the vocabulary exercises grow increasingly long and complicated over the course of the book, to appropriately match the student's progress.

The readings are challenging, but no more so than they should be. We are not expected to understand every last word in the reading, but rather to use our skills of inference based on contextual clues to fill in the gaps in our knowledge. Being able to glean the main ideas or arguments from a reading despite not knowing every word is a crucial skill when learning any language.

One commonly heard complaint about the Al-Kitaab series is that the grammar explanations are not thorough enough. While I can understand this critique, upon reflection I don't agree with it. In part, this is what separates the functional approach of the Al-Kitaab series from the grammar-translation approach of older textbooks, where grammar topics were presented up front, in encyclopedic fashion, and lessons were built around them. I believe that the authors have generally made wise (though admittedly difficult) decisions on how to present just the grammar that we need to function in the language. I strongly believe that a textbook should provide a supportive environment for exploring the language, and not an exhaustive treatise on grammar. Al-Kitaab Part Two does this.

Another reviewer rues the lack of an English-Arabic glossary. I sympathize with this complaint, but the authors do explain in the preface that this decision was a conscious one, "because we believe that at this stage it is important for you to speak and write by thinking in Arabic. ... Overreliance on an English-Arabic lexicon can keep you stuck thinking in English." Certainly a defensible position, even if one doesn't agree with it.

I'm not saying this is a flawless work, because I don't believe such a textbook exists. But I do think it's a well-conceived, well-executed volume based on sound language-learning concepts. For me it has worked well.

I agree with Poltrin's review - great detail and explains why I like this textbook - my one complaint would be the sound quality on the DVD with radio/tv materials that are included in the listening exercises. The sound quality is so poor that it is difficult to distinguish sounds from the hissing over some letters. Sometimes i feel like a forensic investigator trying to decipher a sound by playing it over and over several times in frustration.

At my university in California, native-speaking professors are not allowed to teach classes in which the Al-Kitaab series is used unless they've received special training to get aquatinted with it. I've heard this is a requirement at some other schools as well. When they begin teaching, many complain about the way these books present the Arabic language (and sympathize when students whine the morning after homework). The most frustrating flaw of this book is that there is NO grammar glossary. Grammar (extremely tedious in Arabic) is spread throughout each chapter, so it's impossible to review unless you literally flip through every page to find what you're looking for. I often have each finger of one hand holding the page where a related grammar concept is hidden. This makes studying for tests very difficult. I recommend carrying 10 bookmarks.

Be warned that the vocabulary lists in each chapter Al-Kitaab pt. 2 (this book) are about 4-5 times larger than in book one. Some chapters have 60 words to memorize. This volume also changes the order that it presents conjugation charts. Why does this matter? Well, when you've been memorizing a year's-worth of verb forms in a specific form order (in Al-Kitaab pt. 1), to suddenly shuffle that chart order around while introducing more and more forms...doesn't help at ALL!

Lastly, dialogs are key to learning any language, and this book ignores them completely. Instead, you've given mundane texts to translate, which doesn't effectively teach anything because it just makes you go back to the chapter glossary to look words up. The reason people learn languages better in foreign countries is because of the language is in context. This book does not present anything in context. One positive is that the vocabulary lists are at least usable (with the exception of the word "aesthetic" in chapter 4). These books have potential and try to be helpful ( I've met two of the authors, who are both very nice), but lack very fundamental student aids. I recommend searching Amazon for a more user-friendly book, and if you're not buying this for a class, it would be smart to switch to colloquial Arabic now that you know some basic Modern Standard Arabic (MSA/Foosha). Peace.

ps: The only Maha and Khalid you see in this book are in the colloquial section of the DVDs, which the text doesn't go into, so most students won't even know they're there. You can also say goodbye to the English-Arabic dictionary in the back.

This book was developed by several expert arabists with the patronage of the federally funded NMELRC at Brigham Young University. It is well structured for the traditional arabic course in US universities and is rapidly gaining acceptance as the primary instructional text for Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). The advantages of the text include the accompanying audio visual material which provides some immersion into MSA as well as the egyptian dialect of Arabic. One notable disadvantage would be the difficulty for use in self study without the assistance of an instructor. This text is therefore best used with the aid of an instructor. Other than that, the contemporary treatment of MSA as a living language is notable strength of this text. The three levels of this entire course as well as the Alif baa introductory course would be well suited for adoption by instructors or students serious about mastering MSA.

With the assistance of an Arabic teacher, this is definitely the best book around. It's very helpful; the pace of learning increases gradually so it remains easy to keep up throughout the series. It's never overloaded with information and grammatically it's spot on. Recognized as one of the top (usually THE top) Arabic language series.

This textbook is not as evil as some reviewers make it seem, but it has some notable weaknesses. I can only summarize this by saying that, if you have a great teacher with native speaking abilities, you'll have much less of a grudge against this book. If you have a bad teacher, you will certainly hate this book. Given that a quality teacher is an essential supplement to this text, I must conclude that it is not the best choice for someone who is hoping to learn Arabic through independent study.

I am a college student completing my second year of Arabic language. I am currently in the middle of this textbook, and I will say that I find it to be an improvement over Part 1 of this series, as it makes an effort to teach vocabulary through roots and patterns rather than at random. A multitude of words in the Arabic language are derived from predictable patterns, so becoming familiar with the patterns enables learners to take a three letter root and derive all sorts of words, or to identify words with the same root and therefore similar meanings.

Another benefit of this textbook is that it is a standard in the academic/university setting. Therefore, if you plan to eventually enroll in a college Arabic course, it is good to be familiar with this text. In fact, as I was applying to study abroad programs, I was very grateful I had used this text, because almost every institution attempted to approximate the language level of applicants based on what chapter of Al-kitaab they reached in their studies.

This text does have drawbacks. Having already reached conversational proficiency in Spanish, I am honestly astonished by my lack of proficiency in Arabic given the amount of time and the intensity with which I study. The way this book is organized, it does not focus on teaching the most useful expressions and vocabulary first. I have known how to say, "My father works in the United Nations," since the first chapter of the first book in this series, and yet it isn't until months or even semesters later that students learn colors and body parts, learn how to say dates, ask what something costs, hail a cab, etc.

Ultimately, this book has been helpful because it made me realize how important it is for me to get abroad for as long as possible if I want to become conversationally proficient in this language. I'll be spending the next year enrolled in intensive language courses in Jordan. I'll bring this textbook with me, but I'll be glad when I don't have to use it.

One thing is for sure - this book should not be used by autodidacts! I have been using a different set of textbooks that are heavy on grammar and vocabulary acquisition and very light on oral comprehension, so I am using this book to review my vocabulary and improve my listening skills. For that purpose the book is great! The texts are mildly challenging and the DVD content is most useful. In just one month that it took me to get through part 2 I made excellent progress.

Nevertheless, I have to note that
1. Grammar presentation is bordering on pathetic, if I did not know all of that stuff already I would have never learnt it from this volume.

2. Vocabulary retention exercises are few and not terribly effective (although the choice of vocabulary items it quite good, just the stuff you need to read a newspaper).

3. The "colloquial Arabic" part is useless at best. I ended up skipping it altogether, if I ever need to learn a particular dialect I will make it a separate project and will find an appropriate source.

4. Was there any meaningful reason to put the answers in a separate book? Did it have to be that bulky?

Unfortunately, I have never found an all-around good textbook of Arabic in any language, although the French and the Russian ones that I initially used were almost decent, they just do not take you very far.
Considering that language instruction is such a huge industry I am constantly amazed by how many products of inferior quality are on the market.

I bought this book for an Arabic course at NYU where it was a required text. [...]. This book is part of a comprehensive series. As it comes with DVDs it could be used at home, but is more conducive for classroom instruction. The DVDs include a'amiya (colloquial) arabic as well as fusha (MSA) which is a plus. Part 2 does not include a dictionary unlike Part 1 which is a pain.