Customer Reviews

Arabic You Need (Lebanese), CDs & text (Arabic Edition)

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This book and cd are necessary for learning the Lebanese dialect of Arabic. You will, however, need Pimsleur's "Eastern Arabic I" to learn the language. "Arabic You Need" is not adequate to really learn to speak Levantine Arabic. Pimsleur gives you the important stuff and their teaching method is excellent. The problem is that it is the Syrian dialect which is different from the Lebanese dialect. So if you get both you will be set.

I hate to say this because this book really is necessary for learning the Lebanese dielect. This book and cd set really is not going to teach you Lebanese Arabic on it's own. The speakers go too fast on the cd and there is no repetition. You have to constantly start, stop, rewind and replay the cd.

For someone like me whose only spare time to learn a foreign language is on his way to work and back home this is the best method ever...

I have tried learning arabic in many ways, which all proved to be useless since arabic is no easy language, completely different from any latin origin ones I speak... with the "Arabic you need" method I finally managed to communicate at least on a basic level...

Let's not fool ourselves by thinking that with such a method one may learn perfectly arabic, however by keep listening again and again the cds, it makes the arabic language much more comprehensive, not only in the colloquial but in some of its grammar rules as well...

I would therefore recommend this method to anyone who wishes to learn the lebanese dialect without any hesitation...However, once I have completed both book and cds, I intend purchasing the Pilmseur method as well, just to make sure that I'll keep learning :)