A Basic Course in Moroccan Arabic (Richard Slade Harrell Arabic Series) [Paperback]

Richard S. Harrell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0878400052 | ISBN-13: 978-0878400058 | Publication Date: December 1965

This text teaches the basic structure of Moroccan Arabic through Lessons and Dialogues. The four-part lessons include phrase and sentence texts, grammatical notes, exercises, and vocabulary.

Product Details

• Paperback: 395 pages
• Publisher: Georgetown University Press (December 1965)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0878400052
• ISBN-13: 978-0878400058
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,215,849 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not for beginners, but still worth it if you're determined., October 9, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: A Basic Course in Moroccan Arabic (Richard Slade Harrell Arabic Series) (Paperback)

This book could be an excellent introduction to Moroccan Arabic, but it suffers from a few flaws. The main flaw is the author's method of transliteration (i.e. using English letters to represent Arabic letters). The method is rather confusing and not the one that is commonly used. If one did not already have a general knowledge of the Arabic language, its sounds and even some vocabulary, one would be at a loss to make sense of the transliteration (i.e. using an "z" to represent the Arabic equivalent of "j" and other oddities). However, once you've deciphered the rather odd transliteration, the book is rather useful. Even though written in 1965, the basics of the Moroccan dialect are well represented in the text, even though it might be called a more formal Moroccan dialect than the one generally heard. My suggestion to anyone wanting to learn any dialect of the Arabic language is to first learn to read and write the Arabic script. That way you don't have to waste your time learning different methods of transliteration. As it stands now, I don't know of a major text dealing with Moroccan Arabic for English speakers that uses Arabic script, so this book seems to be the best for now. I suggest getting it if you need it, but you might need a Moroccan to help you with the transliteration at the beginning. The book mentions that cassette tapes are also available that go along with the text, so they might help also.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars my husband's family got more fun out of it than i did!, March 19, 2001

By 

K. Sosville (United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Basic Course in Moroccan Arabic (Richard Slade Harrell Arabic Series) (Paperback)

the format used of drills for pronunciation is boring and the subject matters of the exercises are not relevant to today's Morocco. Outdated language is used much to the hilarity of my husband's family who are educated Moroccans. Examples of sentences taught are " I gave the rifles to the judge" and "she hit the dog". It's useful for the basics and the grammer but the choice of vocabulary taught means that whilst I know how to construct a sentence, I don't have the vocab! It has inspired me to learn Moroccan and then write a book for English speakers.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The best I have found, January 19, 2002

By 

Renee Gagnon (Montreal, QC Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Basic Course in Moroccan Arabic (Richard Slade Harrell Arabic Series) (Paperback)

This book is very useful. Although it uses linguistic signs for pronunciation instead of Arabic signs it is still accessible. Being a teacher, I was really able to evaluate the ods used in this book. I have found the exercices easy to follow. The level of difficulty is progressive allowing you to master what you have learned previously before learning more. Being French Canadian, I would have preferred to have a Moroccan-French book. But this is the best one I have found in North America.