Customer Reviews

Hugo Language Course: Arabic In Three Months

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

 

 

As a previous student of classical Arabic who had always wanted to learn from a cassette/book course the rudiments of colloquial Arabic, I really found this course superior to other "tourist-oriented" courses. One can learn how to compose one's own thoughts instead of simply memorizing set phrases. The slant on spoken as opposed to written Arabic sets it apart from other courses I've taken as well. Bravo, Hugo!When I get back from Tunesia, I'm going to brush up on my command of German with your colloquial German cassette/book course...

First off, I am a student of Arabic and have been studying both Modern Standard Arabic (fusHa) and Levantine Colloquial Arabic ('amiyyeh) for awhile. Additionally, I am Palestinian, so I'm quite familiar with what is and isn't suitable for the real world.

Most Arabic books are terrible, terrible books. The problems are numerous, including: teaching you the rather user-unfriendly writing system in the first chapter and writing in Arabic script after that, having script that's way too tiny, leaving out diacritics that are vital for learners, teaching you tourist phrases in incorrect Arabic and other such things, leaving out grammar or using way too much grammatical jargon that you can't make any sense of it....

This book is different. When I found this book, I looked through it and instantly noticed that it teaches spoken Arabic that was very familiar to me - this is the same Arabic I hear spoken in my house! (The author is Jordanian; the dialect taught by this book is used mostly in Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.) I was very surprised, as no other book I had come across taught the spoken Arabic that is /actually used/ in Arab homes and businesses.

Other reviews were disappointed because of the use of the transliteration system and the complete absence of Arabic script. One must understand that colloquial Arabic and modern standard Arabic are quite different. The former is what you speak, the latter is what you read with and give speeches with. Colloquial Arabic /is not written./ Thus, one shouldn't expect a colloquial Arabic book to use Arabic script. I found that the transliteration system was the clearest one I have come across yet AND that it really facilitates learning.

Also of vital importance is that this book explains grammar in a lucid way instead of getting bogged down in jargon, as most other books do. There are very, very few resources for people wanting to learn the nuts and bolts of colloquial Arabic and this book does an excellent job of it.

I very highly recommend this book.

Note: As I said, this book teaches the dialects used in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan. Arabic dialects do differ in varying amounts from each other. If you use this book with the intention of using it in Egypt, it will work well enough; if you read this book and then go to Morocco or Algeria, it will be essentially useless. Do your research on dialect differences.

I was extremely disappointed when I bought this book and therefore would not suggest it to anyone. I had previously studied some Classical Arabic and I desired to brush up on my knowledge especially in regards to speaking. Unfortunately, this book only uses a transliteration system. Therefore, it becomes difficult (or at the very least a big headache) to match the words and phrases taught with standard written Classical Arabic. Admittedly, the point of the course is to teach spoken Arabic and not written Arabic, but I think it would be useful for the student to see the written Arabic alongside the transliterated text. However, I do not believe that this work would be useful for an absolute beginner either. Since the book uses its own transliteration system and not an international linguistic system, the student will not be able to progress beyond this course should he or she ever finish it. Finally, I found the vocabulary and the phrases to be very random. There were very few recorded conversations, which I thought was strange considering it is trying to teach conversational Arabic. Furthermore, I found the tapes rather hard to follow and not well done. Usually, the books and tapes of the Hugo Language series are very well done, however, this one seems to be a very bad exception. I would recommend instead the "Teach yourself Arabic" book and tapes by Jack Smart and Frances Altorfer. While not perfect, it is a much better system.

This book throws random words and phrases at you without building up any sort of consistent vocabulary or grammer. You'd be better of buying a tourist's phrase book. At least it would have categories.