Kallimni 'Arabi Bishweesh: A Beginners' Course in Spoken Egyptian Arabic 1 [Paperback]

Samia Louis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 2008 | ISBN-10: 977416220X | ISBN-13: 978-9774162206 | Edition: Pap/Cdr

Drawing on her years of experience as an Arabic instructor and course developer, Samia Louis has used a functional approach to create a bright, innovative set of coursebooks for the study of Egyptian colloquial Arabic the spoken dialect most frequently studied and most widely understood in the Arab world. Now three new books, for beginner, early advanced, and higher advanced students, have been added to the series. Designed according to the ACTFL guidelines for teaching Arabic as a foreign language, each book of Kallimni Arabi trains students through highly structured lessons in the crucial skills, with particular emphasis on listening and speaking, using real-life situations and expressions. The accompanying audio CD carries recordings of the dialogs and exercises in each chapter, made by Egyptian native speakers.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The books in the [Kallimni 'Arabi] series altogether present the best Arabic textbooks available . . . miles ahead of most others."David Wilmsen, American University of Beirut

About the Author

Samia Louis has taught Arabic for fifteen years with the International Language Institute (ILI) in Cairo, an affiliate of the International House World Organization. She is also a writer and course developer.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: The American University in Cairo Press; Pap/Cdr edition (October 21, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 977416220X
• ISBN-13: 978-9774162206
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #379,632 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #88 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Arabic

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book but not for self study, January 6, 2009

By 

Khalid Ikram (Potomac, Maryland USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kallimni 'Arabi Bishweesh: A Beginners' Course in Spoken Egyptian Arabic 1 (Paperback)

As with the rest of the books in this series, the present volume lays out a very useful course for the practical study of the Egyptian dialect of Arabic. The vocabulary is high-frequency, and the expressions taught are those in common use.

The book appears to be primarily designed for use in the courses taught in the International Languages Institute (ILI) in Cairo; so only a minimal amount of support (one CD, no answers to exercises, no explanation in English) is provided. Thus the book would probably be excellent if used with a teacher, but is unlikely to be helpful to someone working on his/her own. I would give it four stars if used with a teacher, but only two for use in self-study.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good/bad, October 21, 2009

By 

Shon R. Edwards (Layton, UT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kallimni 'Arabi Bishweesh: A Beginners' Course in Spoken Egyptian Arabic 1 (Paperback)

I had mixed feelings about this book. Maybe two stars is too generous. Although it seems to cover Egyptian Arabic topics that would be good in a text book, it's hard to tell, because all of the instructions are in Arabic as well! I know that this is a tactic used by many who write foreign language texts. I should know; I own literally hundreds, and speak many of the languages. But in this instance, for me, nothing was intuitive enough to even know where to begin. I needed it for a class and the teacher was somewhat fit to be tied, as well. She was openly frustrated by this fact and would have to translate the instructions for every single exercise she wanted us to do in the book. Just this one fact can take a five star book to nothing pretty fast. No sense in buying a "good" book you can't use. Save your money, if you can.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars NOT FOR SELF STUDY, June 22, 2011

By 

virtuous10 "virtuous10" (somerset, NJ) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Kallimni 'Arabi Bishweesh: A Beginners' Course in Spoken Egyptian Arabic 1 (Paperback)

I read the other reviews before I purchased the book but I saw english words in the "look inside" feature so I thought I could swing it. I am at an intermediate level in MSA and I still felt like there was too much Arabic to figure out what's going on without digging. Turns out some of the (english) words are at the back, and some of the words are given right after the unit. But she's selective about which she translates even in the same phrase. Huh??? I mean besides the translation issue the setup is just weird. And I can see why there are so many volumes of Kallimni, you don't get through that much in the first book and I imagine the others are the same. I know now it's not intended for self study but I think they count on people finding that out AFTER they've spent the money which is not right. Why not have the back cover written in all Arabic??? Since you're really targeting Arabic speaking teachers and tutors!

I certainly prefer the Spoken Arabic of Cairo by Maurice Salib though I'm just starting it. So far it's waaaay better just older (copyright 1981). As a supplement the lonley planet phrase book is awesome as well. The Kallimni however is a waste of time.