Modern Iraqi Arabic: A Textbook with CD (Audio) [Paperback]

Yasin M. Al-Khalesi (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2001 | ISBN-10: 087840788X | ISBN-13: 978-0878407880 | Edition: Book & CD

"Modern Iraqi Arabic" is an introductory textbook for those with no previous knowledge of Arabic or those who know Arabic but want to learn the Iraqi dialect. Accompanied by six audio CDs, the book is suitable for classroom or self-study. A detailed discussion of the consonants, vowels, and other characteristics of Iraqi phonetics - including pronunciation exercises on the CDs - serve the needs of travellers, businesspeople, diplomats, archaeologists, and scholars who want to learn to speak the language quickly and efficiently. Using the dialect of middle-class Baghdad, sixteen lessons are arranged in a story-like format and are based on everyday travel situations. The book contains basic dialogue, grammar, vocabulary, drills, and an extensive glossary. A section of idiomatic phrases, accompanied by their cultural, religious, or proverbial explanations, offers insight into current Iraqi culture.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Yasin M. Alkalesi is founder and president of Arabico, Inc., a California corporation that offers language translation, educational audio-visual materials, and cross cultural programs to English-speaking people traveling to or working in the Middle East. MODERN IRAQI ARABIC is the summation of his thirty years of experience in teaching Arabic at Yale University; the University of California, Los Angeles; and Arabico.

Product Details

• Paperback: 253 pages
• Publisher: Georgetown University Press; Book & CD edition (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087840788X
• ISBN-13: 978-0878407880
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 6.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #261,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #73 in Books > Education & Reference > Dictionaries & Thesauruses > Foreign Language > Arabic
  • #97 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages > Arabic > Instruction

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too little of an intro for 60$, February 3, 2004

By 

an Orientalist (the Czech Republic) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modern Iraqi Arabic: A Textbook with CD (Audio) (Paperback)

Why do so many authors of Arabic textbooks insist on confusing readers with their own idiosyncratic codes of Arabic transliteration when there's a standardized international code that most scholars and students of Arabic are well familiar with, and that is easy to learn for all others?
But my major disappointment with the book is simply that there's too little content to justify either 250 pages or 60 dollars. It is a common enough, if annoying, tactic of authors to inflate a textbook's volume by filling page after page with "exercises" in the form of widely spaced, monotonous lists of near-identical alternating phrases, but al-Khalesi has carried it way too far. The vocabulary and dialogues are fresh and practical, but there's too little of either... on 250 pages, one would expect an author to be able to go deeper into the language than this.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent intro to the dialect for intermediate students, August 27, 2005

By 

Devin Murphy "adventure photographer" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Modern Iraqi Arabic: A Textbook with CD (Audio) (Paperback)

As you can see by the other reviews, this is not a book for beginners. I wouldn't recommend it for folks new to Iraq or to the Middle East -- there's not enough grammar and no Arabic script.

However, it's one of the few up-to-date resources on the Iraqi dialect available, and I found Prof. Alkalesi's work invaluable in my preparation for work in Iraq.

Note that some of the materials are based around cheerful, tourist-style dialogues. That won't might help you order masguuf (an Iraqi fish) but it won't help you interview folks about their daily lives (i.e. no security, no jobs, no water, no electricity ...) And good luck trying to check in to the Rashid Hotel (one of the chapters).

If you are interested in Iraq and know enough Arabic to transcribe the script, you'll find this a great resource.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Intro to Iraqi Arabic, August 2, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Modern Iraqi Arabic: A Textbook with CD (Audio) (Paperback)

I bought this book with CD's recently and had a chance to use it over in Iraq. I believe it would make a decent book for beginners, but some background in Arabic would be helpful. For those proficient in another Arabic dialect who want to learn Iraqi it does tend to be a little basic, but it still gives you a decent grasp of the basic structure of Iraqi Arabic. Overall I found it instructive, but I thought it was pricey ...(you do get the CD's though). Quite a few typographical errors in the book that could throw beginners off.