Customer Reviews

Tales from Kalila Wa Dimna: For Students of Arabic

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have an older edition of the book and cassettes, from 1989. They are excellent. The original stories, from centuries ago and all with a moral, are rewritten in a slightly simplified version of modern Arabic. They are much more interesting than typical textbook fare. The stories are carefully sequenced to recycle vocabulary, each story has a vocabulary gloss, and there is an alphabetical dictionary at the back of the book listing words from the stories (typical Arabic-English dictionaries list words by roots - a system much harder for a beginner to use). The tapes are very good. They are clear and read at a good speed. The only reason I haven't given the book 5 stars is because I am writing my review based on the older edition. But it sounds as though the new expanded edition may be even better.

When I decided to order this book, it seemed expensive, and I wondered if it would be worth the money. I wasn't dissapointed. It is great for any student any intermediate-advanced student of Arabic. The stories are interesting, and I found them to be fun to translate. It is nice to have the CD as well so that the stories can be read and heard. This book has kept me busy for awhile, and the has helped greatly with my translation skills.

These stories are excellent for intermediate/advanced students of Arabic. The grammatical structures used are fairly straightforward, and the stories are easy to follow. I felt that reading the stories improved the range of my vocabulary and helped reinforce the vocabulary I've already learned. I think it's good supplemental reading, especially for students looking for a relief from dry textbook readings.

Very well done and fun.

A great way to learn lots of useful vocabulary and to reinforce how and where to use all the different grammatical structures is a painless way. Also an enjoyable way to improve pronunciation, reading, spelling, and writing.

I echo all of the positive things said in the previous comments, and I write only to add a few more specific items of praise for this fantastic resource.

Younes is clearly a master educator, and this book follows on the wonderfully constructive techniques that he used in his introductory and intermediate textbooks (Living Arabic and Intermediate Arabic, soon to be updated, I believe). Younes uses clever delayed repetition of words, and roots in slightly different words, to solidify the reader's knowledge of new words and phrases. My active vocabulary has grown noticeably after working through this book. Even though the vocabulary in Kalila wa Dimna is often archaic, Younes has rewritten the original to use simpler, more modern words most of time time (though some passages are left in their original form for advanced students and masochists). The archaisms are thus present (and who would want to know the specific term for a male turtle--and how can you even tell the male from the female?!), but 95% of the text is language that one might find and use today.

As another commenter noted, these stories also illustrate difficult grammatical forms that are not commonly found elsewhere, or that are found only in stodgy, difficult-to-read texts, unlike these seriously fun stories. The dual form of nouns, adjectives, and verbs is peppered through these stories, including the challenging loss of the final nun with suffixes. The words "inna" and "anna," as well and "in" and "an," are used constantly, and only now do I understand well the differences. And though the case endings are not marked, Younes's recorded oral reading of the stories puts them in, at least in the places where an educated modern reader would put them in. I finally have begun to feel relatively comfortable with the cases (especially when used with words with the masculine suffix--is it "baytu-hu" or "bayta-hu" and why is it "bayti-hi", etc.). One won't learn these rules from this book, but the stories as read by Younes illustrate these rules in a way that is MUCH more enjoyable than in the standard MSA text.

This book is worth every cent of its admittedly elevated price tag. It should be on the reading list of any serious intermediate student of Arabic who wants to nail down the basics and be well-prepared to go on to the next level, whether in the Qur'an or the modern press.

In my case, I am using it so my child will get used to hearing and eventually learn good quality Arabic. Because Kalila Wa Dimna is a collection of stories with mostly animal characters, it is very attractive for children.

Having said that does not mean that the material in the book is for little kids. My child is a first generation Arab-American who already understands the Arabic language, and whom I wish for to learn good Arabic since early age. So what I do is I choose the stories that I find appropriate.

The book has lots of vocabulary and excellent grammar. I am writing this review to encourage any Arab-American parent to try it for their children. The legend says that prophet Mohammad was sent to live with the Bedouins as a little child just to absorb from them correct beautiful Arabic language.

I am glad that I finally found such book for my child and for me it is worth every penny.

This is an excellent collection of reading materials for students of Arabic at the intermediate or low advanced level. It allows for a lot of contact with the language in small and manageable chunks and would be a great summer project for keeping up with your language skills. Note that it does not provide much assistance with the texts in terms of overt grammar review or direct translation, which may be a burden for students without the skills to use a reference grammar.

I had the fortune of being taught by the author of this book. He told me that he requested from the publishers to make the book affordable for students, but obviously they didn't follow up on the promise (and I'm guessing he got paid hardly anything).

Although the demand for Arabic continues to rise, there is still a dearth of resources for students of Arabic, especially supplementary reading material outside of standard textbooks. This is one of the best books currently in the market for this purpose.

The stories are broken down into manageable portions and are followed by comprehension questions (though I rarely bothered with those). The level of difficulty is just right for the intermediate student; the prose is clear and tends to stay away from those overly complex constructions that some textbook writers seem so fond of but are quite unnecessary at this level. The vocabulary introduced in this book is quite helpful, and much of it can easily be adapted for everyday use.

All in all, a fun & rewarding book that will help reinforce your reading skills.

This book is fantastic for intermediate Arabic students because it has a lot of words that you won't find in newspapers or traditional textbooks. The stories are short and have pictures which make them fun. The CD recordings are of excellent quality which aids in pronunciation. I found that when I went to the Middle East, I remembered words from this book much better than from other more traditional reading materials. A great idea and a nice resource. Expensive, but definitely worth the price.

If you have been studying the language for a couple of years you should buy this. Resources of this quality are few and far between. I am even doing the exercises (which I never normally do). I also imagine it would be ideal for a group because the stories give you a good basis for discussion. The great thing is that the stories in themselves have literary merit, rather than the vapid synthetic conversations you get in most exercise books. You will also have an unbeatable stash of animal vocabulary once you've finished :-)