Customer Reviews

Teach Yourself Gulf Arabic: Complete Course Audio Pack

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i have gotten most of the way through this book by now, and it is by far the best book on arabic i've seen. i'd recommend it even to those who are considering literary arabic [aka modern standard arabic].

[1] the dialect presented is conservative and unifying -- the grammar is that of a typical modern dialect but the words are essentially in the same form as in the literary language, without the complicated phonetic changes that characterize many of the dialects [e.g. egyptian] and create additional headaches for learners. the authors have also tried as much as possible to eliminate regional words and forms in favor of more universal, standard and/or literary forms. the result is that arabic speakers from all over should be able to understand you easily, and transition to literary arabic should be easy. [imo your total time learning literary arabic this way will be *less* than starting out directly with a literary arabic book, due to the huge inefficiency of learning in an unfamiliar script, as all literary arabic books make you do.]

[2] i have spent a lot of time studying 10 or 12 languages by now and seen a lot of very bad language books, as well as taken a course on language-teaching theory [which showed me what a horrible state this field is in! there is a total disconnect between theory and practice, which leads to a huge proliferation of ludicrously bizarre theories -- check out "suggestopedia" for some real laughs.]. so, so many books follow theories that dictate what you should *NOT* do -- never explain grammar [berlitz]; speaking only, no reading [pimsleur]; don't use the student's native language [the "native" method]; don't translate words, but let the students guess at the meaning [see al-kitaab fii ta:allum al-:arabiyya]; don't transliterate; etc. in my experience all these "don'ts" do is slow down getting a basic grasp of the language ["communicative competence"], and create lots of frustration. "teach yourself gulf arabic" is one of the few that does exactly what it should -- it focuses primarily on communicative competence, and makes use of any and all methods to make learning easier. one of the biggest is that they transliterate rather than forcing you to learn arabic script -- in my experience learning a language in an unfamiliar script takes at least 4 times as long. each lesson presents dialogs, vocabulary, cultural tips and grammar in an organized fashion, and the progression of vocabulary and grammar from lesson to lesson is logical and thoughtful, with the essentials coming first. particularly strong are the grammar explanations and the "notes" that explain unfamiliar constructions and usages as they occur in the dialogs -- the explanations are clear and to-the-point and do a great job of presenting what's important without burdening the learner with unnecessary complexity. the dialogs are kept interesting by focusing on various aspects of arab life, and dovetail with the explanations in the "cultural tips" sections. there also also well-done intro sections/appendices on arabic pronunciation, script and verbs.

my biggest complaint: all of the "teach yourself" books have terrible bindings, suitable perhaps for novels but certainly not for learning books. even if you carefully go through and stretch out the binding, the pages come loose very easily.

I am not an Arab but I have been exposed to the script and language through the Quran. I would like to add that the book is very good for beginners. However you do need the audio tapes as they are indispensable. The dialogues are well done and you can in no time learn them. Of course this is not a case of pulling a white rabbit out of a magician's hat, so you still need to work hard at remembering what you go through. One word of advice. Pace yourself and no need to rush. Well worth the price and time.
Shukran.

I've owned a few Arabic language cassettes and in my experience, they're essentially the same (speak, repeat, etc.), covering the basics and going through pronunciation. The strong selling point of this package is the accompanying book. With over 300 pages of text, the book itself is well worth the cost of this package. It covers the material on the cassettes and has a section on the written language.

This book and the accompanying cassettes will etch the sounds of Arabic into your brain. The lessons were well-organized and the dialogues were very clear and easy to understand; I enjoyed learning them and I began to feel comfortable with the sounds of the Arabic language. It's much better than just learning from a dry textbook.

That said, it might not be the best book for beginners. It depends on your goals - are you going to be traveling to the Gulf? If so, go for this book.

If not - if you're just starting to learn Arabic, for instance - you might want to start by finding books/cassettes in Modern Standard Arabic as opposed to a dialect. That will serve you better if you plan to take formal courses in Arabic at a future time.

However, if you have $50 to spare, this book is not a bad investment.