Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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47 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good basic Arabic grammar in the traditional sense, January 1, 2001
Unlike many Teach Yourself books, which can be more attuned to the prospective tourist who wants to get familiar with the language and be able to travel using it rather than a student of the language, this book covers Modern Standard Arabic in a traditional "grammar" sense - it starts with nouns, then adjectives, some verbs, various clauses, etc. and really gets you feeling how to express things in Arabic, even without the vocabulary - it is more or less a grammar reference, with sample dialogs and readings on Arab culture serving as backup to the points in each unit that Smart wants to impart. A great starting point, not at all too weighty, and a good reference for the beginner or intermediate student. One plus: he omits the noun endings (genitive, etc.) which are mainly unvoiced but indeed the realm of the proper, highly-educated Arabic speaker in reading and writing. Although this may leave out a large part of Arabic grammar, Smart is pragmatic in that leaving this out early on will get the student familiar with the basics of grammar, and then move onto that next if he chooses (depending on what level he wants to study or use the language.) Other texts either introduce the endings and "heavy" grammar early, alienating the student, or go all out and focus on a colloquial dialect, which means you can't read a newspaper or listen to the media without confusion, although you can order your falafel effortlessly in the souq. The usual dilemma for the Arabic student, but Smart helps you start without much pain. A must for the elementary/intermediate student.
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43 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, indispensable source, January 24, 1999
I first bought this book four years ago and I still refer back to it from time to time. After learning the structure of the Arabic language using this book, i'm now able to make up complete sentences and converse in the language. No other book has been easier to understand yet still comprehensive enough to carry a person beyond the intermediate level.
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Real-life Arabic, with a practical approach to grammar. Speak and read Arabic in no time, February 10, 2003
I had this book for over a year and plateaued around chapter 5. Then, after reading Barry Farber's "How to Learn Any Language...", I went back to it with a fistful of determination and excitement and devoured the chapters like a hungry Muslim on the first day of 3id al-adHaa.
Starting fresh from the beginning, I found everything to be well organized from chapter to chapter. Progressing in a logical, intuitive order, Smart covers the Arabic alphabet and the pronunciation of the letters and brings you to the doorsteps of Arabic newspapers. Without the aid of the optional tape, the book does a fantastic job at instructing you on how to reproduce all of the sounds. Some of the more difficult sounds ('ayn, ghayn, qaf) were described well enough that Arabs have complimented me on my ability to produce the "hard" sounds. Saad, Daad, DHaa', and Taa' however, I got only with the help of Arabs that I have met using the Arabic from this book.
Talking to Egyptians is much easier than to anyone else, as the book is geared more toward Egyptian dialect than any other, but I understand and have been understood by all of the African Arabs (min Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, and Sudan. Colloquial Levantine Arabic still gives me great difficulty and the Levantine Arabs never understand me; the Gulf region is 50/50. I understand Gulf Arabs about 50% of the time, but they always understand when I speak.
This book has been invaluable to my ability to communicate with the Arab population in my city and read online newspapers like BBC [...].
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by Jane Wightwick
