5 Essential Tips for Easy Arabic Learning

So you decided to learn Arabic, whether via online classes or off-line Arabic tutoring or classes, but you feel overwhelmed and find Arabic difficult to learn? Moreover, you feel like you are not progressing and seem to lose track? Well, you are not alone. There are many struggling students out there who face exactly the same issue. In many online and offline Arabic classes, there is unfortunately not much focus on tackling this issue. 

I got many questions from my students regarding tips for making the learning Arabic process easier and more fun. In this article, I collected 5 of the most important tips that you can utilize in your Arabic learning journey. 

Tip 1 for easy Arabic learning: Stay determined

Like any type of learning, the Arabic language has a learning curve. Therefore, it is very normal to feel that the ball is not rolling at the beginning. But don’t worry – you will develop stamina and momentum with time. 

At the beginning, it is likely that you feel lost, exhausted and overwhelmed by the form and structure of Arabic. This is because the structure and form of the Arabic language is different from both Roman or Germanic Languages. 

For instance, the Arabic alphabet letters are different and so are the sentence structure and the verb conjugation. Therefore, I keep telling my students in every online tutoring session to always work in small chunks and take breaks from time to another. 

Also it is very important to apply productivity techniques like ‘Pomodoro’, where you work for 25 minutes with no interruptions then take a break for 5 minutes. This is called a ‘Pomodoro’ cycle. After 4 cycles, you can reward yourself with a 30-min break.

Tip 2 for easy Arabic learning: Listen Carefully

Listening is very important in Arabic. As I illustrate in my pronunciation series, there are letters like “ayn ع “ that are very challenging to pronounce. The first tip toward correct pronunciation is to listen, and listen carefully. 

I compiled valuable, and completely free, tutoring resources to help you with the listening issue.  Watch these episodes very carefully and try to mimic the way I pronounce each letter. You will be surprised of your progress after a very short time.

This is because as you listen carefully and understand how the letter is pronounced you can mimic the sound you hear more precisely.  Try to repeat each word out loud. More importantly, believe in yourself and your abilities to get it right – after all, natives are NOT born with special pronunciation skills. They learn it with time, and so do you.

So try to practice as many phrases as possible, check this episode where I discuss 50 vital daily Egyptian Arabic phrases.

Tip 3 for easy Arabic learning: Train your eyes

If you had a chance to visit an Arab land, train your eyes by giving a closer look at the written script whenever possible.  Let me be honest here, the Arabic script looks intimidating to any beginner. This is normal because if you compare Arabic with English you will find a huge difference in everything: words, structure, pronunciation, etc.

So a good strategy is to familiarize yourself with the written script. If you had a chance to visit an Arab land, look at the signs and writings on the shops. If you are at home, try to search for written material in Arabic. No need to understand what is written – this is not the goal. Your aim is to identify the letters and see how they are connected to each other.

Tip 4 for easy Arabic learning: Watch movies and series with subtitles

Like any language, it is very instructive to have the combination of the spoken language with subtitles written in your native language. It might not be easy at the beginning because the speed may be too fast for you. Therefore, try to pick the material wisely and choose educational movies or series, where the language is spoken a bit slower for you to absorb. 

Tip 5 for easy Arabic learning: Be always prepared

Diving into the world of written Arabic can be very tricky. Therefore, make sure to start simple. Try simple texts at the beginning and gradually make your way up to more difficult texts. A great example of simple texts is kids stories. You can find them in every bookshop if you are visiting an Arab land. You can also get them from the internet. 

A great advantage of starting with kids stories is that you will find the words with their movements (the signs above and below the letters to show the right grammatical pronunciation).

This is very helpful, because the advanced text in the books and newspapers does not include the movements. Natives who can read Arabic do not need to use these movements in order to understand or pronounce the letters correctly. As a starter, you will need the movements and you will always find them in texts dedicated to kids.

Now that you have these 5 valuable tips, it is the time to practice them. Remember, consistency and persistence are keys to keep you moving. If you are interested to communicate in Arabic, choosing the Egyptian dialect is your perfect choice because it is the most widely understood dialect in the whole Arab region.

So now I want to hear from you: What are the main difficulties you confronted while learning Arabic?