Speaking Arabic
 

I'm curious to know how many people (Brits esp) have taken time to learn Arabic, even if just for conversational purposes, i.e. not the written language. If you have, is it useful, or would you get more value out of say, tagalog or thai?

Re: Speaking Arabic
 

Bit tifi wela bit tibla'ee?

A great site for learning arabic

Re: Speaking Arabic
 

I had a month or so of Arabic lessons with my previous employer, but didn't really learn all that much spoken Arabic apart from counting to ten, the days of the week and being able to say things like "My house is not far away" and ask people what they want to drink :)

I'm currently trying to make an effort to get back into speaking the language to at least a basic level, but part of the problem is that just about every Arabic language course teaches classical Arabic, which is understood throughout the Arab world but which virtually nobody speaks in everyday life - everyone speaks the colloquial Arabic of whatever country they come from, and if you speak classical Arabic to them they're likely to find it amusing because it's so flowery and formal... in that respect, colloquial Arabic is a bit like modern English, and classical Arabic is like Shakespearean English.

FWIW, I can read Arabic script and pronounce it reasonably correctly, although I don't understand 99% of what I'm saying. I'd recommend anyone to learn to read Arabic; it's actually much easier than many people seem to think, and there's a real sense of achievement in being able to read signs and things like that. It also impresses the hell out of Middle Easterners, because they don't expect Western expats to know anything about it ;)

Re: Speaking Arabic
 

Very helpful! ;)

Aiza ta'mili hagat wiskha ma'aya? :ohmy:

Re: Speaking Arabic
 

Hmm,

Bit tifi wela bit tibla'ee?

Re: Speaking Arabic
 

Badi lahsak manbat sha'er baidi

Re: Speaking Arabic
 

You'd probably enjoy that JD!

Re: Speaking Arabic
 

The girlfriend flies out next week for a few days,.....i'll put it on her "to-do" list

:thumbup:

Re: Speaking Arabic
 

OMG classic Arabic eeeeek dont understand a word of it :confused:

Re: Speaking Arabic
 

Tis probably a good thing :o

Re: Speaking Arabic
 

Not that i recommend it or condone it but just for informational purposes one could in theory look here if they were so inclined ;)

http://www.torrentspy.com/torrent/24...Eastern_Arabic

http://www.torrentspy.com/torrent/98...uaphone_Arabic

http://www.bittorrent.com/detail.htm...arabic&index=0

Re: Speaking Arabic
 

I learned a bit of arabic when I arrived but it has gradually got worse. But I've just started to take it seriously again.

I'm also learning to read and write.

It's not until you learn a bit of arabic that you realise quite how unoriginal the naming conventions of towns, areas etc are in the UAE.

Re: Speaking Arabic
 

Can't be as bad as the literal meaning of the names given to cities in Taiwan.

Taipei = City in the North
Tainan = City in the South
Taichung = City in the East
Tiachi = not sure about that one.

Re: Speaking Arabic
 

Just as bad:

Ras Al Khor = head of the creek

Company names:

Emaar = construction
tamweel = mortgage

you get the idea.

Re: Speaking Arabic
 

LOL.

Etisalat = Pants?

Dubai = Shallow Vegas wannabe?