Learning Arabic..am I moving too fast?

[Mus Din]

Asalaamu Alaikum Brothers and Sisters...

I am a new practising Muslim (born to Turkish parents who do not practise) so I am fairly new to everything.

I have learned to do salah in arabic, and a couple of suras. I really want to learn Qu'ran in Arabic, however my local Masjid only does classes for kids, and there is a small Muslim community here with not many new reverts.

I just wondered if learning how to pronounce suras and knowing how to say them and the meaning from translation books is an effective way? Does anyone else do it this way? I have also discovered some online programs where you can hear them being recited in Arabic.

Or, should I learn the arabic alphabet first?

bit confused lol and I wish I could know everything!! I am aware of 'crashing and burning' though!

I will move back to London inshallah next year,where there are alot of tajweed classes when my studies are finished in the place I live now.

just wanted some advice really, and am I moving to fast?

jazak Allah Khair

[- Qatada -]

:salamext:


Brother Mus Din :) learn the arabic alphabet first. That will be better for you insha' Allah. Gradually work your way up. And that will sink in better insha' Allah.

[Ubeyde]

Salaam

Learn the Alphabet first, then the Tajweed i.e. the Rules of how to recite correctly- as this is vitally important. Also, there are many, many effective ways of memorizing the Quran. One way for reverts which is popular is to use Transliteration of the Holy Qur'an and to listen to reciters and write down what they hear. Isa Allah ta'ala will make it easy for you. Also brother there shouldn't really be a problem to recite with the kids at your local masjid or madrasa if you explain to them you re new, in fact they would be extremely pleased to help you.

Allah Aleem

[Ramadhan]

I just wondered if learning how to pronounce suras and knowing how to say them and the meaning from translation books is an effective way? Does anyone else do it this way? I have also discovered some online programs where you can hear them being recited in Arabic.

The best and most effective way is still the old fashion face-to-face lesson.
Bro, I also started re-learning how to recite correctly (with tajweed) only 2 years ago, and alhamdulillah I live in a majority muslim country, but still it was difficult to find a beginner class that cater to working person and especially with specific schedules. So what I did was, I googled to find if there's any one who was willing to come to my house after hours to give me private lessons in quran arabic. So alhamdulillah I found one and he was the most wonderful teacher, he was still in his final year at an Islamic university here in my city, and helped starting from the very basic of alif baa taa. After a few months I was able to find some scheduled classes for adults during the weekends, so I continued from there.

So, that is my advice, try to google and find out on the net if there's any qur'an classes for adult beginners or if there's any one who gives private lessons. I dont know how much expensive it is in UK though, which I presume, unlike here, is quite expensive.

I have never tried online courses so I dont know how effective they are.

Seeing as you are in university, why not contacting the Islamic student association and see if they have information and can help you.

Oh yes, I want to echo the previous posts: learn the arabic alphabet first. You can do this on your own.

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[SAKER]

Most crucial thing is to learn basic Arabic ....it sn ´that difficult people think ..

then try to understand meanings of ayat of sourat you reciting in the salat it´s no sense that you recite like a machine .
Arabic has 28 consonantal phonemes (including two semi-vowels). Arabic is different than English when it comes to the way it's written (right to left) and some sounds don't exist in English like the glottal stop, usually transliterated by (') like in the word 'elm (science). Also the consonants (q) and (gh) are the sounds produced the farthest back in the mouth in English (called 'velars' because the tongue touches the soft palate or velum), like in qalam (pen), and loghah (language). (kh) which sounds like the Scottish ch as in (Loch Ness lake).

Like many other languages, Arabic has a different grammar than English, that doesn't make it hard, but makes it only distinctiv', because having different rules doesn't mean that they're hard to learn, besides all the fun is in learning different things ..., some grammatical rules are easier than the ones existing in English, all you need is patience and practice!

[ayesha.ansari]

When ever you are determined to learn any thing then no matter how tough it will be you will surely reach to your destiny. Whenever you decide on true path defined by ALLAH then their are millions of hurdle because devil will never want you to be on that path so be strong and only look toward ALLAH.

[Mus Din]

Asalaamu alaikum

Thanks for your replies.

Alhamdilullah I have learned some more sura's in arabic, from a book that I have which shows how to say the sura's in arabic with pronounciation in english alphabet. I am going to get a whole Qu'ran that shows how to say the sura's with pronounciation in english alphabet inshAllah. i then go to the online Qu'ran reciter to get a proper demonstration in arabic. i have also read the english translation of the Qu'ran.

I am also starting to learn the arabic alphabet.

I just thought, surely this is a good way to learn the sura's in arabic and actually understand what i am saying? As there are limited tajweed opportunities where i live right now and I can't seem to find a one to one tutor either. after I have made progress with knowing how to say the sura's in arabic and understanding their meaning in english and learning the arabic alphabet, then inshAllah i can learn how to read in arabic and write. I should also be back in London in a year or two where I can go to tajweed classes also.

This will take some time! I understand that it could take years to know everything, so bit by bit.

just wanted to know if this method should work? I think it will and I feel comfortable with it.

Jazak Allah khair

[Ramadhan]

I'm not sure there's harm in your method. It is always commendable that you understand the meanings of surahs and du'as that you recite during shalah because they help you concentrate (khusu'). You can always compare your recitation with those audio/youtube qur'an. But when you have the chance to learn properly, don't wait up.

[sixpack434]

Salam alaikum brother, I just saw your post. With regards to learning Arabic, I recommend you listen to podcasts as they're generally fun to listen to and very convenient since you can download them to any MP3 player. I have been learning this way for a while and have made good progress. The best Arabic podcasting website is ArabicPod.net. Don't give up!

[al yunan]

Assalamu Alaikum Mus Din,
Hoş geldiniz to the IB. You have received a lot of good advice and I hope you keep up the zeal to learn. There is one thing though I would warn you against and that is using a Transliteration it may seem helpfull now but it can delay learning and hinder you later on.
Slow and easy is better than rushing to nowhere. The memorazation process is better in Arabic for it's permanent as for the transliteration ? it will remain as a wall. I know, I've made that mistake.
Best wishes,
Masalam

[Mus Din]

Asalaamu alaikum

Thanks further for your replies!

Sixpack434, I just checked out the arabicpod website. it looks good but it doesn't teach how to read arabic? My aim is to learn the Qu'ran in arabic, using quran reciter which is an online program where every sura is recited slowly and clearly. Then to have the translation of the suras in english along with the pronounciation in arabic in the latin alphabet e.g: bismillahir rahmanir raheem etc.. then learn the alphabet in arabic and eventually to read. I just figured that learning to say the suras properly and understanding the meaning comes before learning to read and write arabic, no?

not sure now if I should learn the whole language lol. But surely learning Qu'ran in the original language is most important rather than learning how to ask for a coffee in arabic?

Answers appreciated!

Jazak Allah Khair