Learning Arabic

[Silas]

My son and I have decided to learn Arabic. Both of us have an interest in Arab history, Islam, the history of the Middle-East, etc.

We are lucky enough that the colleges in our area teach it and even offer degree programs in the language (there are many Arabic speakers where I live).

Do the members here have recommendations as to what books, courses, videos, might be good for those starting out (we only speak English and German currently, so this will be challenging)?

[Snow]

I am at elementary level with my Arabic.
Unfortunately, I don't have schools or anything around for me to advance in it.
What has helped me the most are apps.

[*charisma*]

Hi Silas,

In the US universities, the books they use to teach arabic are these: Alif Baa & Al-Kitaab fii Ta'allum al-'Arabiyya. These books also have their own answer keys which you'll need to buy separately.

I also highly recommend this website: https://www.madinaharabic.com/arabic_courses.html because you can click on the words and letters and it will dictate them for you. It also does really well at explaining how letters connect, the different vowel sounds and their types, etc.

Arabic is going to be challenging for you only because there are no latin letters. It's a completely different writing system. Also in speaking you have to practice pronouncing a few letters that will be completely foreign to you and you will need to be able to differentiate between some letters when listening which sound very similar. Other than that, it's a fun and interesting language to learn. Youtube is also a really good source for learning beginner arabic.