ALIF Online Survey/Poll

Learning Arabic - online v classroom

publication date: Jun 12, 2010
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Traditional classroom lessons have always been the way to learn Arabic. There are no shortage of courses and programs to choose from. But how effective are they?

I've studied Arabic and spent a lot of hours, days and weeks on intensive courses in the past ten years. I have learnt much but given still can't have a proper conversation in Arabic. I still can't understand the Quran when I read as much I would like.

But I can give you a breakdown of Arabic grammar better than I could ever do for English.

We all learnt English without ever delving into the grammatical intricacies of the language. I can write and speak English with perfect grammar and spelling. But if you ask me to analyse the syntax, semantics, grammar of a paragraph in English you will get me stuck.

Standard Arabic tuition tends to focus on grammar. Before students can speak properly they start learning texts like the Ajrumiyya (الأجرومية)

Ask a child that speaks Arabic what "nahw" is and he/she will look at you with a blank face. You don't need to know the rules of grammar to speak a language. The human mind is designed to pick up language. You need the knowledge of grammar to make yourself conscious of the rules and fine tune your elocution.

I had a teacher from Mauritania once who believed the same as I do now. He wanted us to start speaking first, without thinking about correct grammar. Learn to communicate first before you delve into the grammar. Grammar is easy and once you can communicate confidently, the application of grammar becomes a natural progression and relatively effortless.

My Mauritanian teacher didn't get far because the students thought learning the verb forms were more important than speaking. His popularity dwindled and we lost him as our teacher.

A friend of mine is currently on the third semester of an Arabic course. She is just starting to learn some vocabulary for speaking. Each semester course costs around £100. The first two semesters were all about grammar.

The classes tend to be 1-2 hours long and take place once or twice a week. This is the only practice time you get.

I have used online and audio tuition before I go on holiday and have, within hours, managed to learn enough French and Spanish to get me through my holidays. I didn't need to book on classes, learn grammatical rules, memorise words, use dictionaries etc.

Online learning is fantastic. The tools available today are based on scientific research and try to exploit the natural human ability to pick up language.

Online learning is a cost effective approach to learning a new language as well as very convenient support tool alongside other Arabic language courses.

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