***Disclaimer: I was given full access to TalkInArabic. This post does contain affiliate links. That means that I may receive a small commission for purchases made through the links at no extra cost to you.  All views are my own. 

**UPDATE: Especially for readers of theLevanTongue, use the code LEVANTONGUE to receive 20% off any membership price on TalkInArabic 

An Honest & In-Depth Review of TalkInArabic

Here is the breakdown of this review post:

1. What you can expect from TalkInArabic
2. Who I think TalkInArabic is good for
3. My concerns with TalkInArabic
4. Which pricing plan you should choose + Is the All Essential Arabic Verb Packs worth it?
5. Final thoughts

1) What You Can Expect From TalkInArabic

Firstly, what is TalkInArabic?

TalkInArabic is an online resource portal that contains video and audio learning materials accompanied with downloadable PDF lesson notes/transcripts and MP3 files catered for Spoken Arabic (dialects) learners.

What TalkInArabic is NOT?

• TalkInArabic is not an online course
• Lessons do not have a linear structure

It is important to know what TalkInArabic is NOT in order to avoid disappointment should you sign up with them.

Not having a linear structure is, of course, unfortunate and I’ll be talking about this in more details in Section 3 where I’ll discuss the ways in which TalkInArabic could be improved.

TalkInArabic offers lessons in various dialects such as Egyptian, Saudi, Moroccan and Sudanese Arabic. Should you sign up with TalkInArabic, you’ll have full access to lessons from all dialects.

But for this review, I’ll be focusing on the Levantine Arabic section. 

So this is what you’ll see once you login into TalkInArabic.

On the left sidebar, you’ll have access to a variety of Arabic dialects. If your plan comes with the Verb Pack or if you have purchased it separately, then you can access it at the bottom of the left sidebar.

When you enter the Levantine Arabic section, this is what you’ll see:

If you click on the ‘navigation’ on the left sidebar, you will see that each of the three sections is sub-divided into more sections.

The lessons ultimately form the main bulk of TalkInArabic.

Although TalkInArabic has a forum where learners can interact with each other, the engagement within the community is lackluster and you’re better off participating in various Facebook groups available that discuss Arabic dialects.

Now let’s take a look into what you can expect from the three main sections (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced).

**All lessons contain downloadable PDFs to help you follow along with the audios and videos.

Beginner Level:

• Audio lessons where a native speaker explains simple topics such as “telling the time”, “directions in Levantine Arabic” and “introducing yourself”.
• Video lessons by a native who talks about simple topics such as “travel”, “my house” and “favourite food”. She speaks slowly and enunciates every word carefully to cater to beginners.
• Bite sized grammar lessons

Intermediate Level:

• Video lessons by a native talking about more advanced topics
• Audio lessons based on short texts written in Levantine Arabic, songs and snippets of TV shows
• Audio lessons that teach useful phrases that are used in various situations such as “at a beauty salon”, “renting an apartment” and “clothes shopping”.
• and many more

Advanced:

The bulk of lessons from the advanced section consists of audio lessons where a native will walk through and explain snippets from various TV shows.

Every PDF contains the Arabic transcript, English translation and a short vocabulary table.

2) Who I Think TalkInArabic Is Good For

Have you ever browsed through the TalkInArabic’s site and find yourself asking, “If TalkInArabic worth it?” or “Will I be getting the most bang for my bucks?”

After spending a few weeks going through the content available in TalkInArabic and reflecting on my own Levantine Arabic journey, the following is what I feel about who will benefit the most from signing up with TalkInArabic.

TalkInArabic is good for high beginners and low intermediate independent Levantine Arabic learners.

Why TalkInArabic might not be an efficient language resource for absolute or low beginners?

Since TalkInArabic acts more like a trove of useful lessons rather than a step-by-step course, absolute beginners may find the organisation of lessons a bit overwhelming in the sense that they won’t know where to even begin.

For example, some beginners prefer starting out with a textbook that has a linear structure that covers the basics and takes you from point A to B in your language journey.

However, TalkInArabic does not do that and the onus is on you to pick and choose lessons in order to fill the gaps in your Levantine Arabic knowledge.

And that is why I feel that TalkInArabic might not be a good fit for absolute beginners.

Although lessons from the ‘Beginner’ section are bite-sized and could be useful for beginners, learners must be prepared to clarify any doubts outside of TalkInArabic.

Engagement in the TalkInArabic forum is lackluster and not all comments are attended to promptly. Therefore, the lack of support and avenue for clarification might make the learning process not as efficient as it could be.

Furthermore, there are no quizzes or extra exercises to reinforce learning that could be beneficial for learners at the beginner level.

Why TalkInArabic might not be a good fit for high intermediate level learners and beyond?

While it is definitely possible that high intermediate level learners and beyond can still benefit from the lessons available under the Advanced section, you may not be getting the most bang for your bucks.

This is because I feel that for high intermediate level learners and beyond, it would be much better to improve your Spoken Arabic proficiency via conversations with natives via Skype through sites such as Italki, Verbling or NaTakallam.

High intermediate level learners should instead invest money in having consistent Skype lessons (if face-to-face is not an option) and having tailored lessons with experienced natives teachers focusing on the areas that require improvement.

One way to improve proficiency when you already reach an almost conversationally fluent level is to spend time with native teachers to develop your ability to discuss a wide range of topics in-depth.

Why TalkInArabic is good for high beginners and low intermediate independent learners?

I remember during the last few months of studying in Jordan, my lessons revolved around watching snippets of various shows with my teacher.

Watching shows with a native speaker right next to me allowed me to clarify the words I couldn’t catch and the meaning of words I couldn’t understand.

And I believe that this type of activity was what really brought my Spoken Arabic proficiency to the next level.

Once you’re done with the basics, you should look towards shows as the main bulk of your learning materials.

The ability to follow along with the plot and grasp 70% of what is said can be a good indicator of how far along you are in the intermediate range.

(Of course, that being said, you’ll still need to practice speaking with natives.)

And lessons under the Intermediate and especially the Advanced section in TalkInArabic is the next best thing that you can have to an actual native speaker sitting beside you and guiding you as you watch shows.

You’ll get access to PDF transcripts to snippets of selected shows accompanied by mp3 audio files where a native speaker will explain useful phrases that are used in everyday conversations.

And these are especially valuable for high beginners and low intermediate learners looking to advance their Spoken Arabic to the next level.

If you’re an independent learner feeling stuck within the high beginner and low intermediate range, I recommend signing up for TalkInArabic.

Furthermore, videos of a native speaker discussing various topics at a nice pace (neither too slow nor too fast) will help you train your listening skills and expand your vocabulary.

I recommend watching the videos without subtitles to see how much of the content you’re able to grasp and then turning on the subtitles (both English and Arabic are available) to check what you’ve missed.

Finally, ensure that you’re able to comfortably catch everything the speaker said in the video (without subtitles) before moving on to the next lesson.

Do this type of activity repeatedly and over time, you’ll find your listening comprehension improving and the frustration of not being able to understand reduced.

And if you want to be even better, talk in front of the mirror (or to another native speaker) about the exact same video topic and see how comfortable you’re discussing the topic.

Naturally, you’ll encounter difficulty in expressing some thoughts and that’s when you will need to seek help. Think: friends, tutors, FB groups, Reddit subs, language exchange apps…do whatever it takes.

The various topics that are discussed in video lessons by a native speaker

So my point is, TalkInArabic’s materials can be valuable for independent learners currently at the high beginner to low intermediate level.

That said, you need to be smart about how you go about utilising these materials and ensuring that you’re learning effectively.

Last but not least, it is useful to note that while TalkInArabic’s Levantine section covers Jordanian, Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese Arabic, the majority of lessons leans towards Jordanian and/or Palestinian Arabic.

If you’re interested to sign up for TalkInArabic, you can do so here (affiliate link).

3) My Concerns with TalkInArabic

You got to give credit when it’s due.

TalkInArabic does help to fill the gap in the market where resources are overly concentrated towards Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and less so for Arabic dialects.

But of course, anything good can always be better.

With that, I will address two main concerns that I have with TalkInArabic.

#01: The lack of linear structure available (at least for beginners)

Without a linear structure available, beginners may get overwhelmed when they enter the site. Where do you even begin, right?

Click on a lesson and you might find that it is still a little too advanced for you.

And this is the reason why I do not think that TalkInArabic might be a good fit for absolute beginners or those who are only a few months into their language journey.

However, Donovan Nagel, the founder of TalkInArabic, stated that the lack of linear structure was intentional at first and is aware that it is one of the common feedbacks received by users.

I did let Donovan know about my feedback and he told me that he’s currently talking with developers about upgrading the site and adding a learning path element.

So I guess we’ll have to wait and see!

#02: Content update frequency

Levantine Arabic and Egyptian Arabic are TalkInArabic’s stronger dialects and are ones with the most content available.

If I were to consistently log into TalkInArabic once a week and do around 2  lessons from the Intermediate/Advanced level each time, I find that the content currently available would be sufficient to last me for at least 5 months, if not more.

Well, that is, if I’m disciplined and consistent in my commitment to TalkInArabic…

The accurate length of time will naturally depend on your schedule and the amount of time you’re able to dedicate to the portal.

However, a major concern that potential users may have is the content update frequency of TalkInArabic.

After all, most monthly subscription services or courses promise regular content update in order to retain customers.

However, with a site that deals with 8 different dialects, I would think that the ability to post regular content update for all dialects is a no easy feat.

When I emailed Donovan about my feedback, he replied that his goal is to get all the dialects to the same exact level and amount of content. He has since hired natives to speed up the content available in Saudi, Sudanese and Moroccan Arabic.

Therefore, I strongly suggest if you’re thinking of signing up with TalkInArabic, do so without expecting any content update to the Levantine Arabic section. 

~~~

I won’t be going deep into how TalkInArabic can address these concerns.

I’m probably thinking along marketing the various dialects as separate bundles that can be priced differently. I mean, would a non-native be interested in learning all 8 dialects…?

Anyhoo, whatever Donovan chooses to do, it remains crucial that he addresses these concerns in order for TalkInArabic to be able to reach its fullest potential.

If you have suggestions for improvement, why not share them in the comment section below.

4) Which Pricing Plan You Should Choose + Is the All Essential Arabic Verb Packs Worth It?

**UPDATE: Especially for readers of theLevanTongue, use the code LEVANTONGUE to receive 20% off any membership price on TalkInArabic 

Click here to see the entire pricing table

If you’re keen on signing up with TalkInArabic but you’re outside my recommended learner profile (i.e you’re not a high beginner or low intermediate learner), I would suggest starting out with 1 month first and see how it goes for you.

But if you’re keen on signing up with TalkInArabic and you fit my recommended learner profile, I would suggest going for a one year plan.

A one year plan that costs $126 is actually not too bad of a deal.

• $126 is equivalent to $10.50 per month
• $10.50 is cheaper than a one hour Skype lesson with a native speaker
• $10.50 is probably less than what you spend on coffee in a week

You can study the Levantine Arabic content at your own pace and still dabble with the content from other dialects within the course of a year.

Because as I mentioned earlier, once you get past the low intermediate stage, you’re better off focusing on having conversations after conversations with experienced native tutors.

That being said, if your financial ability allows you to fork out an additional $71 without burning a hole in your pocket, I say why not sign up for the lifetime membership?

Learning a language is a lifelong journey and furthermore, there is no question about Donovan’s passion and interest in Arabic dialects.

He has just recently launched TalkInArabic’s first paperback book (Egyptian Arabic – Easy Stories With English Translations) and has hired natives to speed up content for the other dialects in TalkInArabic.

Therefore, although TalkInArabic has not reached its full potential yet, I feel that it is just a matter of time (yes, it may take more than a year) before better-curated content is being pumped into the portal.

And when it does, you’ll be glad that you purchased that lifetime membership.

A quick word about the All Essential Arabic Verb Pack

If for whatever reasons, the All Essential Arabic Verb Pack is the one factor that causes you to be undecided between the one year plan or lifetime plan, then here are my thoughts about the verb pack.

I feel that the verb pack does little to benefit learners because it contains 45 pages of purely conjugation tables of more than 100 verbs.

Although the pack comes with audio files, I still find it hard to believe that it is worth $80.

For examples,

• The pack does not come with sample sentences on how to use the verbs
• The verbs are listed in alphabetical order of their English meanings (the first verb is to “add” and the last verb is to “yell”)

In my opinion, it would make more sense to categorise the verbs according to their forms.

Because then, there won’t be a need to draw up conjugation tables for ALL of the verbs. The conjugation pattern is, after all, the same for verbs from the same forms.

Therefore, don’t let the All Essential Verb Pack be a deciding factor should you decide to sign up for TalkInArabic.

5) Final Thoughts

In summary, I feel that the materials on TalkInArabic are definitely valuable for those in a specific range of proficiency level.

And especially so for students who learn better through audios and videos.

But while it’s a great portal, there is always room for improvements.

Also, remember that you’ll need to take all you’ve learned in TalkInArabic and apply them in your conversations in order to become a better Arabic speaker.

There is no big secret hindering you from becoming conversationally fluent.

You will have to do the actual talking.

1. Learn from TalkInArabic (+ whatever resources you got)
2. Get out there and converse
3. Repeat 

And so that’s it for now, folks.

You’ve finally come to the end of my absolutely honest and in-depth review of TalkInArabic (Levantine Arabic).

If you want to sign up with TalkInArabic, I’ll appreciate it if you can do so via the sign-up link here.

It’s an affiliate link which means that I may receive a small commission for purchases made through the link but at no extra cost to you, of course. 

**UPDATE: Especially for readers of theLevanTongue, use the code LEVANTONGUE to receive 20% off any membership price on TalkInArabic 

Don’t forget to let me know your thoughts in the comment section below!

Take care and I’ll see you around in the hosh,

Lyn

The post An Honest & In-Depth Review Of TalkInArabic (Levantine Arabic) appeared first on theLevanTongue.

They are certainly useful and allow us, non-natives, to tackle the language systematically (I’m telling ya, natives know nothin’ about verb forms and conjugation tables!)

In this post, I will share with you two tips that I found useful in terms of pronouncing verbs and their conjugations the right way.

These tips were especially useful for me back when I was still a beginner trying to grasp the concept of verb conjugation.

In addition, I’m going to use conjugation tables that I’m most familiar with which are from my favourite book, 101 Most Used Verbs in Spoken Arabic (Jordan & Palestine) by Fridrik Tiedemann.

Note that depending on the individual’s learning method, my tips may not resonate with everybody but here goes…

1) BIT

So what is BIT?

BIT is what I think of when I want to differentiate between the two ways of conjugating (or the two ways of pronouncing) the verbs in the present tense.

So for example, if we were to look at the different variations of Verb Form I…

On one hand, there is the verb “to become”:

صار – بِصِير

(you can also spell بصير as بيصير)

Now, so how does “BIT” come into the picture?

Well, knowing which verb conjugation table (or verb form) uses BIT helps me to determine how to conjugate and pronounce the verb conjugation for she (هي).

And subsequently, I will also know how to conjugate and pronounce the verb conjugation for “you” (انت / انتي / اتوا) since it’s the same format as “she” (هي).

[The verb conjugation for “he”, “I” and “they” are not difficult because they are pretty straight-forward.]

So as you can see in the third row, the verb conjugation for “she” (هي) is

بِتِصير

(BIT – Siiir)

And subsequently, the verb conjugation for the three types of  “you” are

انت بِتْصِير

(BIT-Siiir)

انتِ بِتْصِيري

(BIT-Siiirii)

انتوا بِتْصِيروا

(BIT-Siiiruu)

So when I think of all the verbs that follow the same conjugation pattern as the verb صار, I connect those verbs with “BIT” and then it becomes much easier and quicker for me to conjugate and pronounce the present tense conjugation of these verbs.

Now, why do I find this “BIT” thing useful?

This is because it helps me to differentiate between this way of conjugating and pronouncing the present tense verb conjugations and the other way.

For example, on the other hand, there is the verb “to lift”:

رَفَع – بِرفَع

(You can also spell برفع as بيرفع )

When you look at the verb conjugation for “she”, it is

بْتِرفَع

(b-tr-fa3)

This is what I classify as non-BIT (or the normal way) because it does not has the “BIT” sound at the beginning of the pronunciation.

انت بْتِرفَع

انتِ بْتِرفَعي

انتوا بْتِرفَعوا

احنا مْنِرْفَع

So for verbs that follow this pattern of conjugation, I think of them as non-BIT which means that you pronounce the B prefix (and M prefix) with a sukoon when you conjugate for “she”, the three types of “you” and “we”.

So to make things easy for me, I would just remember which verb forms have the “BIT” and that’s it (since the rest of the verb forms would follow the non-BIT pattern).

Let’s take a look at the other type of verbs that do have the “BIT”.

• Verbs with the letter alef in the middle (Verb Form I)

صَار – بِصِير
صَارَت – بِتْصِير

(BIT- Siir)

نام – بِنَام
نامت – بِتْنَام

(BIT – naam)

شاف – بِشُوف
شافت – بِتْشُوف

(BIT – shoof)

• Verbs with only two letters (Verb Form I)

حَبَّ – بِحِبّ
حَبَّتْ – بِتْحِبّ

(BIT- Heb)

ضَلّ – بِضَلّ
ضَلَّت – بِتْضَلّ

(BIT – Dhol)

 حَطّ – بِحُطّ
حَطَّت – بِتْحُطّ

(BIT – HuT)

• All of Verb Form II

قَدَّم – بِقَدِّم
قَدَّمَت – بِتْقَدِّم

(BIT – 2adem)

سَوَّى – بِسَوِّي
سَوَّت – بِتْسَوِّي

(BIT – sawwi)

• All of Verb Form III

سَاعَد – بِسَاعِد
سَاعَدَت – بِتْسَاعِد

(BIT – saa -3ed)

نَادَى – بِنَادِي
نَادَتْ – بِتْنَادِي

(BIT – naa – dii)

This means that the REST are non-BIT so remember to pronounce the B-prefix with a sukoon (it’s almost like spitting something out your mouth) when you’re conjugating for “she”, the three “you” and “we”.

Here are some examples of non-BIT from various verb forms:

هي بْتِنْبَسِط

(b – tin – ba -seT)

هي بْتِشْتَغِل

(b – tish – ta – ghel)

هي بْتَاكُل

(b – ta – kol)

هي بْتِفْهَم

(b – tif – ham)

See what I mean by that there are two ways you can conjugate (and pronounce) for present tense verbs? And I choose to think of them as BIT and non-BIT.

2) 8 0r ate

So “8” or “ate” is what I think of when I want to conjugate (and pronounce) the past tense for verbs that end with the letter ya ى

This tip works for the conjugation of the three “you” and “I”.

Here are some examples:

• The verb “to say”

هو حَكَى

 انت / انا حَكَيْت

(Ha-kayt = Hak-EIGHT / Hak-ATE)

انتِ حَكَيْتِ

(Ha-kayti)

انتوا حَكَيْتُوا

(Ha-kaytuu)

As you can see, the pronunciation for the last three conjugations above sounds similar to the number “8” (eight) or the word “ate”.

It can also work for the conjugation of “we”:

حَكَيْنَا

Ha-kay-na

(although the “8” or “ate” will not be pronounced fully but instead combined with the “na” sound)

Here are other examples:

هو سَوّى

انا / انت سَوَيْت

(sa -weyt = sa-wEIGHT / sa-wATE)

هو لقى / لاقى

انا / انت لقيت / لاقيت

(la-2et = la-EIGHT / la-ATE)

هو تْمَنَى

انا / انت تْمَنَيت

(T-ma-neyt = t-ma-nEIGHT / t-ma-nATE)

هو أعطى

انا / انت أعطيت

(a3-Tayt = a3-tEIGHT/ a3-tATE)

…and etc etc…you get the drift, right?

This pronunciation tip also works with other verb forms that have a shadda ّ  on the last letter.

• Verbs with only two letters (Verb Form I, shadda on the last letter)

هو حَبّ

انا / انت حَبَّيْت

(Ha-bayt = Ha-bEIGHT/ Ha- bATE)

انا / انت ضَلَّيْت

(Dhol – layt)

انا / انت حَطَّيْت

(Ha – tayt)

• Verb Form VII  (shadda on the last letter)

to go crazy

هو انْجَنّ

انا / انت اِنْجَنَّيْت

(in- jan – nayt)

• Verb Form VIII  (shadda on the last letter)

to care

هو اِهْتَمّ

انا / انت اِهْتَمَّيْت

(eH – tam -mayt)

to be obliged

هو اِضْطَرّ

انا / انت اِضْطَرَّيْت

(iD- Tar – reyt)

• Verb Form X (shadda on the last letter)

to take advantage

هو اِسْتَغَّل

انا / انت اِسْتَغلَّيْت

(is – ta – ghal – layt)

• The verb “to read”

انا / انت قَرَيْت

(2a -reyt)

As you can see, the pronunciation of these verbs endings almost sound like “8” or “ate”.

~~~

Note that these verb inflections are based on Jordanian/Palestinian Arabic. Syrian and Lebanese verb inflections may differ slightly.

And that’s it, folks. These are my two mini pronunciation tips

Did you find it useful?!

If you find these two tips useful, you got to let me know and I’ll let you in on my other pronunciation tip which is what I call the “vowel shift” or “the shifting of the vowel” when it comes to having verbs with attached pronouns.

Also if you haven’t check out my other post on when to conjugate verbs with B-prefix and when to drop the B, you can do so here.

Take care and I’ll see you around in the hosh,

Lyn

The post 2 pronunciation tips to conquer verb conjugations appeared first on theLevanTongue.

What exactly is ‘Levantine Arabic’?

Levantine Arabic generally refers to the Arabic dialect (Amiyya) spoken in Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon. It is also sometimes referred to as Shami or Eastern Arabic.

A Levantine Arabic learner will not only find the dialect useful to converse with the locals when travelling within the Levant, but also to connect with the Levantine-speaking diaspora communities abroad.

Levantine Arabic vs. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)

The difference between Levantine Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) may very well be the number one concern that most Arabic learners have at the beginning of their language journey.

As you may or may not have already know, Modern Standard Arabic is the standardised Arabic used in formal writing and speech across the Arab world.

It is typically referred to as MSA, Fusha and in some instances, Classical Arabic.

Here are some of the few places where you’ll find MSA written and spoken:

• Newspapers
• Academic journals
• Official documents
• News channels

As you can imagine, it is only natural for such outlets to adopt a formal register and thus the reason why MSA is the language of choice.

However, while Arabs are taught MSA in classrooms, they do not speak it on a daily basis. This is due to the high formal register associated with the language.

Some may even go as far as likening MSA to “Shakespearean English” to explain the disparity between MSA and spoken dialects.

That may be an exaggeration but it’s a good exaggeration nonetheless.

The idea behind this analogy is that MSA is not spoken in everyday life just like how you’ll almost never hear anyone speaks in Shakespearean English.

While there are many differences between MSA and Levantine Arabic such as the grammar rules, pronunciation and vocabulary, it suffices to say that the main difference between them lies in its function.

Remember that while MSA is the official language for formal writing and speech, Levantine Arabic is the colloquial language spoken in everyday life.

Should you learn MSA or Levantine Arabic?

The answer to this question depends on your language goals.

Think about what you want to do with your knowledge of Arabic.

Are you learning the language to boost your career prospects? Are you learning Arabic to read and understand the Qur’an? If that’s the case, you should start by learning MSA.

Or maybe you just want to be able to connect with the Levantine-speaking community in your neighbourhood? Or perhaps your job requires you to be based in the Levant for a year or two? If that’s the case, learning a spoken dialect like Levantine Arabic is the way to go.

Are there pros and cons?

The pros and cons of learning either MSA or Levantine Arabic are, once again, dependent on your language goals.

For example, learning MSA will enable you to write a business email, to read literary novels as well as to watch and understand the news.

But for Arabic learners who are not even remotely interested to do any of the above, then the “pros” mentioned are not pros after all.

And this is why knowing your language goals right from the beginning is crucial.

That being said, I would like to highlight a major concern with using MSA as a conversational language.

The downside to speaking in MSA is that while you can certainly be understood, not everyone will be able to reply instantly in such a formal register unless they are accustomed to it.

The ability to do so is dependent on various factors such as education level or the level of exposure of MSA in one’s daily life.

For example, students will find more success conversing in MSA with university professors or those who work in the formal media industry, just to name a few.

Likewise, just because you can converse with your Arabic teachers in MSA, that does not mean that you will be able to evoke the same response with other native speakers in the streets – i.e. the average Joes and Janes.

And this is exactly why most students feel frustrated when they travel to the Middle East for the first time after spending years of studying MSA in their home universities.

They soon realise that while they can get by in an Arabic speaking country with MSA, they won’t be able to comprehend conversations amongst natives nor truly be able to engage with them on a deeper level.

The following is a famous quote by Nelson Mandela that hits the point home and succinctly explains the usefulness of learning a spoken language such as an Arabic dialect.

“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” – Nelson Mandela

In other words, to talk in MSA will allow you to be understood across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region but it is hardly a useful language to engage in conversations beyond a basic level.

To add to the complexity of this matter, tell any natives that you’re learning MSA and chances are that they’ll be impressed by your endeavour. After all, MSA is not a simple language to grasp, let alone master.

There is a certain kind of prestige attached to MSA as most Arabs would consider it to be the purest version of the Arabic language, hence a superior language than spoken dialects.

Therefore, while students of MSA might experience a few laughs and giggles for speaking in a formal register, students of Arabic dialects, on the other hand, may face critical comments from some native speakers who insist that they learn MSA instead.

It’s crazy, isn’t it?

Remember that the simplest way to retain your sanity is to be crystal clear about your language goals. Onwards!

Should you learn MSA first before Levantine Arabic?

Even if you’ve decided to learn Levantine Arabic, you might come across people telling you to start with MSA and only pick up the dialect later.

After all, one could possibly argue that Levantine Arabic comes from MSA and is basically a simplified or stripped-down version of the language.

So what is it, then? Should you learn MSA first to set the foundation, disregard it completely or learn both MSA and Levantine Arabic at the same time?

It may seem like a simple question but a question that has sparked fierce debate both online and offline.

On one side of the debate…

On one side of the debate, it is argued that learning MSA first when the ultimate goal is to converse with native speakers is a complete waste of time.

This is the viewpoint endorsed by Donovan Nagel, the man behind the language learning site, The Mezzofanti Guild, and founder of Talk In Arabic, a subscription site dedicated to learning most Arabic dialects.

In both of his articles titled “Why You Shouldn’t Learn Modern Standard Arabic Before A Dialect” and “If I Started Learning Arabic Again, This Is How I’d Do It”, Nagel emphasised the fact that MSA is not a conversational language and even went to the extent of describing it as “archaic”.

Even the famous polyglot, Benny Lewis, admitted in his article, “Standard Arabic or Local Dialect – Which Should You Learn First?”, that learning Arabic through MSA materials in the early stages was a waste on time and described MSA as an “academic language”.

On the other side of the debate…

Meanwhile, on the other side of the debate, it is argued that MSA should be studied before a dialect due to the standard rules and structure present in MSA as compared to the more flexible nature of dialects.

In other words, to study MSA from the beginning allows for a solid foundation and better understanding of Arabic language before one delves into learning a dialect.

The argument is that students may feel confused and lost as to the lack of proper structure in any Arabic dialects. As a result, it is possible for students to lose motivation to pursue their endeavour to learn a dialect any further.

In fact, there are many students who have chosen to learn MSA before tackling an Arabic dialect.

And one of them is Mike Still, a British YouTuber who runs a YouTube channel called “Arabic Mike” since 2013.

In one of his videos titled “Learn Arabic: Fusha/MSA or Dialect?” he said (at 02:54) that

“…if you’ve learned MSA, if you’ve learned Fusha, everything else starts to fall into place. When you hear people speak the local dialects, you can make links between what they’re saying in their accent and what you’ve learned in the formal MSA Arabic and then it all makes sense, it all comes together…”

And his argument does make sense and is certainly valid.

So that is basically the two sides of the infamous and classic MSA vs. Dialects debate in a nutshell.

MSA & Levantine Arabic at the same time?

Meanwhile, if you’re thinking of learning both MSA and Levantine Arabic at the same time….just don’t.

Such an approach is not recommended for beginners and you’re just setting yourself up for unnecessary stress and frustration.  Besides, you’ll get better results and feel more accomplished by focusing on either one of them.

Poking my nose into the debate…here’s my two cents worth.

But wait, is there a “better” approach to learning Levantine Arabic?

The following is my humble opinion as a student who started with MSA and then ditched it to focus on Levantine Arabic.

If you’re in it for the travel and to simply get around the Levant, I would say forget about MSA lessons and get yourself a phrasebook first and foremost.

However, if you’re in it for the long haul, (learning any language is, after all, a lifelong journey), it is advisable to know some basic MSA as a foundation.

And when I say “some basic MSA”, I do not mean spending years working through the Al-Kitaab textbooks series or any similar textbooks.

I would recommend spending the first three to six months going through a good MSA textbook and learning everything you can about MSA.

The primary idea behind having a basic knowledge of MSA is to gain better clarity on the workings of the Arabic language through the rigid rules and structure present in MSA.

And contrary to popular opinion, I do not view learning MSA as a “waste of time”.

For example, if you were to re-read Benny Lewis’ article, it is clear that his goal is to speak to natives as he globetrots around the world. It is also clear that he is not in it for the long haul. Arabic is not one of the languages that he declares himself conversationally fluent in as a polyglot.

Now, the switch from MSA to Levantine Arabic may not be easy and can be confusing in the beginning. But in the larger scheme of things, the inconvenience that comes with the transition is a small one.

Here are the three main reasons why I believe starting with basic MSA lessons is beneficial for a Levantine Arabic learner’s language journey in the long run.

Reason No#1:

• Unfortunately, there is yet for adequate comprehensive textbooks or guidebooks that explain the workings of Levantine Arabic systematically the way MSA textbooks do.

Levantine Arabic learners deserve the same type of comprehensive materials that are available in MSA to choose from instead of stringing bits and pieces of information from various sources on their own.

As an Arabic student who started with MSA lessons, I personally view Levantine Arabic as a simplified version of MSA. Ditch some features of MSA and make some tweaks such as replacing MSA words with their spoken counterparts and you’ll get Levantine Arabic.

At the same time, I do think it is possible to reach an intermediate level in Levantine Arabic and beyond without any formal background in MSA but only with comprehensive dedicated resources as well as proper learning techniques.

Resources in Levantine Arabic are indeed slowly growing in numbers and prominence but it is safe to say that they are still few and far in between (especially in comparison with resources in MSA).

Until then, I would recommend starting your language journey with basic MSA knowledge to understand the workings of the language.

Reason No #2:

• As you advance into the intermediate level and get exposed to higher level materials (think talk shows, interviews etc.), you’ll find that Levantine Arabic (or any dialects) and MSA tend to overlap each other to form a type of Arabic called “Spoken Educated Arabic”.

Spoken Educated Arabic is a type of Arabic spoken most commonly amongst the educated where the Amiyya speech structure is retained but where some features of MSA are incorporated.

This type of Arabic which is a mix of both literary and colloquial Arabic is typically used to discuss politics or other topics commonly found in the media but in a less formal register.

Such topics may NOT be of interest to a learner at a beginner level but Spoken Educated Arabic can be useful as one seeks to increase his or her proficiency by tackling more complicated topics such as politics and the likes.

Reason No #3:

• For whatever reasons, if a Levantine Arabic learner wishes to start learning MSA at a later stage, it will not be an easy feat. The grammatical rules and rigid structure of MSA may be hard to comprehend after one is used to the flexible and simplistic structure of Levantine Arabic.

It is much easier to resume MSA studies if a learner has a foundation to fall back upon.

I understand that from a beginner’s standpoint, all that you are concerned with are the necessary steps needed and the resources available to take you from point A to point B in your language journey.

Besides, it is hard to imagine being able to achieve conversational fluency in the years to come. You might not even be sure if you have the time and motivation to commit to learning the language.

It is only in hindsight that an experienced Levantine Arabic learner might regret not having a foundation in MSA should he or she wishes to take his or her proficiency to the next level.

Therefore, I only recommend knowing basic MSA to all future Levantine Arabic learners if they are confident about their commitment level to learn the language due to the reasons I mentioned above.

On the other hand, some learners are content to know only Levantine Arabic in order to communicate with native speakers about basic everyday topics.

If that’s the case, feel free to dive straight into Levantine Arabic materials and ignore MSA studies (the not-so-comprehensive resources may be adequate in this case)

So what exactly is ‘Levantine Arabic’ again?

Just in case, the information overload above has made you forgot what Levantine Arabic is all about, here’s a summary…

• By now, you should know that Arabs do not speak in MSA in everyday life.
• There are many different variations of colloquial Arabic spoken across the MENA region and Levantine Arabic is one of them.
• Levantine Arabic generally refers to the Arabic dialect spoken in Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.

So are Palestinian and Lebanese Arabic one and the same?

While it is easy and useful to classify the Arabic dialect spoken in the Levant under the umbrella term, “Levantine Arabic”, there are still differences between the dialects spoken in each country, albeit minimal.

Heck, Levantine native speakers will even tell you that their spoken dialects vary within the country itself.

Say whaaat?!

Are you feeling overwhelmed? Don’t.

Differences in term of pronunciation, inflection and vocabulary are regarded as minimal because native speakers from the Levant are able to understand each other with ease regardless of where they are from.

From a close-in perspective (looking at each of the Levant countries individually), such differences tend to be greater along the urban city vs. rural village divide.

For example, Palestinians living in the villages outside of urban cities tend to pronounce the letter qaf (ق) as a kaf (ك) which is different from the typical feature of Levantine Arabic where the qaf (ق) is pronounced as a hamzah (ء).

Meanwhile from the close-out perspective (looking at the Levant as a whole), such differences tend to be smaller along the north vs. south divide.

After all, Levantine Arabic can be further divided into two categories:

• North Levantine (Lebanon & Syria)
• South Levantine (Jordan & Palestine)

That means that Jordanian and Palestinian Arabic are much more similar to each other than Syrian and Lebanese Arabic, and vice versa.

To go in-depth into the specific differences between Jordanian, Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese Arabic is beyond the scope of this introductory article.

However, it is safe to say that unless you’re travelling to a remote tiny village, chances are you will be able to converse and be understood across the Levant even if you are only exposed to one of the four sub-dialects of Levantine Arabic.

If you’re a beginner about to embark on your language journey in Levantine Arabic, I would highly recommend choosing exposure materials (shows, movies, songs, etc.) from one of the four countries and sticking to them.

Alternatively, you can also choose exposure materials from one of the two subdivision of Levantine Arabic (North or South).

Once you’ve got a good grasp of a sub-dialect, it is then easy to pick up the small differences that exist amongst the other variations of Levantine Arabic.

Okay, now you got the big picture…but what’s next?

If there is one thing that I hope you take away from reading this article is the fact that MSA is not spoken in everyday life.

I was not made aware of this distinction when I first enrolled in an Arabic Level 1 module as a university undergraduate years ago. And I’m sure that there are many other students just like me who only found out afterward.

While knowing the distinction may not deter some students from taking MSA classes, it would at least mentally prepare them about the limitedness of using MSA as a spoken language and save them from a rude shock once they land upon the soil of an Arabic speaking country.

And for other students who are like Benny Lewis whose ultimate goal is to only converse with native Arabic speakers, then knowing the distinction from the start could have been a major time saver.

I hope that up to this point this article has given you a better understanding of Levantine Arabic as an Arabic dialect and has helped to clarify any confusion that you may have.

So for now, keep a lookout for more articles that will address language concerns in greater depth and point out the various resources available to kick off your language journey in Levantine Arabic.

And last but not least, know your language goals.

Take care and I’ll see you around in the hosh,

Lyn

P.S. If you can think of anyone who will benefit from this article, do hit the share buttons and let’s start the conversation going

The post So you want to learn Levantine Arabic? Here’s all you need to know. appeared first on theLevanTongue.

There are tons and tons of Syrian drama series out there. This post aims to narrow down a few to help you get started.

These are some of the shows that I’ve personally watched (not all episodes tho, I can never finish a season before checking out another series ).

The shows I’ve chosen are my recommended ones for beginners who have already know the basics but are looking to watch drama series to improve on listening comprehension and pick up new vocab in the process.

They are the ones that I found to be considerably easier to follow and understand amongst the existing ocean of Syrian drama series due to the clarity and speed of the actors’ speech.

Note that these are shows without subtitles. The objective is not really to understand every single word but to develop your listening skills as you follow along the storyline.

P.S. Bab al Hara is definitely NOT on this list

#01:  أيام الدراسة (School days)

ABOUT:

This series revolves around the lives of a group of students and showcases their dreams, aspirations and the problems they face as adolescents.

I personally have an attachment for any shows that revolve around school life. There’s just something nostalgic about watching them.

#02: الفصول الأربعة (The four seasons)

ABOUT:

This series revolves around the daily lives of a large family network. Each episode deals with an issue that affects the family relations and shows how the family members come together to deal with it.

This is one of the more popular older shows. I find some of the episodes boring but a good choice for beginners since the actors do not speak very fast.

#03:  صرخة روح (Cry of the soul)

ABOUT:

This show revolves around the topic of marital infidelity. There are four seasons and each season contains a series of stories where a new storyline is introduced after every five episodes.

Since the show revolves around one main topic, you’ll be able to hear a lot of the same classic phrases being repeated across the different stories.

Despite the topic itself, I actually enjoyed watching the first few stories from the first season. Beyond that, the show gets boring due to the predictable storyline.

#04: نزار قباني (Nizar Qabbani)

ABOUT:

This is a show based on the biography of the great Syrian poet Nizar Qabbani.

I remembered telling my Syrian friend that I was watching this show only to be told that it was not a popular show and was considered a failed show by Syrians

Although there are some parts that are rather slow, I still enjoyed watching the show and learning about the poet’s life.

#05: اشواك ناعمة (Soft thorns)

ABOUT:

This show revolves around the school and personal lives of a group of female students.

If you prefer watching with English subtitles, there’s a channel that took snippets from this show and added English subtitles to them. Below is one of the video from the channel.

#06: أهل الغرام (People of love)

ABOUT:

The series revolves around the love stories of young adults and the obstacles they face to further their relationships due to various circumstances such as social and religious.

This is another show that I found easy to catch what the actors are saying due to the clarity and simplicity of speech – thus a great choice for beginners.

~~~

That’s it, folks!

I hope you find this list useful. There are definitely more than just these six…but if you’re overwhelmed by the sheer number of existing Syrian drama series, then simply choose one from the list and go on from there.

As you can see, I’ve listed older shows than the more recent ones…I guess they don’t make ’em like they used to.

If you’re still having trouble choosing one, I recommend starting with either #3 or #6.

Keep a lookout for another list of Syrian shows for intermediate learners and beyond. I’ll be posting it real soon.

Also, there’s no need to feel compelled to finish watching a season. Keep a notebook by your side and watch each episode with the intention of learning some new phrases.

Last but not least, don’t forget to comment and let me know your favourite Syrian show!

Or are you like me who tends to skip to the next show without ever completing a season?!

Take care and I’ll see you around in the hosh,

Lyn

The post 6 Classic Syrian Drama Series To Help You Learn Syrian Arabic appeared first on theLevanTongue.

This post is all about animated cartoon shows in Jordanian & Palestinian Arabic.

While I watch more drama series than animated cartoon shows, the latter is also a good way to gain exposure to the language and pick up some vocabulary.

And just cause they are animated cartoon shows, it does not necessarily mean that they are beginner-friendly.

But if you were to ask me to recommend one show, it would definitely be number #3 on the list.

Read on and let me know your favourite!

Jordanian Productions:

#1: Abu Mahboob

About:

The show tackles social and political issues in the Jordanian society in a light-hearted manner through the life of Abu Mahjoob and his family.

• SEASON 1

• Season 2

#2: Nafat 3alayna:

About:

The show follows the life of Abu Raed’s family and provides an entertaining account of their daily lives.

• Second season

• THIRD SEASON

#3: Rajaee Kaen FaDhaee

About:

The show pokes fun at the typical behaviours and mindsets of the people in the Jordanian society through the character named Rajaee.

Rajaee is a famous Jordanian actor and in this show, he is portrayed as someone with good intentions but always misunderstood by society.

• Playlist

#4: Rajaee Kaen 3idaaee

About:

The concept of this show is the same as show #3. However this time around, the show portrays Rajaee as the villain.

*The channel did not create a separate playlist for this show. So simply scroll through its video section to find the videos.

• the rest of the videos

#5: Som3a Abu Saqer

About:

Abu Saqer is a character that represents the everyday normal man in the Jordanian society. The show depicts Abu Saqer’s struggles as he deals with the obstacles he comes across in everyday life.

*There are 2 main Youtube channels which feature videos of this show -“Som2a Show” and “Takarub”.

• Playlist 1 (Som2a show channel)

• Playlist 2 (som2a show channel)

• Playlist 3 (Takarub channel)

#6: 3andi 2isah

About:

This show contains a total of 5 clips. The show is part of a larger programme to tackle the issue of gender inequality and oppression that women face in society.

*This show does not has a Youtube playlist of its own. Watch an episode and check out the rest via the sidebar. 

• The first episode

#7: 3ala Rasi

ABOUT:

The show transforms everyday real-life situations faced by Jordanian society into comedy.

• VIDEOS

Palestinian Productions:

#8: Hayat 3aleytna

About:

The show seeks to encourage healthy communication between parents and children in order to build a strong and happy family.

• PLAYLIST

#9: Hajjeh Wasfiyeh

About:

The show tackles everyday matters through the eyes and opinions of an elderly lady named Hajeh Wasfiyeh.

• Playlist 1

• Playlist 2

~~~

Do you know of any more shows that are not listed here? Just let me know and I’ll add them to the list.

Happy watching and learning!

Take care and I’ll see you around in the hosh,

Lyn

P.S. Drop a comment if you know of any animated cartoon shows in Syrian and Lebanese Arabic! I would love to create a similar list.

P.S.S Like this list? Do me a huge favour and hit the share buttons, will ya? Also, do subscribe if you haven’t already

The post 9 Animated Cartoon Shows In Jordanian & Palestinian Arabic appeared first on theLevanTongue.

This post is dedicated to all Levantine Arabic learners who are just starting out on their language learning journey.

Probably one of the most confusing things that learners may face in the beginning is this whole idea of the B-prefix (or the letter ب) attached to verbs.

When does one use it? When does one not use it?

In this post, I aim to simplify the confusing world of B-prefix in Levantine Arabic for you.

#1: What you need to know first

#1.1: 10 Verb Forms

There are more than 10 verb forms but it is sufficient to only learn the first 10 of them as the rest are rarely used.

I personally find conjugation tables useful and I use my favourite book (The 101 Most Used Verbs In Spoken Arabic) to look up the tables for all the different ten forms of verbs.

Don’t be overwhelmed if 10 verb forms sound like a lot.  The majority of the most common verbs in Spoken Arabic are only from two forms – Form I and Form II.

#1.2: B & M prefixes

In general,  the B-prefix (the letter ب) is attached before all present tense verbs in Levantine Arabic.

The exception to the rule is the verb conjugation for “we” (احنا / نحنا) where the M-prefix (the letter م) is instead attached before the verb.

***Note that this exception to the rule may not be true in some parts of the Levant (notably Palestine) where B-prefix is used for all, including conjugating for the first-person plural personal pronoun “we”.

Here is an example of a conjugation table for a common verb –> to lift (Verb Form I).

Source: The 101 Most Used Verbs In Spoken Arabic

Later on in the post, I will show different scenarios as to when to conjugate using the B-prefix  (a.k.a the ‘present’ column) and when to drop that B (a.k.a the ‘w/helping verb’ column).

#1.3: Variations within the Levant

There are both spelling and pronunciation differences with regards to the verbs used across the Levant.

For simplicity’s sake, I’m going to group Jordanian and Palestinian Arabic as one group and Lebanese and Syrian Arabic as another group (please don’t kill me).

Although I consider the differences to be negligible, I just thought it is useful to point them out.

Please don’t freak out or overwhelmed with the variations. Learn any dialect of Levantine Arabic and you’ll still be able to converse and be understood across the Levant.

So anyway, the above picture of the conjugation table for the verb, to lift,  is typical of the spelling and pronunciation of Jordanian and Palestinian Arabic.

Let’s examine the verb for “he lifts”:

 هو بِرْفَع

huwe birfa3

On the other hand, this is how the same verb will be in Lebanese and Syrian Arabic:

 هو بْيِرْفَع

 huwe byirfa3

Thus in general,  verbs conjugation for the pronoun ‘he’ (هو) differs between Jordanian&Palestinian Arabic and Lebanese&Syrian Arabic.

Jordanian&Palestinian Arabic tends to omit the letter ي while Lebanese&Syrian includes it.

Here’s another example:

He doesn’t understand a single thing

هو ما بفهم ولا شي

huwe ma befham wala shii

هو ما بيفهم ولا شي

huwe ma byefham wala shii

Can you tell which is Jordanian&Palestinian Arabic and which is Lebanese&Syrian Arabic?

#2: Knowing when to drop the B (or M)

There are a few places where you’ll need to drop the B or M prefix.

Or in the other word, you’ll need to conjugate the verb using the “w/ helping verb” column as shown in the picture above.

#2.1: The verbs that come after the first B/M prefix verb

Take a look at the following sentences.

هي ما بتحب تشرب شاي

hiye ma betheb tishrab shai

She doesn’t like to drink tea

كلنا مْنِقْدَر نِتْعَلَّم كتير من احمد

kolna/kelna mne2dar nit3alam ktiir men Ahmad

All of us can learn a lot from Ahmad

From these two examples, you can see that the 2nd verbs (نِتْعَلَّم & تشرب) do not have the attached B or M prefix while the 1st verbs (مْنِقْدَر & بتحب) have it.

In general, the first present-tense verb in a sentence should have the B or M prefix, while the other verbs that follow after will have their B or M prefix dropped.

#2.2: The verb that comes after the future indicator رح

Take a look at the following sentence.

رح احاول اشتري كل ما بدك

raH aHawel ashtari kol ma bidak

I’ll try to buy everything that you want

As you can see, the verb “to try” is written and spoken as احاول instead of بحاول

It is worth noting that Jordanian and Palestinian Arabic generally retain the letter alef for the first person pronoun (انا) after the future indicator رح (Verb I, II & III). On the other hand, Syrian and Lebanese Arabic tend to drop the alef.

Hence, the Syrian and Lebanese version of the same sentence will be

رح حاول اشتري كل ما بدك

raH Hawel ashtari kil ma bidak

Here are some more examples:

رح اكمّل دراستي السنة الجاية

رح كمّل دراستي السنة الجاية

raH (a)kamel dirasatti es-saneh el-jaiye

I will continue my studies next year

بعدين رح تعرف شو صار

ba3dayn raH ta3ref/ta3raf shu Sar

Later you will know what had happened

ما رح نبلِش بدون احمد

ma raH nballesh biduun Ahmad

We will not start without Ahmad

From all of these examples above, you can see the that B or M prefix is dropped from the verbs that come after the future indicator رح.

#2.3: The verb that comes after the linking verb بِدُّه

So بِدُّه  is not a complete verb but it may act like one. I think the term for it is a pseudo-verb or auxiliary verb.

The common translation for the word is “he wants”.

**The word is also spelled as بدو and can be used with a noun or a verb.

For example, when using بِدُّه  with a noun:

بِدُّه الاكل

biddo el akel

He wants the food

Or when using بِدُّه with a verb:

بِدُّه يآكُل / يُوكُل

biddo yakol / yokol

He wants to eat

*Note: There are two acceptable pronunciation (or verb conjugation in the present tense) for the verb, to eat.

So as you can see from the second example, there is no B-prefix to the verb that comes after بِدُّه.

Here is how you conjugate for بِدُّه:

Here are some more examples:

بدي ارجع عالبيت

baddi/beddi arja3 3albayt

I want to return home

ما بدنا نضلّ هون

ma bedna ndhol hon

We don’t want to remain here

On a side note, the usage of بِدُّه can extend to more than just “he wants”. Depending on contexts, it can also indicate an action that will happen in the future.

For example:

بدنا نسافر ع لبنان بكرة

bedna nsafer 3a lebnan bokra

We will be traveling to Lebanon tomorrow

Whatever the intended meaning of بِدُّه, just know that the verb that comes after it will have its B or M prefix dropped.

#2.4: When giving a command (imperative verb)

So another situation where the verb does not carry its B or M prefix is when the verb is spoken in its imperative form.

In other words, if you’re giving a command/order and telling people to do something, you should use the verb in its imperative form.

And verbs in their imperative form should not have the B or M prefix attached.

Take a look at the example below.

احكي شو بقلبك

ehki shu bi 2albak

Say what’s in your heart

Since “say” in this context acts as a command, the correct choice of word is احكي instead of بتحكي or تحكي.

Here are some more examples:

خليني احاول اصلّح السيارة

خليني حاول صلّح السيارة

khalini (a)hawel (a)Saleh issayara/issiyara

Let me try to fix the car

**The former is Jor/Pal while the latter is Syr/Leb

The imperative verb in this example is خلي.

As you can see, since the first verb is an imperative, it does not have the B-prefix attached.

And since the first verb does not have the B-prefix, the two verbs that followed also do not have B-prefixes attached.

روحي جيبيلي الموبايل

ruuHi jiibili el mobile

Go (and) get me the phone

The imperative verbs in this example are روحي and جيبي.

اترك اخوك بحاله و اشرب شايك

itrik akhuk biHalo uu esharb shaiyak

Leave your brother alone (stop bothering him) and drink your tea

The imperative verbs in this example are اترك and اشرب.

Here are a few more examples of using imperative verbs and dropping their B and M prefixes.

حاج تحكي معي

Haj taHki/teHki ma3ii

Stop talking to me

لا / ما تنسى تشتري بيض

la / ma tinsaa tishtarii bayD

Don’t forget to buy eggs

All in all, drop the B or M prefixes when giving a command.

#2.5: The verb that comes after modal verbs

So another scenario where you’ll need to drop the B or M prefix is when the verb comes after a modal verb.

If you don’t know what a modal verb is, that’s okay. I personally dislike using all these grammar terms lol. Just know that the verb that comes after all these words (that I’m going to list out below) will need to have their B or M prefix dropped.

There are many modal verbs but for the sake of simplicity, I will list out the few common ones.

لازم

lazem

(must/has to/should)

انتي لازم تدرسي منيح ازا بدك تنجحي

enti lazem tudrosi mniiH iza bidek tinjahi

You have to study well if you want to succeed

لازم نروح هلأ اذا ما بدنا نتأخر

lazem nruuH  hala2 iza ma bedna nit2akhar

We have to go now if we don’t want to be late

ممكن

momkin

(may/can/is it possible..?)

ممكن اسألك سؤال؟

momkin as2allak su2al?

May I ask you a question?

ممكن نروح عالمول معك؟

momkin nruH 3al mall ma3ak?

Can we go to the mall with you?

بلكي / بركي

balki / berki

(perhaps/maybe)

احكي معها بلكي تغير رأيها

eHki ma3ha balki t3hayir ra2iiha

Talk to her, perhaps she’ll change her mind

ممنوع

mamnou3

(it’s not allowed to/ it’s not permissible to)

آسف بس ممنوع تدخّن بهالمكان

aasef bas mamnou3 tdakhin bi hal makan

Sorry, but it’s not allowed / you’re not allowed to smoke in this place

مفروض / المفروض

mafruuD/ elmafruuD

(should)

هو المفروض يجي للإجتماع. وينه؟

huwe elmafruuD yijii lil ijtima3. weino?

He is supposed to come to the meeting. Where is he?

#2.6: The verb that comes after عم

All of the present tense verbs after the word عم should be conjugated without the B or M prefix.

Take a look at a few examples below.

هو عم يدرس عربي

huwe 3am yidros arabi

He is studying Arabic

انتو عم تشربوا شاي

entu 3am teshrabuu shai

You all are drinking tea

احنا / نحنا عم نحضر فلم

ehna / nehna 3am nehDar filem

We are watching a movie

Do note that there is an exception to this rule. 

The present tense verb conjugation for the pronoun I (انا) after the word عم can be conjugated WITH or WITHOUT its B-prefix. Both are acceptable.

For example, you can say

انا عم بدرس

ana 3am badrus

I’m studying

or

انا عم ادرس

ana 3am adrus

I would say that the former is more common in Syria & Lebanon while the latter is more common in Palestine & Jordan.

To avoid confusion, just know that both are acceptable.

#3: Be flexible

I hope by now you’ve got a good idea of how the B-prefix works in Levantine Arabic. Straight-forward, no? Come across any of the 6 situations mentioned above, simply drop that B or M prefix

But wait, are there more?

Take a look at the following examples.

شو رايك تساعدني مع واجبي؟

shu ra’yik tsaa3edni ma3 waajbii?

What say you help me out with my homework?

ليش ما خبريني؟

leish ma khabrini?

Why didn’t you (f) tell/inform me?

زي / متل ما تعرف, وضعي مش ولا بد

zay / mitl ma ta3raf, waDa3ii mish wala bud

As you (already) know, I’m not too bad [my situation is so-so]

يلا نروح عالمول

Yalla, nruuH 3al mall

Come on, let’s go to the mall

نحضر فيلم سوا؟

niHDar filem sawa?

Shall we watch a movie together?

ناكل في البيت؟

nakol fil bayt?

Shall we eat at home?

All the verbs in the above examples do not have their B and M prefixes attached.

But guess what?

For some of these examples, it is totally fine to attach the prefixes as well.

And therefore, in order to fully grasp this whole concept of B-prefix in verbs, I recommend learning by mimicking natives (more about this in the next section).

The bottom line is that feel free to use this post as a guide but remember that the six guiding steps above are not exhaustive.

There are other situations where you should drop the prefixes. And there are also situations where it is perfectly acceptable to conjugate verbs with either the B/M prefix or without it.

#4: Learn via mimicking

Remember that spoken Arabic is different from MSA, thus there aren’t really hard and fast rules to how spoken Arabic works.

I recommend watching shows (dramas or talk shows)  or talking with natives and try to mimic phrases.

Over time, you’ll develop a feel of how the language works and be able to know that some phrases just don’t sound natural, and that you should be saying them the other way.

For example, it’s perhaps almost impossible to explain why people say “شو رايك تساعدني” instead of “شو رايك بتساعدني”.

Most natives will just tell you that it’s just the way it is or it just sounds more natural.

That being said, you definitely can’t go wrong if you follow the six guiding steps above as to when to drop the B-prefix

~~~

That’s it, folks!

Take care and I’ll see you around in the hosh,

Lyn

P.S. Are you facing any troubles/confusion when learning Levantine Arabic? Let me know and perhaps I’ll write a post about it!

The post The confusing world of B-prefix verbs in Levantine Arabic simplified appeared first on theLevanTongue.

You’ll find songs in both Levantine Arabic and Fusha. And while the most obvious one is Fairouz, I have also listed Nedaa Sharara – the winner of The Voice 3 and also interestingly, one of the very few artists in the entertainment industry donning the hijab (you go girl!).

Plus, this list is not exhaustive. Don’t fret if you don’t see your favourite artist here. Feel free to name additional awesome female artists from the Levant in the comment section below

For now, scroll through the list and enjoy!

1. FAIROUZ (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Bint el shalabiya
• Habbaytak bessayf
• ba3dak 3ala baly
• bektob esmak ya habibi

2. JULIA BOUTROS 

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• La Bahlamak
• Yawman Ma
• Ala Shou
• Ya Osas
• 3a Slamto

3. LENA CHAMAMYAN (Syria)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Ya Msafrah fil bahr
• Bali Ma3ak
• Kissat Ishk
• Hal asmar ellawn
• Ya Msafera

4. RASHA RIZK (Syria)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Matar
• Sakru Shababik
• Al Jathebeyye

5. LINDA BITAR (Syria)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Sar elkalam ghali
• Neesan
• Ward
• Ghazal elhawa

6. NANCY AJRAM (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Maakoul el Gharam
• Moush Far’a Ktir
• Hassa Beek
• 3am bet3allak feek

7. HIBA TAWAJI (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Tarik
• Helm
• Enta el fallayt
• Tir w Aalli
• Metel el Rih

8. ELISSA (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Aaks elli shayfenha
• Ya merayti
• Betmoun
• Aa Baly Habibi

9. YARA (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Twasa Fia
• Hob Kabeer
• Baher Hmoum
• Betrouh

10. MACADI NAHAS (Jordanian)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Ya 3amma

• Hayya 3ala Hayya

• Rahal
• Ta3ban
• Tiji Nsafer

11. ABEER NEHME (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Waynak
• Nizlo Njom El layl
• Ahwe
• Ma hada bi’abbi

12. RIM BANNA (Palestine)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• zedny befart alhob
• el ghaeb
• Ya layl ma atwalak
• T3am elhawa

13. FAIA YOUNAN (Syria)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Fi al tariki illaik
• Wejjak Ya Helou
• Ya Laytahou Yaalam
• Baynatna fi bahr
• Mawtini

14. ASSALA NASRI (Syria)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Kelma Adiyya
• Yom el raheel
• Boaadak ani
• Soaal Basit

15. MAJIDA AL-ROUMI (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Etazalt el gharam
• Kalimat
• Ebhath Aanni
• Esmaa Alby
• Mili Ya Helwi Mili

16. NAJWA KARAM (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Law bas ta3ref
• Habibi Min
• Ykhalili Albak
• Bawsit Abel L Nawm

17. YASMINE HAMDAN (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Hal
• Shwey
• La’ Ba’den
• Balad
• La Mosh Ana

18. DIANA KARAZON (Jordan)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Allah la yharmni menak ya ahla zein
• Insani ma bensak
• Omri law lela
• Enta el gharam
• El Omr Mashi

20. NEDAA SHRARA (Jordan)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Adawar alek
• Ba3dou 3otrak
• Betkhoun
• Sahrana ana

21. TANIA SALEH (Lebanon)

OTHER EPIC SONGS:

• Hal 3ayoun
• Ma Elna Shi
• Heya la tuhebok anta
• Yabalah

WHEEEE

What are your thoughts? If there are any awesome female artists from the Levant that you think should be included in this list, let me know in the comment section below!

P.S Check out my previous list of 17 alternative rock bands and solo artists from the Levant HERE

The post 21 Female Angelic Voices From the Levant appeared first on theLevanTongue.

The obvious ones in the list are Mashrou’ Leila from Lebanon and Jadal from Jordan. But there are more bands and artists to check out apart from those two.

Some of them may not be producing music anymore but it’s still worth checking their awesome music out. Folk, ska, reggae, psychedelic rock and even rap…I’m sure there’s at least a band that’s of your liking -read on to discover all of them 

1. MASHROU’ LEILA (Lebanon)

GENRE: INDIE ROCK

Other Epic Songs by MASHROU’ LEILA:

• Raksit Leila
• Sawsan
• 3 Minutes
• Kalaam
• Falyakon

2. JADAL (Jordan)

GENRE: Alternative rock

Other Epic Songs by JADAL:

• Salma
• Nyalek
• Wahde Bteshbahek
• Ya Ahla Oyoun

3. AKHER ZAPHEER (Jordan)

GENRE: ROCK, GRUNGE

Other Epic Songs by Akher Zapheer:

• Dayman Mawjood
• Feekee
• Keef Akoun Sadeeq
• Hob Ayyam Zaman

4. MEEN (Lebanon)

GENRE: ROCK

Other Epic Songs by MEEN:

• 7ada alleh abel ma yfil
• Btiswa Tizi
• Wosel L Balegh
• Ma2baret El A7lem
• 3al Mkhade

5. YAZAN HAIFAWI (Jordan)

GENRE: ROCK

Other Epic Songs by YAZAN HAIFAWI:

• Zay il Ballon
• Ya Reit

6. AUTOSTRAD (Jordan)

GENRE: INDIE ROCK

Other Epic Songs by AUTOSTRAD:

• Mirsal
• Estanna Shwai
• Ana bokra m3attel

7. ZAMAN BAND (Palestine)

GENRE: GYPSY, ROCK

Other Epic Songs by ZAMAN BAND:

• Malaki
• Ya Weali Weal
• Maria
• Fog El Nakhal

8. EL MORABBA3 (Jordan)

GENRE: ROCK

Other Epic Songs by EL MORABBA3:

• Hada Tani
• Taht il Ard
• Cigara Qabel Ma Nqoom

9. ADONIS (Lebanon)

GENRE: POP ROCK

Other Epic Songs by ADONIS:

• Stouh Adonis
• La Bel Haki
• Yeb’a Enna
• Leli Ya Lel
• Mafraa Amshit

10. AZIZ MARAKA (Jordan)

GENRE: ROCK JAZZ

Other Epic Songs by AZIZ MARAKA:

• Meen Gallak
• Heyye
• Bent El Nas
• Tzakkartek
• Bahki Lahali

11. EL FAR3I (Palestinian-Jordanian)

Genre: folk, acoustic rap, hip hop

Other Epic Songs by EL FAR3I:

• Sahib El Ra’i
• Dalik Malak
• Bein Kol El Nas
• Khayyal

12. APO & THE APOSTLES (Palestine)

GENRE: ALTERNATIVE FOLK ROCK

Other Epic Songs by APO & THE APOSTLES:

• Baji Wenek
• Bidi Masari
• Albi
• Bandora Blues
• Fil Zaman

13. TOOT ARD (Golan Heights)

GENRE: REGGAE, PSYCH ROCK

Other Epic Songs by TOOT ARD:

• Laissez Passer
• Bint Lkarye
• Majnoon
• A’sfur
• Nasma Jabalyia
• Syrian Blues

14. GHAZALL (Nazareth)

GENRE: JAZZ ROCK, REGGAE

Other Epic Songs by GHAZALL:

• Al Khareef
• Teebit
• Mish Mishta’a
• Elli Fat Mat

15. KHEBEZ DAWLE (Syria)

GENRE: ROCK

Other Epic Songs by KHEBEZ DAWLE:

• Belsharea’

• Beta’ammer

• Manam

16. ANAS & FRIENDS (Syria)

GENRE: Rock

Other Epic Songs by ANAS & FRIENDS:

• 3yonak
• Amara
• Haki
• Areeb
• Byeb’a

17. KHALAS (Palestine)

GENRE: ROCK

Other Epic Songs by KHALAS:

• Biladi
• Amona
• Alf Leila

***

What are your thoughts? If there are any bands or artists that you think should be included in this list, let me know in the comment section below!!

The best part of it all is that you don’t have to understand Arabic to enjoy the music.

P.S Check out my other songs related posts where you can learn a word or two in Levantine Arabic HERE.

P.S.S Like this list? Like and share this post! Don’t forget to subscribe too!

The post 17 alternative rock bands and solo artists from the Levant appeared first on theLevanTongue.

Or are you already aware that practically nobody speaks MSA in their daily lives and desperately hope to avoid being caught in the above-mentioned situation?

Ever wish for a book that you can invest in and refer to it constantly as a guide?

But have yet to find a suitable book?

Luckily for all of us Levantine Arabic learners, that book does exist!

And that book is…..

The 101 Most Used Verbs In Spoken Arabic: Jordan & Palestine (Third Edition)

by Fridrik E.Tiedemann Jr.

My battered and well-used book

I’ve purchased it at the University Bookshop in Amman back in 2015 for 25JD. I have used it for both self-study and classroom-study.

If you’re learning the Spoken Levantine Arabic (amiyya), then I would highly recommend this book. It has truly been a great investment for me. Even after having studied all of the given verbs, I still found myself referring to it from time to time because of all the other bonuses in it.

Is the book suitable for you?

I would say that the book suits best for intermediate learners or those who can afford a teacher (or a dedicated Arab friend) to sit with you and study the book together. That being said, I would still recommend beginners to get it. And I’ll tell you why.

• The Verb Inflection Chart

The book provides pages and pages of the verb inflection chart for all 10 verb forms. And this is already a huge advantage for beginners as the chart helps you to get the pronunciation right from Day 1. The chart guides you on the inflection according to the verb forms.

In this way, each time you learn a new verb (and if you’re able to recognise its verb form) you would also know it’s inflection.  For a beginner, this chart is extremely useful.

The conjugation table for the verb to lift/raise something (Verb Form I)

As you can see, the chart lists out all the inflection of the verb for all pronouns in both the present and past tense. In the last row, the changes in inflection are also provided when a pronoun is attached to the verb.

This means you’re pretty much covered when it comes to verbs. Learning the verbs, their inflections and conjugation all come in one package. You can’t do one without the other two.

And that’s why the chart comes in handy especially when you’re at the beginning of your Arabic learning journey.

• 101 Most Used Verbs in Spoken Arabic

Ok, this is pretty obvious.

This book helps you to focus on only THE MOST USED verbs. In that sense, it’s actually making life easy for you.

The given verbs are constantly used in typical daily conversations. Forget all the other verbs in the meantime (those are for when you have gotten a good grasp of the basics)

And what’s even better is that the book teaches you how to re-use one verb to come up with many different meanings!

As you can see from the picture, you can easily use the verb سكّر alone to express yourself in a multitude of ways – from hanging up the phone to slamming the door in someone’s face.

See what I mean? Imagine learning all of the 101 verbs!

**Although the book focuses on Spoken Arabic in Jordan and Palestine, that doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to speak to Lebanese or Syrians. All of the given verbs can also be found in both Syrian and Lebanese Arabic. I would say that the main difference between the countries’ spoken Arabic lies in the inflection of the verbs.

More Reasons As To Why The Book Is Top Notch

• Chunking method

Language experts have often quoted the chunking method when it comes to remembering foreign vocabulary and speeding up the language learning process. And this book allows you to learn Levantine Arabic via the chunking method by showing you how each verb is used in short phrases to carry a different meaning.

In short, the chunking method refers to the technique of learning a language in chunks (i.e phrases or short sentences.) If you learn in this manner, you can easily express yourself in more ways simply by replacing words from phrases you’ve learned.

You can read an article by Mezzoguild here to see how the writer utilises the chunking method with Egyptian Arabic. If you’re interested in knowing more about the method, check out this article by FluentU here

• Sentence examples

The various sentence examples provided for all 101 verbs do help me in gaining a greater understanding on how to correctly use those verbs. I’m also able to expand my vocabulary from the sentence examples. When I learn in this manner, I found that I’m able to retain the new vocabulary in my memory for a much longer period. Learning a word on its own without any sentence to provide contexts is always a big no-no in language learning!

• More than just 101 verbs

There’s a list of additional verbs of the same verb form below every conjugation table.

This means that you’re actually getting much more than what the book promises! Once you have gotten a good grasp of the 101 verbs, it is definitely useful to look through the additional verbs because they are also used in everyday conversations.

Additional verbs of the same form listed below the table

How To Use It

Without a doubt, the best way to tackle this book is by going through it with a teacher. I did exactly this for some of the verbs when I was studying Arabic in Amman.

However, with a teacher or not, the book already serves as a great tool to form sentences and questions in everyday Arabic style.

The author also posted a YouTube video on how to use the book (see below). Also do check out the other videos posted on the same channel- I found them to be very informative.

Conclusion

Simply put, the book is off the charts. Did I mention that it also comes with a CD to aid in the pronunciation? The only section of the book which I didn’t really utilise is the vocabulary list at the end – simply because words rarely last long in my head if I learn them from a list.

It’s a really comprehensive book and I’m glad that I own one! I’m also appreciative of the fact that the book is written in Arabic letters instead of being in a transliterated format.

***

So that’s MY review on The 101 Most Used Verbs In Spoken Arabic: Jordan & Palestine (Third Edition) 

Have you used the book before? Are you planning to get one? I would love to know your thoughts in the comments below.

The book should be available either via Amazon or Jamalon.

P.S.S I have also heard great reviews of other resources for Levantine Arabic such as the ones listed below. Feel free to check them out too!

• Shou Fi Ma Fi by Rajaa Chouairi
• Colloquial Palestinian Arabic: An Introduction To The Spoken Dialect by Nasser M Isleem
• Pimsleur Eastern Arabic (audio-based)

Take care and I’ll see ya in the hosh,

Lyn

The post The One Book That You Must Have If You’re Learning Levantine Arabic appeared first on theLevanTongue.