Teach Yourself Arabic - Softcover

The Arabic taught in this course is the standard written language of more than 150 million inhabitants of the Arab states, ranging from Morocco in the west to Iraq in the east. The language in this course is based on the kind of material seen in Arabic newspapers and magazines or heard on radio and television news broadcasts. In modern everyday life in the Arab countries, so-called vernacular or dialect Arabic has supplanted Standard Arabic for spoken communication, but all these dialects derive from the parent root. If you have a grounding in Standard Arabic it should be easier to learn the modern local dialects which are based on it. The course begins with a guide to Arabic script and throughout the book there is an English transliteration (English letters) to help you with reading and pronunciation. The 18 thematically written units are carefully graded and present new language via dialogues, which are also recored. These are followed by questions and exercises to help you check your progress. The new vocabulary is given in both Arabic script and in transliteration. In addition to clear and full explanations of new grammar, you should find cultural tips which highlight some fo the social and cultural aspects of life in the Arab world and which you should find useful on any trip. At the end of the coursebook there is a glossary of grammar terms, a grammar summary of the main structures of the Arabic language, a set of verb tables and reference sections of Arabic numerals and plurals. Finally there are Arabic-English and English-Arabic glossaries so you can look up words alphabetically and a grammar index to help yo look up specific points.

Before he retired, Jack Smart was Lecturer in Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Exeter. Frances Altorfer was a modern languages' teacher for many years.