Would you like to build up your arabic vocabulary?

[Editor]

as-salamu 'alaykum

I was planning on starting an activity to help learn new words here but I'm not sure if it'll work unless we have

1. Members who speak arabic and are willing to help out.

2. Members who actually want to participate in such a thread.

This is how I see it working.

Member posts up new word that he learns in its context (restricted to words from the Quran) with its meaning.
Then either he or an arabic-speaking member posts the different forms of the word (ie. maadi, mudaari3, amr, masdar, ism faa'il, ism maf'ool and naahi)
And then other participating members try to form an arabic sentence using that word (in any of its forms) to show their understanding.
Arabic-speaking members help to check and correct.
Move on to the next new word.
I'm hoping for at least 3-5 new words a week insha Allah. I just need feedback on this idea. Cos otherwise I'll just do this personally with a friend.

Jazakum Allahu khair.

[Abu MishMish]

Did you try that approach before? On yourself?


__________________
Islamic Network (Conquer) Fruit Seller

[Editor]

No I haven't.

[Abu MishMish]

I propose a diffrent approach.

You get a very simple Arabic paragraph. You learn the new words and how they are used. You spend a week on each paragraph and basically disscect it.


__________________
Islamic Network (Conquer) Fruit Seller

[ismiyy]

Would be interesting...go for it...

[Editor]

I propose a diffrent approach.

You get a very simple Arabic paragraph. You learn the new words and how they are used. You spend a week on each paragraph and basically disscect it.


I did think about getting words from this arabic "story book" I have, At-tarbiyyah Ad-deeniyyah bil-Qasas. But then I thought using the Quran would help better acquaint people with words in it. Like the good thing about it is that you can refer to another ayah where the same word is used or maybe a different form of the word, or another word with the same/similar meaning.

But ok we'll go with the simple arabic paragraph insha Allah, I'm sure there're some words that are also from the Quran and we can refer to the relevant ayat then.

I'll post the first paragraph (thread) in a bit. Other opinions, suggestions are welcomed since this is still kinda like a trial...

[Editor]

Is this a simple one? (I don't know how to put the shakl.) Should we go through every word since we can't assume everyone knows them? Like everyone knows al-kuffaar, but do they know it's plural of kaafir and that its root word is kafara, etc.


سأل الكفار سيدنا محمد عليه الصلاة والسلام: صف لنا ربك الذي تدعونا إلى الإيمان به وعبادته ، فقال: إن ربي واحد لا شريك له ، يقصده الناس في قضاء حاجاتهم ، وهو لا يحتاج الى المساعدة من أحد.

Translation (of meaning) of paragraph:
*insert translation here*


Word:
سأل sa'ala
Meaning:
(he) asked
Form:
Fi3l maadi (verb, past tense),
mufrad (singular),
mudhakkar (male),
[Min jumlah fi3liyyah (verbal sentence)
I3rab: fi3l maadi mabnee 3alal fath thaahir fee akhirih.]

Different forms of the word:
Madi: سأل
Mudaari3: يسأل - (he) asks
Amr: اسأل - ask!
Masdar: سؤال - question
Ism faa3il: سائل - questioner
Ism Maf3ool: مسألة؟ -
Naahi: لاتسأل - don't ask


Ayah from Qur'an:
سَأَلَ سَائِلٌ بِعَذَابٍ وَاقِعٍ
A questioner asked concerning a torment about to befall
[Surah al-Ma'arij (70):1]

My sentence:
سأل الطالب العالم بالدرس


How's that?

[Abu MishMish]

Maa shaa Allaah.

Yah, that's what I meant. You spend the next week (or two) going through it.

May Allah reward you, Ameen.

[Abu Dujanah]

Very nice idea.

"No, I don't speak arabic but I don't want to participate," that reminded me of the sad squashed up face.

[Editor]

You know what's funnier than the sad squashed up face?

Nothing.

I still think there's something amiss about this whole exercise, like how do we make it better? But yea I've "launched" it anyway and we'll see how it goes and improve along the way insha Allah. Wa jazakum Allahu khair for your input/comments.

[Neon Knight]

IN needs some beneficial threads. So, I'm Bumping this thread. Please if some one can continue it would be beneficial.

"ana dhaeef jiddan fil lugha al-`arabaiyah" (is the sentence correct?). So yeah my arabic is pretty substandard, more of a street version and a mixture of different dialects. So, please post more stuff, it helps me (and I'm sure many others like me) build up our core and basis for arabic.

*BUMP*

[Editor]

Besides the lack of participation, I stopped because of the degree of difficulty in dissecting one word. Like finding ism maf'ool? :S

I'd nominate you to spearhead a new thread which could be similar but much simpler or completely different as per your and others' liking. Or you could stick to this format too, it's your call.

What I love is the Qur'anic Word of the Day List (http://talk.islamicnetwork.com/showthread.php?t=8538) as it defines the word in context. What you could do (suggestion) is to take a word from that list and
1. form a sentence with it
2. find (only) the root word
3. find a word with the same meaning

I'm sure you can come up with better ideas. The floor is yours, brother.

[fevaflave]

why don't you sticky this thread?
and would you mind including a transliteration for me and for others who are really bad at reading arabic? It's not a big deal if you don't, I'll eventually learn inshallah.

[Abu Muqatil]

It is so encouraging to see so many people interested in learning Arabic as well as those eager to help. I propose we brainstorm the feasibility of using an online forum and establishing its parametres for teaching basic Arabic as I am skeptical about its effectiveness.

The learning of any language covers four areas:
1. Reading
2. Writing
3. Listening
4. Speaking

Currently only reading can be practised. There seems to be no effective means to check whether learners can correctly write the word, pronounce it, conjugate it or recognise its spoken form.

Assuming prior knowledge one can continue with a vocab building excercise on the assumption that the learner knows enough to pronounce the word correctly as well as conjugate it and write it.

Alternatively audio clips with the correct pronunciation of the word can be uploaded along with scanned handwriting. This can potentially be a labourious task that quickly ends in failure. Likewise should learners be expected to test their understanding.

In conclusion: fourms are limited in teaching a language. At best they can only reinforce prior knowledge with no effectives reciprocal means to test correct comprehension.

[Editor]

Jazakallahu khair. I personally treat these exercises on the forums and elsewhere as supplements to what I'm formally learning of the language. And they can turn out to be new lessons - eg. when I learn a new word or am introduced to a new aspect. I also know that some of the original participants, like me, were learning Arabic at that point in time or had basic knowledge of the language (common words, familiar with translation, etc).

I suppose the mistake is to assume that all the interested participants are of the abovementioned level - case in point: brother fevaflave's post.

What do you suggest then?

My own ideas would be:
- To split the effort up into two parts - one for beginners, one for students

- To make the Qur'an the point of reference in all exercises. In this way, audio is easily available for everyone to refer to.

- As for actual exercises, as a student, I really, really wish to build up on my vocabulary. I'd also like to have more application exercises where I'm able to form proper sentences. Thus:
1. A Word thread.
One of the things any student needs familiarity with is the dictionary. So we could borrow the daily word from Qur'anic Word of the Day and have our own exercise of finding the root word. In this way, our memory of the word can be strengthened as well.
[Another idea could be to actually memorise the ayah with the word]
2. A 'Conversation' Thread.
Random arabic chat but with moderation from arabic speakers to help correct us. Here, we can try to implement the word(s) we've just learnt from the previous thread.

- As for beginners, there can be a similar word thread but with the basic words. Audio for basic Arabic words can be easily found off the net. However, to make it even easier, again, they can be referred to a specific recitation.

[All ideas are open for critique]

In the least, these efforts can encourage members to strive harder in wanting to learn and actually pursuing the language. It only takes a few committed people to help get Arabic classes started at their local Islamic Centres. Insha Allah.

[haniya]

I am interested in online arabic class. There are such things on instant messenger I knwo paltalk has some but I don't have password and I would like sisters only. Could someone do that? I mean start one? Or connect me with them?

[juwairiyah]

assalamo'alaykum warahmatullah wabarakatuh

mai bhi (me too) InshaAllah lolz

[serfina]

Check out this vocabulary builder software www.memorylifter.com (http://www.memorylifter.com)
Its free. Its almost the same as vtrain.
ma'a salama

[omair]

for the qur'anic word a day group, when I check the daily mail in my yahoo account, I can't see the arabic. Any way to fix this?

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/1483/ffdafdslv6.th.jpg (http://img99.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ffdafdslv6.jpg)

[Editor]

serfina, jazakillahu khair. But for Arabic, we'd have to create our own dictionary?

omair, hopefully this will help insha Allah:

If you are using Firefox, then on the top toolbar go to View > Character Encoding > More Encodings > Middle Eastern > Arabic (Windows)

If you are using Internet Explorer, go to View > Encoding > More > Arabic (Windows).What you should do is toggle with the few Arabic options and see if the arabic does show up with one of them.

[omair]

jazakallah khairan sister!

[serfina]

Yes we have to build our own dictionary.InsyAllah, then we can share our database.
Actually i prefer the vtrain. Its so simple and user-friendly.
www.vtrain.net (http://www.vtrain.net)
But this is a shareware.. use it for 30hrs.
Assalamualaikum wr wb

[MakeHijraFillah]

Can we continue this thread?

I cant write in arabic on my PC- I havent taken time out to install the arabic components-

Even if it is simply mentioning vocab words and showing where these words appear in different parts of the Quraan- that would be extremely beneficial. I just came across this thread and see how its been "slow" in the replies.

Ed- I think you proposed an idea that was a bit too above head for the beginners in arabic. But something that we all can benefit from is if our vocabulary was increased. Whether we can read or write it isnt as important as being able to understand it (I personally believe)- because we have to recite the Quraan in our daily Salawaat and khushoo is a fard of salah- if we actually UNDERSTAND word by word what we are reciting this will totally help in increasing our khushoo and bringing forth different feelings in salah, ie khowf, muhhaba, increased tawakkal, taqwaa, ihsaan etc

So lets continue this, and just post arabic words and post the definitions and then simply site a verse or two in the Quraan in which the word is used. You dont even have to go into the different grammatical positions in the language, but a simple beginning will slowly help in atleast motivationing to further enhance our vocabulary and knowledge of the language of the Quraan.

What say you eddy?....