Recommended Phrase Book by Berlitz

[Abu Muqatil]

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Product Details:

Paperback 224 pages (June 27, 2003)
Publisher: Berlitz Publishing Company Ltd
Language: English
ISBN: 9812463305

I would highly recommend this book as practical phrase book and dictionary. It is organised by topics such as health, travel, shopping and so on. It contains unvoweled Arabic script and transliteration. The part that impressed me most was the diagrams of a car and bicycle and their various parts. "Satisfaction guarenteed" its says on the book - and I would endorse that.

[bhaloo]

Asalaam alaikum,

Akhi, isn't this book just like one of those traveller type books? You know like learn Arabic in 7 days, or whatever. I think Berlitz has one of those. What about if one wants to learn Arabic, for the purposes of reading many of the scholarly works out there? There is a book coming out with 35 hours of audio in September insha'Allah, that I'm planning on buying, but I'm open to other ideas and options.

Jazak Allah khairen

[Abu Muqatil]

Asalaam alaikum,

Akhi, isn't this book just like one of those traveller type books? You know like learn Arabic in 7 days, or whatever. I think Berlitz has one of those. What about if one wants to learn Arabic, for the purposes of reading many of the scholarly works out there? There is a book coming out with 35 hours of audio in September insha'Allah, that I'm planning on buying, but I'm open to other ideas and options.

Jazak Allah khairen

No, akhee al-kareem, it is not like what you imagine.

This book would be very useful to students of Arabic to build a realistic and practical reperrtoire of necessary vocabulary and phrases for daily usage. The idea is to memorise the vocab and phrases related to a specific topic, not to carry the book around with you.

Very often we learners may be able to read advanced books but not ask for directions or explain problems to a doctor, and often resort to technically grammatically correct but not idiomatic sentences.

Anyone who has learnt some Arabic in their native country and then travels to the Middle East will empathise with what I say.

With regards to a self-study option to read scholarly works, then the first book I ever studied in Arabic by myself was:-

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Mastering Arabic (Hippocrene Master Series)
Jane Wightwick, Mahmoud Gaafar
Product Details:
Paperback 370 pages (December 31, 1994)
Publisher: Hippocrene Books, Inc
Language: English
ISBN: 0870529226

It can be described as rather 'fun' and 'cute' as it contains comic strips, lighthearted dialogue and funny pictures. I personally found it very encouraging and a good way to give me some confidence starting only with what most children of non-Arab Muslim families know of recognising the letters only.

After that perhaps you can look into:

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A New Arabic Grammar of the Written Language
J.A. Haywood, H.M. Nahmad
Product Details:
Paperback 688 pages (May 15, 1990)
Publisher: Lund Humphries
Language: English
ISBN: 085331585X

Beyond that stage I do not think progress is possible without a teacher. As you are well aware a formal course at any level is far more effective.

All the best and Allah knows best.