Teaching Arabic is an essential pillar for any learner, whether Arabic-speaking or non-speaking, this language is considered one of the languages that have gained its importance as the language of the Holy Qur’an, it is the language chosen by God – Almighty – to refute the infidels and establish the argument against them, and this language is one of the oldest languages that contain various terms, meanings and aesthetic images,
but with the spread of cultural invasion, and the neglect of this language with its grammatical and syntactic rules and replacing it with different colloquial dialects, the situation has become dangerous, so some have brought the colloquial and al-Fusha. In this article, we explain the importance of the Arabic language and how to learn it easily, especially for non-native speakers, with a review of its grammar and some enriching information about it.
What is Arabic?
The Arabic language or the language of Dhad as it is called is one of the most spoken Semitic languages in the world, as it is spoken by more than 400 million people, and its speakers are distributed in the Arab world in particular, and Arabic has ranked fourth in terms of the most common and widespread languages, and it also occupies the fourth place in terms of the number of its users on Internet sites.
It has been widely said that the Arabic language is closest to the mother Semitic because it did not depart from the ocean of the Arabian Peninsula, and therefore was not exposed to the same as other Semitic languages, as the Arabic language was able to retain its ancient elements that date back to the mother tongue, so there are sounds that are not found in other languages, as well as expressions, aesthetic images, formulas for cracking masses and many linguistic phenomena belonging to the mother Semitic language.
What is the importance of learning Arabic?
The importance of learning and teaching Arabic is reflected in the following:
1- The words of Allah were in Arabic, and the hadiths of the Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) were spoken and written in Arabic, and therefore the Islamic religion and the Arabic language are inevitably linked.
2- The Arabic language highlights the special identity of Arab nations, as well as leaves its impression on its modernizers, and highlights the position of its people among the peoples of the world, where the strength of peoples is measured and their characteristics are known from the strength and spread of their language and the presence of a huge number of those who speak and master it.
3- It is indispensable when studying some other sciences such as Islamic sciences such as jurisprudence and Sharia, and it is necessary to understand the hadiths of the Prophet and to teach the arts of rhetoric and poetry.
4- The Arabic language is a major entrance to seeing and studying Arab civilizations in depth, as many non-native speakers wish they had learned it to study these civilizations and enjoy their ancient monuments.
5- The Arabic language contributes to the identification of all other languages through translation and transmission work, as the language is a means of expanding human perceptions and enhancing awareness and understanding to accommodate other cultures.
6- The Arabic language transcends the individual to promote religious concepts, and to understand religion correctly without mediation.
7- The Arabic language is considered a reference for many other languages, as many words and numbers that have their roots in Arabic, we find in some other languages such as Turkish, Persian, and Kurdish.
What are the characteristics of the Arabic language?
The Arabic language is distinguished from others by scientific accuracy and reduction, and it also includes many terms associated with one network printed on it with a scientific property that has no peer, so the matter of teaching the Arabic language was indispensable, and the most prominent characteristics of this language are:
- Simplicity.
- Precision.
- Objectivity.
- Economy and brevity.
- Clarity.
There are also many advantages that distinguish it from any other language, most notably:
- It is the language of the Holy Quran and Hadith.
- It includes a letter that has no analog in any other language, which is the letter (Daad), hence its name in the language of Daad.
- The world’s lowest number of letters, with twenty-eight characters.
- It differs in its writing from other languages, as it is written from right to left and not vice versa.
- It is characterized by rigidity and durability in vocabulary and rhetorical styles.
How to learn Arabic easily?
Teaching Arabic may seem a bit complicated, however, there are a set of steps through which the language can be learned correctly, and learning Arabic for beginners begins with the orientation towards learning the Arabic alphabet first, and that:
- Start typing from right to left.
- Identify the number of letters of the Arabic language 28 letters.
- Start with the letters A – B to the last letter.
- Many letters look similar but different in the positions of dots such as B – T – W – N and others.
- Arabic does not contain capital letters, and there is no need to use vowels or write them like those found in a foreign language.
- Practice and do not interrupt the language, write any new word that appears to you, and listen to the pronunciation more than once.
It is also necessary to learn the Arabic language to refer to the Arabic dictionary, and its use is not as easy as some think but requires a degree of training and effective learning, the words within the dictionary are organized according to the roots of the word, and in order to search for a word, it is necessary to know the triple root of it, and continuity becomes easy to use the dictionary.
We should not overlook some tips that facilitate the process of learning Arabic, including:
- Contact Arabs and talk to them.
- Subscribe to some Arabic sites.
- Follow up on programs and listen to audio and video.
- Arabic can be taught to children through children’s programs that simplify grammar.
The most prominent Arabic grammar that must be learned
There are basics to learning Arabic grammar that the learner must know, and they are as follows:
- Sections of speech (noun, verb, letter).
- Types of sentences (nominal sentence – verb sentence).
- The difference between sentences and phrases (a phrase is a linguistic unit smaller than a language).
- Predicate and predicate.
- Object.
- Nouns, in terms of singular and plural in addition to pronouns.
- Epithets.
- Verb tenses (past, present tense, imperative)
- The passive and the passive.
- Course.
- Prepositions (from – to – even – khala – forbid – except – in – about – on – since – since – lord – lam – ki – waw – taa – kaf)
- Temporal and spatial conditions.
- Splicers.
- Definition and disguise.
- Inflectional cases.
- Word order.
- Apply grammatical rules to sentences.
Methods of Teaching Arabic
There are many methods that must be considered when teaching Arabic, and they are:
1- Inductive method
This method means deducing facts and information from ongoing events and repetitive everyday situations.
2- Standard method
This is done by doing more than one activity and then measuring common things that are actually happening.
3- Method of dialogue and discussion
Here, the teacher asks a question and leaves the field for discussion and dialogue, and a kind of brainstorming occurs here, and this is one of the most common and widespread methods of teaching Arabic.
4- Recitation and memorization method
This method is based on the student memorizing a large number of words and information and explaining and narrating them to the competent teacher.
Steps to Learn and Study Arabic
There are a set of steps to study and learn Arabic, as follows:
First: Determine the type of Arabic language to be learned
Where there are many types of Arabic languages that are spread in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, and there are different dialects, for example, the Egyptian Arabic dialect, which is the most common in the Arab and regional environment, and then if you want to spend time in an area,
it is necessary to choose the style associated with this region, however, it is indispensable to learn the mother tongue Arabic, which is spoken by 22 Arab countries, and it is also a language approved by the United Nations.
Second: Start with the basics
Many resorts to learning Arabic by copying words instead of learning the Arabic alphabet, and this is a common trap and mistake, so it is important to think about the way you learned English in school, so the beginning was learning letters, then forming letters into words, then forming the sentence, then continuing in the world of grammar and its correct rules, but the abbreviation in learning will not get you to anything.
Third: Using the Arabic Dictionary
It is not as easy to use the Arabic dictionary as some think, as the words are organized in the way we discussed earlier, but the earlier you learn, the better and faster you learn Arabic.
Fourth: Training and Practice
The best way to learn Arabic or learn a new word is to see, write and speak it, and one way to learn beginners is to watch children’s TV shows that are concerned with learning the language, and another way is to watch movies in a foreign language with language translation at the same time.
Fifth: Speak the language
It is not enough to see and hear the language, it is important to speak Arabic with others, and some may find it difficult to find partners in conversation, but in the age of modern technology it has become easy as sites are available to learn Arabic, and teachers can be found to help in the training process with all available resources.
Sixth: Don’t stop learning
Learning Arabic requires years of study, and acquiring conversational skills can come quickly if you dedicate yourself to studying and learning, so never stop learning more.
What are the types of Arabic language?
Those wishing to learn Arabic must determine which type of Arabic they want to learn, as there are multiple types of them, which are as follows:
1- Classical Arabic
It is the common language in newspapers, news bulletins, and educational institutions.
2- Quranic Arabic
It is used in the Holy Quran, hadiths, and religious texts.
3- Colloquial Arabic
There are many dialects spoken by Arabs, and dialects vary within the same country, as the difference in dialects is clear between the Egyptian Arabic dialect, Moroccan Arabic, and Arabic in the Arabian Gulf.
How to become an Arabic teacher for non-native speakers?
Teaching Arabic to non-native speakers is a good choice, and teaching Arabic to foreigners online is better than traditional teaching and indoctrination in private lessons, but how do become an Arabic teacher for non-native speakers?
1- Goal setting
Teaching Arabic to non-native speakers should be based on teaching classical Arabic and not colloquial dialects that cannot meet the needs of foreigners. Therefore, it is necessary to define the learner’s goals before starting to teach by understanding what he aspires to.
2- Distance from complexity and filler
Complications should be avoided when starting to teach Arabic, there is no doubt that Arabic is one of the languages that are not easy to learn, it is better to start with texts to build sentences, arrange words and tenses of verbs, and use simple vocabulary to make it easier to understand, and you should not move to grammatical rules before making sure that students understand what has been explained.
3- Directing attention to the use of the Arabic lexicon
The use of the dictionary in teaching Arabic makes it easier for students to identify a lot of vocabulary and verbs, and also contributes to saving time and effort, but using it will not be easy at first, so it is necessary to give good guidance on how to use it and train on it so that they can later deal with it easily.
4- Achieve effective learning
It is not enough to rely on traditional educational activities, there are other methods such as quizzes, educational games, and puzzles that create a kind of effectiveness in the classroom, and these activities stimulate the brain, increase focus and attraction towards language, and turn this complex experience into an enjoyable experience that students accept with more attention.
FAQ about teaching Arabic
How many words are in Arabic?
According to references, sources, and dictionaries of the Arabic language, the number of Arabic words is estimated at approximately 12,302,912 words, which is equivalent to 25 times the number of words in the English language, which consists of only 600 thousand words, while the number of words in French does not exceed 150 thousand words and Russian 130 thousand words,
while the vocabulary of the German language reaches 5.3 million words, and looking at this narrative, it is clear that the Arabic language surpasses its counterparts in terms of the number, diversity, and richness of vocabulary.
Who is the founder of Arabic?
There are many common opinions about the origin of the Arabic language and its founder, including that the Arabic language is older than the Arabs themselves, it was said that it is the language of Adam in Paradise, and in the era of the Abbasid Caliphate the controversy began to expand and spread,
the corruption of saying that Yarub bin Qahtan was the first to speak Arabic, while others went to say that Ismail was the first to speak it, and the citation here was the Holy Quran and the hadiths of the Prophet.
Despite this multiplicity of opinions, the Arabic language descends from the native Semitic language and is still maintaining its elements and rules, and what contributed to this is the survival of the Arabs in the Arabian Peninsula, and it suffices to mention that the founder of grammar is Abu Al-Aswad Al-Du’ali, he is one of the first to develop the science of grammar in the Arabic language, and the first to adjust its rules and points of the Qur’an.
What is the order of the Arabic language in terms of difficulty?
The disagreement is evident between researchers and scholars in the field of language about the order of languages in terms of difficulty, but there is agreement that the Arabic language is included in the list of the top ten in terms of its difficulty, and some have placed it in second place, others in third and fourth place, while the Chinese language comes in first place.
What is the longest word in Arabic?
The longest word in the Arabic language is the longest word in the Holy Qur’an, “Fasqinakmoh”, “فأسقيناكموه” which consists of 11 letters, and the word “Anlzkmmoha” “أنلزمكموها” came to the second longest word in the Arabic language and the number letters is ten letters, while the word “Vsikfakhm” “فسيكفيكهم” is the third longest word and the number of letters is 9 letters.
How old is Arabic?
Some attribute the Arabic language to the Arabs, and this is a false claim, as the Arabic language is older than the Arabs themselves, and some have differed in its age, the oldest northern Arabic text was found in the early first millennium BC after the separation of the primitive Arabic language from the middle Semitic language, and primitive Arabic was used in the northeast of the Arabian Peninsula and the southern Levant.
There is also some evidence to suggest that ancient North Arabia appeared in the late first millennium through the inscriptions of the Nabataean, Safa’i, and Hasmaite alphabets. While classical Arabic dates back about 1600 years, its origins go back far beyond that.
Why is the Arabic language so named?
The name of the Arabic language is due to this name about those who speak it, which are the Arabs, and the Arabs came from Ismail – peace be upon him – and some went to say that the reason for the name is because they are attributed to Ya’rub, while some go to say that the Arabic language is older than the Arabs and therefore the reason for naming it seems unknown.
Some linguists went on to say that the word Arabs is derived from the verb Arab, i.e. disclosed in speech, and became called the Arabs for their eloquence in the tongue, and the language was so named for its eloquence from all other languages.
As for the reason for calling it the Dhad language, it is because it is the only language that contains the letter “Daad”, and the Arabs are the most articulate who pronounce this letter, and this letter is one of the most difficult letters to pronounce for non-Arabs, and some non-Arabic speakers find it difficult to find an alternative sound for it in their languages.
How do I study Arabic online?
There are many Arabic language teaching platforms that help in teaching Arabic very easily, in Wahion youha Academy Inspired to teach Arabic language has become easy to teach Arabic, you do not need a specific time or go to a specific place to learn, where anyone who has the desire to learn Arabic can create his own account through the platform and start receiving lessons according to the academy’s plans.