Introduction

Arabic is a Southern-Central Semitic language. It is spoken in most parts of the Arabian Peninsula, parts of Middle East and North Africa. In these regions, the languages with the most number of speakers, in chronological order are Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Kurdish and Hebrew. These languages belong to different language families. Turkish is part of the Turkic family. The Indo-European language family is represented by Kurdish and Persian. Hebrew and Arabic belong to the Afro-Asiatic language family. Aside from these major languages, people in the Middle East speak around 20 minority languages.

The Arabic language is assuming a central position in international business. One cannot underestimate the significance and importance of Arabic in the modern world, and the scope of the Arabic language in India is growing and vast. In India, It is also being taught and learned in more than twenty thousand Madrasas and 100’s of Colleges and Universities, mostly in Northern and some central and western parts of India. Arabic is becoming a critical language in India and outside it when it comes to operating an international business trying to break into foreign markets. Learning the Arabic language opens up many employment avenues and possibilities in several different industries such as oil, travel, finance, industrial collaborations, and translation, to name a few. In this blog, we’ll discuss some of the ways to learn Arabic:

1. Set your goals: Set goals that are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound). Before you do anything, make sure you get clear on WHY you want to learn Arabic. Maybe it’s because you have plans to travel the region and want to be able to converse with the locals; perhaps there’s a specific country in the Middle East that you want to visit; or maybe you need to learn for work. Everybody’s WHY is different – get clear on yours and write it down somewhere you’ll see it regularly. This will give you the sense of purpose you need to stay motivated and keep moving forward when things get tough.
2. Start with the basics: It’s easy to fall into the trap of trying to learn Arabic by transcribing words instead of learning the Arabic alphabet first. Think about how we learned English back in school. First, you learn your letters, then you form those letters into words, then you learn how to form sentences, and then you learn more about proper syntax and grammar. Taking shortcuts will only slow you down.
3. Build your mnemonics: Aside from coffee (qahwa) and algebra (al-jabr), there aren’t many English-Arabic cognates. This means you can’t guess at vocabulary the way you might in Spanish or French, and you have to get extra-creative to make the vocabulary stick in your brain. Take the time to match the Arabic to a strange similar phrase, and/or build a weird mental image. The more inappropriate, the better they stick. A G-rated one devised by a friend: Pat your pockets and say, “My fish feel loose” (mafeesh fulus), which means “I have no money” in Egyptian dialect.
4. Use a language learning app: There are many smartphone apps available to help you build an Arabic study habit and learn on the go, many of which offer a great service for free. You might decide that one of these apps sounds more up your street than all of the others, or you may want to download them all and try them out for size – you’ll likely find a combination that helps you meet your specific needs. One such great application is Multibhashi.