Avoid These Common Mistakes When Learning Arabic
Learning a new language opens many doors of both personal and professional opportunities. But learning a new language is challenging and requires a lot of time and effort. In today’s world it has become more advantageous for businessmen and students with current or potential links to the Arab countries to learn and master Arabic. Although the payoff is great, learning Arabic doesn’t come without its own challenges. Before you proceed with your Arabic studies, watch out for these common mistakes students make when learning Arabic:
1: Approaching Arabic like any other language
Some languages are more difficult to learn and master than others. Chinese, for instance, is generally harder to learn than Spanish. Arabic is one of the hardest languages to learn. Many students think that learning Arabic is like learning an easier language and that they will become fluent in a very short time.
Arabic requires months of study. Many students get frustrated at their lack of quick progress when studying Arabic because learning Arabic takes longer to master than many other languages. So, students should not have these high expectations of their progress to avoid being disappointed.
However, don’t lose hope just yet! There are a lot of online Arabic language and spoken Arabic courses that are proven to make the language easier and faster to learn. If you are looking for such a course, SAFT can make you able to speak Arabic in a short duration!
2: Not recognizing the uniqueness of Arabic
Many students who have no prior exposure to Arabic are unaware that the language consists of two formats. Classic Arabic (or Quranic Arabic) is what is used in writing and literature as well as formal settings, whereas spoken Arabic is used for communication. Students learning Arabic need to decide whether they want to learn to read/write Arabic or to speak it (or both).
3: Not having an end goal
Arabic has many forms, dialects and subdivisions that can overwhelm even the brightest student. Each form of Arabic has a purpose and appropriate use. If a student doesn’t know his or her end goal and the reason to why they want to learn Arabic, they will end up confused and will have trouble in acquiring the skills they need.
For example, students who want to learn Arabic for business or work should focus on learning spoken Arabic while those who are looking to learn Arabic for academic reasons should focus on written, classical Arabic
4: Not practicing
Like any other language, students can only become fluent with constant practice. A student can’t expect to master Arabic if they study it and put off using it until later. It is recommended that students practice speaking Arabic daily during their studies. It is best for the student to practice speaking with a native or fluent Arabic speaker.
5: Utilizing only one type of study method
Arabic is too complicated to learn simply by reading textbooks. Arabic is not a self-study language. Students who want to master Arabic utilize a variety of study tools including speaking classes, audio clips, videos and text/workbooks
6: Not using a tutor
It is not uncommon for students to have difficulty in learning Arabic. Besides utilizing a variety of tools and resources, the help of a tutor can be the key to a student either succeeding or failing to grasp Arabic.
As intimidating as it may be to learn Arabic, there are programs that make it easier and faster to learn. Our course SAFT (Spoken Arabic on Fast Track) has been helping students all around the world learn spoken Arabic and is one of the fastest ways to learn communicating in Arabic. We utilize a complete curriculum and unique techniques taught by an experienced trainer that has been a big success so far. You can also try out our free Arabic course. We’ll be glad to help you take you first steps so you can learn to speak Arabic.
If you want to learn to speak Arabic, contact us today to learn more about our course.