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HomeLanguagesArabicArabic (Eastern), Conversational: Learn to Speak and Understand Eastern Arabic with Pimsleur Language Programs (Pimsleur Instant Conversation) |
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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
one thing missing Nov 06, 2008
I am studying --for reasons unknown to me-- Turkish, Russian, and Arabic simultaneously. In my reviews of Conversational Turkish and Conversational Russian, I said a bit about what I have found helpful in Pimsleur-based learning. You can read those reviews if you like because the same applies to this set -- with one exception.
Turkish has some extra alphabet letters compared to English but they are absurdly easy to learn. Russian combines consonants and words in a frenzied Slavic abandon. You can hear the consonants in the turmoil; you just can't say them at first. Arabic is far more foreign. They have consonants no one else has: ayn and ghayn, that choking thing, glottal stops at the beginning, middle and end of words, double glottal stops, hissing H's. You're going to miss some of these if you don't find some way to learn them because Pimsleur is so gentle that they don't really spell them out.
I recommend you get this set and that you also get the Foreign Service Institute's Levantine Arabic Pronunciation course (free mp3s on the web if you look hard enough and pricey from the Government Printing Office). This will give you nine and a half hours of excellent instruction and practice in simply making and discerning Arabic sounds. Then do Pimsleur. Then do Teach Yourself Arabic and Teach Yourself Arabic Conversation and An Introduction to Modern Arabic. That's my plan anyway.
 EASTERN Arabic Sep 08, 2008
As most Pimsleur programs this is an excellent one on EASTERN Arabic spoken in Syria and Lebanon.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Fantastic for Beginners! Jun 14, 2008
Perfect for beginners wanting to learn Arabic. The lessons proceed at a reasonable pace, and the pronunciation is clear and easy to understand. Each lesson is 30 minutes and you do only one lesson a day. Don't exceed this recommendation and try to squeeze in an extra lesson or two a day. The reason for one lesson a day is to allow the learning to sink in before moving on. However, you should budget an hour a day for the lesson, because if you are like me, you will want to repeat the same lesson again that day. The CDs teach the "academic" form of Arabic, rather than any regional dialect. As explained, this is roughly akin to learning British English. It might sound a bit unusual in the U.S. or Australia, but it would not hinder communication. Again, this product is ideal for beginners, but anyone with some exposure to Arabic might find the pace a bit slow.
5 of 9 found the following review helpful:
 Dialect? May 11, 2008
Amazon, other book sellers, and the U.S. Government seem to be unaware that there are several very different Arabic dialects. In fact at times in the past they were viewed as Arabic languages. Unless I know what dialect this product teaches this product is useless.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Very helpful Apr 06, 2008
I really like the Pimsleur approach to speaking a foreign
lauguage. You can learn a lot in a little time.
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