Now, let’s see the real deal: How to sharpen these for skills in your free time?
• Reading
• Writing
• Listening
• Speaking
If you want to write, you should read first, and if you want to speak, then you’ll have to listen. As mentioned, each pair of these skills are so entangled and
dependent on each other. Surely, besides taking an Arabic course either online or on-site, you’ll need to work on these skills on your own. So, How can you develop theses four skills in your free time?
First of all, it’s crucial to mention that you’ll need a tutor or a mentor to help you learn Arabic and to keep you motivated. Arabic isn’t an easy language because it has a unique calligraphy, and a somewhat difficult set of sounds. Hence, you might find it hard in the beginning. That’s why you’ll need someone to encourage you and to make sure you’re on the right track.
Now, let’s see the real deal: How to sharpen these for skills in your free time?
• First: Reading and Writing
Developing your reading and understanding skills is a very enjoyable and fun process because it’ll include your favourite hobby.
If you’re a novels geek, you can use original-translated novels to develop your reading skill. Nowadays, many publishing houses are making books and novels
that have one page with the original language and the opposite page is the Arabic translation of it. You might think this is an advanced level thing, but it’s actually a method for any level. The more you read, the more familiar you’ll get with the words and the calligraphy, and eventually, you’ll manage to fully understand what these paragraphs mean.
Some of the novels that are written in this way and you can find online are:
• A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
• Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
• Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austin
• The Three Musketeers - Alexander Dumas
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Victor Hugo
Now, if you aren’t into books, what should you do? The perfect replacement would be movies and series! Put on your favourite movie of TV show, preferably
one that you’re familiar with, and turn the Arabic subtitles on, then enjoy watching and learning at the same time!
There’s also another method for people who are beginning to learn a language,
it’s called the 10-10-2 method. You don’t know what is this? Let me explain it to you:
The first steps of learning a language mainly depend on memorisation and the
best way to memorise is the 10-10-2 method. Simply, it’s:
the best way to memorise anything. This might sound super easy and somewhat funny but I assure you, it’s a tested method that have worked very well with a lot of students.
According to the countless number of students that followed this method, this is
the best way to memorise anything. This might sound super easy and somewhat
funny but I assure you, it’s a tested method that have worked very well with a lot of students.
• Second: Listening and Speaking
Developing your listening and speaking skills for the Arabic language are super easy because the resources are limitless. Starting with the Holy Quran, you can always listen to its recitals anytime and anywhere. You’ll not be only blessing your ears but also, you’ll be getting rewards for following Allah’s orders. You
might not understand the Surahs you’re listening to but to double your rewards, you can look the explanation of it up so that you know what it means.
Listening to Quran will make you identify the sounds and the intonation of the Arabic language which is somewhat different from other languages.
You can also watch Arabic TV shows and download Arabic audio books, there are millions of them on the internet.
Now that we’ve got the listening part covered, comes the speaking turn. Shadowing is the key. Since Arabic has sounds that don’t exist in the English
language like “ ق" and " ض", it’s essential to try to shadow and mimic native speakers in an attempt to produce these sounds right. Surely, your Arabic tutor
will teach you all about these sounds but you’ll also need to work them on your own. Don’t forget that practice makes perfect, and the more you’ll practice, the closer you’ll get to achieving perfection.
If you already know Arabic speakers, either native speakers or non-native speakers, practicing Arabic with them will be a great plus point. This way, you’ll
see your progress in front of your eyes and you’ll be able to measure your development. Also, it’s proven that when you have companions who share the
same goal as you, you’re more likely to stay motivated and not to give up on your goal.
Don’t forget that it’s totally okay to make mistakes because nobody can learn anything without making mistakes. It’s also okay to ask your tutors questions and to ask them to repeat if you don’t understand what they’ve said. Don’t be shy, ask, interact, and practice, because without these, you’ll not be able to learn Arabic. A famous saying is “fake it till you make it,” so, listen to the Holy Quran in its original language and try to repeat after the Sheikh even if you don’t fully understand every word, download and buy Arabic books and set your mind on reading them one day without the need for translation. Ask for help when you feel down and look for words and sentences yourself. Learning anything begins with your attitude, then everything else comes later.
Surely, you can’t learn Arabic at one night but think of what you can learn at one night, you can learn a sentence, or a couple of sounds, or a handful of letters, or even a single word. There’s no real measure for what you can learn in a certain period because it mainly depends on you and your attitude towards this very new task. Remember that learning Arabic isn’t only for educational needs, but it has bigger benefits too, and the biggest benefit is reading the Holy Quran in its original language: Arabic