posted
I just dug this out again after a few months and I can't get over how WEIRD Jane Wightwick's accent is - not just her Arabic but her English too!
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Yes. I have a CD of her from the book Read and Speak Arabic.
Is she on Michel Thomas as well? That one that I never tried. I prefer Pimsleur.
Posts: 1626 | From: whatever, wherever | Registered: Jul 2008
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posted
Well I was given the MT as a gift and I a friend told me a friend of his recently applied herself to going through both the whole of the foundation, advanced and vocabulary and has come on leaps and bounds. Hence, I have dedicated myself to doing 1 CD a day for the next 12 days or whatever (with time off for good behaviour on New Year )
Not tried the Pimsleur yet. Is it Colloquial Egyptian or MSA? I have a Linguaphone which I got free off Freecycle before I came here but it's heavy going.
Posts: 5593 | From: Egypt | Registered: Dec 2005
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Aren't those teaching methods ideal for people who aren't in Arab countries? How about hiring a tutor and establishing a program with him/her one that will focus on everything from vocabulary, reading to communication skills. Just my two cents but when I first started out I was on a mission to memorize 50+ new words a day and I actually managed to do it. But a few weeks later they disappeared from my memory. This wasn't an issue with tutors as I retained more than 70% of the new vocab because we were using them in one on one conversation. You can also purchase an AUC MSA book for entry level Arabic speaking students and use that with your tutor as a guide for study.
I'm only mentioning I think Old Bag lives in Egyot and also because tutors cost so little in Egypt.
25 L.E per hour and you can get a graduate with a Masters in Arabic Language for around 50 L.E per hour.
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My personal brain cannot cope with 1-1 tuition on something like this it goes in to meltdown after 10 minutes- I find it mentally draining. That's also why I detest teaching (English, maths, physics, anything) one (or two) to one.
Actually I did 4 semesters of Arabic evening classes before moving here in London (with an Egyptian teacher) and I have cupboards full of books - colloquial, forsHa, in Arabic, in transliteration - it's more about applying myself to it!
(By the way my 'nzila hina' is fully wired into my subconscious now and I use it without thinking )
One of the things that helped me most actually was over the summer, spending 5-10 minutes everyday talking on the doorstep to the Makwa guy who knows NO English. I think the neighbours were in hysterics overhearing us trying to make each other understood with the pantomimes and thinking of different ways of saying things! One of my egyptian friends was with me one day when this happened and couldn't stop laughing.
Nonetheless I managed to find out where his family are from, name of his fiancee, her plans, his plans, how he keeps a family of six because father is very old and can't work on his makwa wages (he is just 19!), when he's getting married, all sorts of things - invite to the wedding! I did also manage to convince him unintentionally a neighbour ate a cat somehow but that's another story!
I totally admire these Egyptian guys who work their socks off to support whole families much better than graduates who sit round on their asses expecting someone else to support them.
Posts: 5593 | From: Egypt | Registered: Dec 2005
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One of the things that helped me most actually was over the summer, spending 5-10 minutes everyday talking on the doorstep to the Makwa guy who knows NO English. I think the neighbours were in hysterics overhearing us trying to make each other understood with the pantomimes and thinking of different ways of saying things!
I liked imagining that situation.
I agree that having to talk to people in Arabic helps tremendously. I have to talk Arabic to my landlord, the bauwab, the electricians, plumbers or anyone else who comes to fix things, the cleaning lady, people in stores etc. since none of those people speaks any English. Sometimes I get frustrated when there is a particular word I need and don't know. But then I ask friends later on, or look it up, and I can be sure that this word will definitely stick in my mind.
I also force myself to always speak Arabic in places where people do speak English, like the bank, mobile phone office, restaurants etc.
quote:Originally posted by Shanta Qadeama:
I totally admire these Egyptian guys who work their socks off to support whole families much better than graduates who sit round on their asses expecting someone else to support them.
One of the things that helped me most actually was over the summer, spending 5-10 minutes everyday talking on the doorstep to the Makwa guy who knows NO English. I think the neighbours were in hysterics overhearing us trying to make each other understood with the pantomimes and thinking of different ways of saying things! One of my egyptian friends was with me one day when this happened and couldn't stop laughing.
Nonetheless I managed to find out where his family are from, name of his fiancee, her plans, his plans, how he keeps a family of six because father is very old and can't work on his makwa wages (he is just 19!), when he's getting married, all sorts of things - invite to the wedding! I did also manage to convince him unintentionally a neighbour ate a cat somehow but that's another story!
With that approach and attitude I think it is only a matter of time before you grasp a level of the language you are content with.
Casual street conversations are the best.
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posted
Yes. I have more or less convinced the local shopkeepers to talk to me in Arabic - especially the total at the end - (instead of showing it to me on a calculator) which they pretty well do now unless they are very busy.
While I know all the numbers, and in a classroom situation can easily tell you what they are, actually in a real environment, I have to stop and think -for some reason I get 6 and 7 mixed sometimes and 8 and 9. I KNOW what they are but in that live action situation don't think fast enough.
My ear is also developing. We have this place in 6th October City called Leilat Al Qadr and I have them in stitches on the bus trying to figure out where I am attempting to go (it's an essential junction for the electricity place and the phone place and further down into 'banking' district).
Anyway, I was on the microbus a couple of weeks back and suddenly realised leilTADR leilTADR was that place - aha a lightbulb moment.
Posts: 5593 | From: Egypt | Registered: Dec 2005
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