LEARNING ARABIC FOR BEGINNERS

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          As an expat from the land that were not so familiar of the custom and culture like Middle East ,the  most common problem encounter is the Communication (Writing and Speaking). As a first timer in abroad I experienced a hard times in communicating with my co-worker because most of them can’t understand or speak English. It’s difficult to explain and speak what you want to delivered to them. Also I observed that the one (1) word in English when translate in Arabic is equivalent to two or more word. For example the English word ‘’YES “in Arabic it’s equivalent to two word namely ‘’ Na’am , Aiwa “ . Taken along there complicated writing and pronunciation.

With these differences language used ,it create a big gap and misunderstanding. To overcome this problem, here some tips:

BREAKING THE GAP

1.  Observed, Listen, Write ,Ask and Practice (OLWAP). Observing is the best way to learn new skills and by observing you can predict what they want or what they want to tell about. Next listen to the word they speak and write it in paper, then ask them what is the meaning, pronunciation and equivalent word in English or to the particular languages that you use. And last regularly practice the new word that you acquired.

2.Read there Action.There was a saying ‘’Action is louder than Words”. By reading there action we can say, tell and understand what they want to explain.

3. Use Example Materials/ Equipment and pictures. To explain more detail what you want to deliver and tell about, use example material and act it the way you want to deliver your messages. By using pictures that your co-worker familiar of, you can communicate more clearly because “Pictures explain it all’’.

4.  Learn/Study and Practice their Language. The best way to communicate effectively is to learn their languages the way they speak, the way they write and the way they communicate using there dialect. To make it possible, following material will help you.

   · Books (Spoken Arabic by A.Seddiqi), Total Arabic pdf. By Michel Thomas (www.michelthomas.com  >download )

           ·   Social Media particularly YouTube (e.g. CommonArabic Phrases by Linda P.)

       ·   Installing Apps in your mobile (English to Arabic translations and vice versa), Googles Translate in your playstore.

COMMON WORDS USED IN ARABIC

Useful Word

1. As-salamAlaikom                                                                 Hello (use for greetings )
2.     Keif El-Hal ?                                                                                      How are you?
3.     Kuayes                                                                                              Fine
4.     Shokran                                                                                            Thank you
5.     La                                                                                                         No
6.    Ana                                                                                                       I  
7.     Enta                                                                                                     You
8. Howa                                                                                                      He
9.    Hiya                                                                                                       she
10. Homma                                                                                                  They
11.    Sabah Al-khair                                                                                    Good Morning

12.   Masa Al-khair                                                                               Good Afternoon/Evening
13.   Naharak Saeid                                                                                Good day
14.  Shuu                                                                                                  What
15.   Mata                                                                                     When
16.   Weyn                                                                                    Where
17.   Ayye                                                                                      Which
18.   Man                                                                                       Who
19.   Keif                                                                                        How
20.   Leish                                                                                      Why
21.   Taal                                                                                        Come
22.   Afwan                                                                                   Don’t Mention it
23.   Sadeeq                                                                                 Friend
24.   Akl                                                                                          Food
25.   Haar                                                                                           Hot

Numbers

Sifr         0                                            Zero                                

Wahid                                   1                                              One

Itnayn                                    2                                              Two

Thalatha                                3                                              Three

Arba’ a                                  4                                              Four

Khamsa                                 5                                              Five

Sitta                                       6                                              Six

Saba’a                                   7                                              Seven

Thamaniya                            8                                              Eight

Tiss’a                                     9                                              Nine

Ashara                                  10                                            Ten       

In learning Arabic languages it need a patience and constant practice. We can overcome the gap in communicating with other people (co-worker) by means learning there languages and believing we can nothing is impossible.