Arabic is one of the more difficult languages for English speakers to learn, but if you manage to master it, it will open many doors. Arabic is also one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. It is spoken by almost 300 million people worldwide and is an official language in virtually the whole of the Middle East and the northern Sahara.
However, Arabic is not the same in all countries. Moroccan Arabic is very different from that of Pakistan. For this reason, private Arabic tutors and tuition centres tend to focus on Standard Arabic.
If you want to start learning Arabic, here are some tips to help you learn. Remember that motivation is the most important element, because if you are clear about why you want to learn Arabic, you will be able to push yourself to keep learning:
- Familiarise yourself with the Arabic alphabet. When learning a language with a different alphabet, the first thing to do is to understand it. Whether it works by syllables, expressions, characters or letters. In this way, you can learn to read Arabic and become familiar with its grammar, phonetics and sentence construction.
- Start by learning basic vocabulary. When we are young and learn our second language, the first thing we learn is how to say hello and goodbye. You can start by saying "marhaban" (good morning) or "ma'a salamah" (goodbye).
- Listening to the language. Watching TV series or listening to songs is something very easy and something that we do very often in our daily lives. To learn to speak Arabic it is key that you practise it from minute one, so why not complement your Arabic lessons with these listening activities?
- Expand your knowledge with Arabic classes. The best way to learn Arabic quickly is to start Arabic lessons, whether at tuition centres, Arabic language schools or private tuition with native and non-native Arabic tutors. Language tutors will be able to guide your learning and teach you proper grammar and pronunciation.
Tips for learning to speak Arabic faster
As mentioned above, Arabic is complicated, but not impossible. You can start familiarising yourself with the language by watching films, listening to music or even travelling. In the end, one of the most effective ways to learn a language is to get in touch with the culture and history of the country.
You can also supplement your lessons with these tips on how to learn Arabic from scratch:
- Make vocabulary worksheets. Everyone studies differently, but there is no doubt that making vocabulary lists, flashcards, outlines or other notes is one of the most effective study techniques.
- Work on your pronunciation with a native Arabic tutor. Pronunciation is an essential part of the language. No matter how much you know, if they don't understand when you speak, it's of little use. To do this, you can practise speaking with native Arabic tutors.
- Practice with sentences. Learning single words is not very effective, either because they are difficult to memorise or because in the end, you will not know how to position them in a sentence. Therefore, it is better to practise the vocabulary in context.
- Get to know some typical expressions. It is always fun to learn expressions in another language. One of the ways to learn Arabic is by knowing the most typical expressions and learning how to include them in your vocabulary.
Where to find Arabic lessons
There are many different kinds of Arabic tutors: online, at home, for beginners, for children... These are some of the possibilities you can find on FindTutors:
- Private tuition at home. If you like face-to-face Arabic lessons, you can ask for private tuition at home. To do this, you can filter by your location.
- Online Arabic tuition. Online Arabic lessons are very popular, especially because you can take lessons from anywhere in the world. In addition, you can also speak to native Arabic tutors based in an Arabic-speaking country.
- Intensive Arabic classes. To learn Arabic quickly, it’s best to have multiple lessons a week. You can ask any of the Arabic tutors on this page for intensive classes.
- Did you know that you can also filter the classes according to your level? This way, finding tutors that teach your level should be easier.
What is the most difficult thing about Arabic classes?
They say that the most difficult thing about Arabic classes is learning the dialectal Arabic because there are thousands of them. Another complicated aspect is the alphabet, as it is totally different from ours and we could never even guess what it says without learning the alphabet first.
Fortunately, Standard Arabic lessons do not teach dialects and you will continue to learn step by step until you have mastered the language. Let's face it, you already knew that Arabic was not an easy language to learn, but with commitment and a lot of enthusiasm you will be able to make the most of your Arabic tuition.
