How long does it take to become fluent in Arabic?

Question

I am 16 and I have just started learning Arabic via a podcast. I plan to travel to the middle east after leaving school and I would like to become fluent in the Arabic language.

How long would it take to become fluent in Arabic? How long would I have to live in an Arabic country to learn how to speak Arabic fluently?

Also would it take much longer to become able to read and write Arabic?

Thanks for the help!

Answer 1

wow thats a tough road...the school that I went to had Arabic as part of the curriculum. firstly you need to learn the alphabet (which is totally different to latin or cyrillic) and once you have mastered that [which can take years...depending on how enthusiastic you are], then you just got to learn simple phrases and build up from there,

honestly speaking from experience it can be a very confusing language, especially because you have to rephrase a sentence when you speak to a guy or a girl and the past and present tense are also mind boggling.

i reckon its better to find yourself a friend that speaks arabic...because if your going to learn in solo then you might ending pronouncing things wrong (as they seem to speak heavily from the throat and nose)

if you go to an arab country you may find it easier to learn the language then and there as its going to be all around you and you need to know it to get by.

fluent arabic may take forever to accomplish, but if your determined and find a good tutor you should be able to learn it in the same time span that it takes to learn any other language.

Answer 2

Learning Arabic isn't a picnic - but it isn't impossibly difficult either. The writing may seem pretty daunting at first, but if you take it a few letters at a time, you'll be surprised how quickly you master the basics of it - after all, it's really only 28 letters and half a dozen extra signs.

The grammar is fairly different from any European language, but actually not that difficult.

Achieving a good pronunciation, and also distinguishing the various sounds when people are speaking, may require a LOT of practice with patient native speakers - Arabic has a bunch of sounds not found in any European language.

It partly depends what you want.Classical Arabic is different from the modern spoken dialects, which also differ greatly between themselves. So it would make sense to concentrate on the dialect of one region, for example Egypt, Syria, or Arabia.

Anyway, don't be put off; even if you only learnt a little, people would appreciate the effort and the respect that that shows.

Good luck!

Answer 3

I am glad to see non-Arabic people trying to learn Arabic. I am a native speaker of Arabic and I live in Morocco where we speak both the classical and the Moroccan Arabic. You will surely become fluent in Arabic if you feel determined to do so. Don't forget to ask for help wherever you can. Here on the Internet, it's a golden opportunity for you to meet with many Arab speakers.

If you need anything here is my email [e-mail]

I am waiting for you

good luck

Jalal

Answer 4

I am a native spacker of arabic... and I would say it depends on your willingness to learn the language...
I can say that podcasts are not really the best way to learn arabic.. you can build a base that way but when you go and live in an arabic country, preferably Jordan, Syria or Egypt as they are the most commonly understood and used dialects of Arabic, you need to find somebody who speaks both English and Arabic.
The way you do it then is to ask him about EVERYTHING you want to say or think about.. and he'll translate it into spoken arabic for you..
develop some kind of shorthand for you to understand as there are a lot of Arabic letters not used in English and, as I said, depending on your willingness.. it souldn't take you more than a couple of years to talk like a native, almost!!

I am going home to jordan back in the summer and I will be glad to do that for you if you are going to Jordan next summer..
contact me on [e-mail] if you are interested

Hope this is useful!

Answer 5

not anything is complex If the purpose is there, It’s an robust language to be taught. It’s lovely while spoken and written and, you'll believe a way of severe accomplishment whilst you begin to recognize .. Arabic language appear effortless to start with however it will probably get somewhat complex the additional you pass into it, and as you be taught extra approximately a language you eventually achieve a bigger information of the tradition that surrounds it and also you improvement from somewhat extra information :) .. well good fortune

Answer 6

try this link and they may pay your expenses in Saudi

www.bakkah.net/studying.htm