A curated list of awesome resources for learning Arabic. Whether you're just starting out or looking to master the language, this collection includes grammar guides, vocabulary builders, courses, apps, podcasts, and more.
Al Kitaab consists of three books: Alif Baa, Al Kitaab Part One and Al Kitaab Part Two.
The latest edition is accompanied by the access to the online platform. I really enjoyed the platform, there are examples of pronunciation (audio and video, which is great for articulation practice), dictation drills (very useful and one of my most favorite features) and cultural videos. Some of the disadvantages include average video quality and age (which are still very good for learning purposes) and lack of support for mobile devices (though I am using it from my Galaxy phone easily, just need to turn it horizontally sometimes). If bought separately (example: you got your used manual from ebay), the online companion website would cost about $40. Dialects covered: formal Arabic (AKA Modern Standard Arabic), Levantine (Damascus) Arabic and Egyptian (Cairo) Arabic.
This is a great manual for learning the alphabet and pronunciation. It is very well-structured and teaches letters incrementally, with writing examples and really nice pronunciation guides. The only problem I encountered was that the vocabulary part is not very well presented. There is no context, just words and a couple of videos with dialogs. That is definitely not enough for me to retain the new words. Amazingly, the written practice and pronunciation drills do not always feature the new vocabulary...
My next purchase, hopefully the vocabulary approach changes.
- Arabic with Amina – Very nice explanations, but rather detached, without context. Useful to get inspired to learn some particular words/phrases. But putting them in context and drilling is up to you.
- Learn Arabic with Maha – Palestinian phrases are really cool, she explains them really well and they are easy to recall. Very motivating. She lives in italy and I think she absorbed some of the italian culture, she's very expressive when explaining 😉
- ArabicPod101 – Audio-visual companion to the main site
- Dr Bulbul's Arabic Blog Resources section
- Juha and the thief (Original Youtube Video by Arabic Khatawaat)
Full Text
Breakdown: Phrase 1, Phrase 2, Phrase 3, Phrase 4
- Song by Amjad Alnour | (أسياد الكلم (أمجد النور | Youtube Video
A song about Arabic language written in MSA. It is split in two: in the first part, Amjad satirically bashes Arabic as an outdated and useless language, then admits in an English interlude that he was joking and the rest is an ode to the Arabic. I think that the best approach would be to study four lines from the first part and then four lines from the second part, etc. Otherwise, you can run out of motivation before you start the good part, and it will seem that you hate the language 😉
Full Text
Line 1 -
Line 2 -
Line 3 -
Line 4
Line 39 -
Line 40 -
Line 41 -
Line 42
- Arabic Online Grammar Guide by Madinah Arabic
- Arabic Grammar Wikibook
- Learn Arabic Grammar YouTube Playlist
- Arabic Language - Learn Arabic for Beginners
- Arabic for Beginners: Arabic Made Easy
- Mastering Arabic Reading and Writing
- Arabic Reading Course (Beginner)
- Rewayat.com – Arabic Novels for Learners
- LingQ Arabic Library (Reading)
This list is licensed under the MIT License.