Where to learn Arabic?

Hi Maja,

When I was in UAE (Dubai, Abu Dhabi) I was taught "some" spoken arabic by colleagues from different Arab countries. I always had a hard time with language, but I learned a few greetings here and there. But then when I came to kuwait a year ago, my friends over here taught me some slightly different words, for the same translation in english. The meaning would be the same or almost the same, but the sort of "flavor" for the arabic from each country or region would sometimes slightly vary for some words and phrases. For the arabic that they use in Kuwait, there are some words that they "prefer" to use more than others, I guess. My colleagues who are from egypt would say some words differently than those of my kuwaiti friends.  They would understand each other because they know the language very well. But for those who are unfamiliar and not arab at all, they would probably feel confused about why is it like this that the other person greets me a bit differently than others. It's not a big difference, but confusing for somebody unfamiliar. Now I might be wrong about all this, and If I am mistaken please anybody out there correct me and explain it to us clearly so we may understand more. But so far this is what I have only personally observed. I am fairly new in Kuwait and I need more time to get familiar.

Anyway, I do not know of a place to learn it, but I have bought a book recently, and had it delivered to me on my doorstep and so far it has been quite helpful for me when communicating to my arabic friends while in kuwait. I have included links below...

speak-kuwaiti.com/
blink.com.kw/product-detail.aspx?product=speak-kuwaiti-by-k.ahmad-ali-edi-1&query=search

Disclaimer: I am not connected to the guys who sell this book or the author. Just wanna share what might be helpful. Hehe!

Hey there
Well it depends on what level you are expecting.

You can learn Kuwaiti from some local and you can take some formal Arabic classes from some universities around here

Plus, there is a Kuwaiti Language dictionary nice and cool to have it with you .

I want a regular school that is good for learning from scratch. I can google myself but tought to ask here if some can recommend.  And NO, I don't want private lessons for those who asked me. I want a regular school where people go to learn it from scratch.

Thanx

Check out berlitz-kuwait.com

I don't think that a local person with a decent state of mind would offer you private lessons to learn Kuwaiti lol chit chatting maybe

Well I don't know how low IQ should I have in order to buy that nonsense. O.k. except from those who came with an hourly price. Whatever... Thanks guys for the real info posted here

Anyone know where can take small classes or one on one tuition that is of good quality so to learn quickly, ideally more than once a week. Please post details if you do.

I can teach you Arabic for free

Maja! so good to see u at the run yesterday

ok, for Arabic i suggest you contact two places:

1) AWARE center - link
2) ... crap, im drawing a blank here, there was another place that was similar to AWARE, but i forgot its name! it also had a very catch title :S

best of luck! be sure to keep practicing it with ur colleagues/clients and u will be fine!

a few choice words for you:
Spinning - laff (try to not pronounce the A)
cycling - darajat
health - sehha
exercise - reyadah
running - rakd

Yessss!!! Was lovely run!

Thanx for the tips. Once again, people stop offering tutoring 1 on 1 for free! Not intetested in that.

I will check this school. Thanx!

Hi.
I am origanally Kuwaiti. And if i hear you speak arabic in non-Kuwaiti accent(Egyption accent for example ) i would find in so funny. Trust me.

So you have only two best options.

1- you speak the Original Arabic. You can learn this in Books. Or courses, i recommend you check Kuwait University Language centre.

2- learn the language from Kuwaitis (origanally ) because you are in Kuwait.

Good luck

Hello,

I would suggest AWARE Centre. It is a cultural institute that provides official classes in Modern Standard Arabic and different social activities involving insights into Arabic culture. The institute is in Surra area. The courses are very affordable (approx. 40 K.D per month). You can google them and get more details. I personally teach there and I have witnessed many western expats who made good progress in Arabic language and culture.

Regards,

Ahmed

First i would like to wellcoming you in my country, wishing you great time, best place to learn Arabic language is Kuwait Univercity, where you can strt with Basic Arabic, enabling speaking, reading and writing , it will be cheaper , it is nonprofitable, as per your driving you can apply on line.
Once more welcome in Kuwait

a little background on arabic Maja - sorry this should have been the first thing anyone said to u:

there are two types of arabic in the world: classical and colloquial; the former is used in published media, it is also the dialect in which the Qoran is written; the latter is informal, and differs from region to region.

as a general rule, all arabic speakers can understand and communicate in classical arabic (Formal arabic), think of it as Shakespearean English, thou arst etc. classic arabic is the best to learn as it doesnt differ from border to border.

now there is no such thing as kuwaiti arabic or egyptian arabic or lebanese, jordanian etc. each one of those is a dialect. as a base, you can assume that 70% of someone's dialect will be understandable to you as a classic arabic speaker, you will then have words that have different meanings across different borders, and words that dont exist completely.

the dialect in the gulf is the closest to classical arabic there is; with a few exceptions here and there.

as a first step, familiarize yourself with the alphabet, so that atleast you can read where you are going, even though most street signs in kuwait are written in two languages, still.

i'm trying to learn Russian, first thing i did was google their cyrillic alphabet, make a sheet of it with the closest english letter to russian, and go through that on a daily basis.

however i do not suggest u start listening to arabic music...

ill send you that russian list on whatsapp i think i might have made one for someone wanting to learn arabic, sometime in the past 5 or so years... i'll search the inbox and see what comes up

Classical Arabic is the language of Media?!!! This is absolutely misleading.

lol, relax dude, we meant PRINTED media.

"absolutely misleading"

take me to prison why doncha?

Published Media which is News papers and Its 100% true, they do use Classical Arabic. So that would make this not misleading at all.

legacy wrote:

classical and colloquial; the former is used in published media, it is also the dialect in which the Qoran is written; the latter is informal, and differs from region to region.

AhmedJaber wrote:

Classical Arabic is the language of Media?!!! This is absolutely misleading.

On another note, I urge the guys on this forum to use their common sense when replying to posts and only reply when they have something that answer the poster's concerns or questions.

The language used in press is Modern Arabic and not Classical. If one is offering advice for an expat this should observe precision and sincerity. One must not assume expertise in all domains whereas they are actually not in any.

From a linguist perspective, learning a foreign language ought to be sought from the right person/place. In biology, the one who uses the body is different from that who studies it. Likewise, only those who are specialised in languages can provide effective advice for learners.

(moderated: no generalisations here please)

I fail to see how the difference between the use of the word modern and classical is such an issue that you would take such personal issue with.

You say potato, i say Potatoe, lets call the whole thing off

Well as some people here were saying, local Kuwaiti is the language to learn.  I've seen a number of classes that teaches KuwaitI language.

There is a vast difference between Kuwaiti Language and any other one.  However, it is really humble by Kuwaiti people to lower down their tone for others to understand what they are talking about.

I've studied Arabic for a number of years and now, I'm learning Kuwaiti for that matter.

A non-kuwaiti language would sounds like this:

youtu.be/DMDM8KNUJRQ


But if most of the expects wants to waste time learning a no man language, they can have the bride and joy to waste their time lol

The Aware Centre do classes from very basic to advanced - also other activities and a good place to meet people too.
I have been goind now for about 3 months and can recommend it.

Try to stay more with kuwaiti friends and I'm sure U'll learn by practice

I think first you can learn very few and basic Arabic letters by yourself, then if you have any Arab friends it will be very easy to learn more fast and understand the culture as well, also in many English schools here in Kuwait they conduct a free Arabic lessons after school hours for their teacher, I think you can join them as well.

Hi all,
This website is a great tool i used to learn Arabic fast!
Loved this website and was alot of fun to!
hope this helps!  [Link moderated]
شكرا للقراءة

IPC given course for free to all Nationalities and Religions. Google for IPC.

An interesting concept! Why not learn arabic in a laid back setting in a coffee shop or out by the beach in a group environment? Reminds me of the good ol days of school field trips :')