Teach Yourself Gulf Arabic Complete Course (Book Only)

by Jack Smart and Frances Altorfer

Book Overview

Curious about Qatar? Teach yourself Gulf Arabic.With Teach Yourself it's possible for virtually anyone to learn and experience the languages of the world, from Afrikaans to Zulu, Ancient Greek to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0071434526
• ISBN13: 9780071434522
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.66 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.1" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Just Transliterated Arabic

This book's material isn't written in the Arabic script but rather the English transliteration. If you don't mind this, the book is a great resource, but I personally would find it much easier if the vocabulary and dialogues were written in the Arabic script.

How cool is this book...

I was pleasantly surprised to find that when the book arrived today it was a new edition of a book I purchased years ago and gave away. It was on my list to purchase as a replacement and now I have it. This book, I think, is well written and very well organized. The chapters are categorized under headings such as: 'Hello!' asking/giving your name/greetings. 'Where to?' and 'Where is...?' asking where things are, asking/giving directions. 'Numbers' and 'The telephone number is...' asking/giving telephone numbers. 'What time is it?' telling time, when places open/close and days of week etc. 'How much is this?' bargaining, buying and describing things. 'Are you hungry?' ordering food/drinks and what you like and dislike. 'In the House' where you live, renting a apt/house. 'In the Hotel' booking a room, services, complaints. 'Health' talking to a doctor/secretary, taking medicine. And you can learn how to buy a bus ticket to another city, talk to the taxi driver and GIVE HIM directions where you want to go, order food/drinks from the menu at some restaurants and chat with the waiter while giving him your order ... How to rent an apartment and hire a car ........ How cool is this book??? The book is filled with vocabulary for every chapter, a dictionary given in both languages and plenty of dialog with the very helpful 'Key Phrases' in each unit. Helpful grammar points and 'Notes' given on the usage of some words/phrases in conversation. The verb is given in regular and irregular form. You really learn how to speak the Arabic language in conversation with Arab speakers from this book. There are plenty of fun and interesting quizzes/exercises with an answer key at the end of the book. Every section has some Arabic script so you will be able to identify road signs and highway board notices and order from a simple menu. Then there are 'Cultural Tips' in many of the sections that explain the Arab heritage .... And much more. In the years since I first studied 'Teach Yourself Arabic', it is this book that I recall to mind when in conversation with an Arab speaker even now. I highly recommend this book. It will teach you the language and build confidence as you learn to use it.

gulf arabic

Yes, the previous post is correct. There is barely any alphabet practice and most all words are transliterated into latin alphabet. However, the dialects of Arabic are rarely written. One would almost always use MSA in writting and reading something. The dialects have no standard way of writing them, and it is not therefore taught in schools. Most anything you read will be in MSA (newspapers, news, schoolbooks, and educated writings of various sorts). The dialects, if used in writing, will be in songs, comic books, cartoons, and some informal conversations (example: email between friends). Getting back on topic, the dialects are mostly spoken and therefore it would be of little use to waste your time trying to learn how to write them. You should rather focus on learning how to write MSA. This is probably why the authors of the "Teach Yourself Gulf Arabic" do not focus very much on the written form of the Gulf dialect. Hope this helps.

Good introduction to the sounds of the Arabic language

This book and the accompanying cassettes will etch the sounds of Arabic into your brain. The lessons were well-organized and the dialogues were very clear and easy to understand; I enjoyed learning them and I began to feel comfortable with the sounds of the Arabic language. It's much better than just learning from a dry textbook.That said, it might not be the best book for beginners. It depends on your goals - are you going to be traveling to the Gulf? If so, go for this book. If not - if you're just starting to learn Arabic, for instance - you might want to start by finding books/cassettes in Modern Standard Arabic as opposed to a dialect. That will serve you better if you plan to take formal courses in Arabic at a future time.However, if you have $50 to spare, this book is not a bad investment.

if only all language books were such a joy to learn from!

i have gotten most of the way through this book by now, and it is by far the best book on arabic i've seen. i'd recommend it even to those who are considering literary arabic [aka modern standard arabic].[1] the dialect presented is conservative and unifying -- the grammar is that of a typical modern dialect but the words are essentially in the same form as in the literary language, without the complicated phonetic changes that characterize many of the dialects [e.g. egyptian] and create additional headaches for learners. the authors have also tried as much as possible to eliminate regional words and forms in favor of more universal, standard and/or literary forms. the result is that arabic speakers from all over should be able to understand you easily, and transition to literary arabic should be easy. [imo your total time learning literary arabic this way will be *less* than starting out directly with a literary arabic book, due to the huge inefficiency of learning in an unfamiliar script, as all literary arabic books make you do.][2] i have spent a lot of time studying 10 or 12 languages by now and seen a lot of very bad language books, as well as taken a course on language-teaching theory [which showed me what a horrible state this field is in! there is a total disconnect between theory and practice, which leads to a huge proliferation of ludicrously bizarre theories -- check out "suggestopedia" for some real laughs.]. so, so many books follow theories that dictate what you should *NOT* do -- never explain grammar [berlitz]; speaking only, no reading [pimsleur]; don't use the student's native language [the "native" method]; don't translate words, but let the students guess at the meaning [see al-kitaab fii ta:allum al-:arabiyya]; don't transliterate; etc. in my experience all these "don'ts" do is slow down getting a basic grasp of the language ["communicative competence"], and create lots of frustration. "teach yourself gulf arabic" is one of the few that does exactly what it should -- it focuses primarily on communicative competence, and makes use of any and all methods to make learning easier. one of the biggest is that they transliterate rather than forcing you to learn arabic script -- in my experience learning a language in an unfamiliar script takes at least 4 times as long. each lesson presents dialogs, vocabulary, cultural tips and grammar in an organized fashion, and the progression of vocabulary and grammar from lesson to lesson is logical and thoughtful, with the essentials coming first. particularly strong are the grammar explanations and the "notes" that explain unfamiliar constructions and usages as they occur in the dialogs -- the explanations are clear and to-the-point and do a great job of presenting what's important without burdening the learner with unnecessary complexity. the dialogs are kept interesting by focusing on various aspects of arab life, and dovetail with the explanations in the "cultural tips" section

Excellent

I am not an Arab but I have been exposed to the script and language through the Quran. I would like to add that the book is very good for beginners. However you do need the audio tapes as they are indispensable. The dialogues are well done and you can in no time learn them. Of course this is not a case of pulling a white rabbit out of a magician's hat, so you still need to work hard at remembering what you go through. One word of advice. Pace yourself and no need to rush. Well worth the price and time.Shukran.