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Colloquial;	MSA;	Classical;	Books;	Websites.

Arabic, as it is perceived in the Arab world, consists of the various colloquial (*aamia*) and the standard form (*fusha*). However, in the English-speaking world a further distinction is made with the standard form, i.e. Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and classical Arabic.

The focus of this website is MSA, which is the written language of the Arab world, and to some extent the Classical, which is not used except in older texts. Colloquial will only be mentioned briefly. General study tips shall be given, but the advice is more relevant for the year abroad.¹

Arabic is the majority language of most of the countries in the Middle East (ME), from Syria (in the north) to furthest south in Yemen and from Iraq (to the East) to furthest west in Morocco. There are also minority Arab populations in the surrounding countries such as Turkey and Iran who speak Arabic.

At the street and family level the spoken language, more often than not, is a dialect and each country of the ME has its own distinctive unofficial dialect.²
Furthermore, most Arabic films are in colloquial and since the Egyptian film industry is significantly popular throughout the ME the Egyptian colloquial is also commonly understood between the Arab peoples. For this reason, if the objective is to speak (and not read and write) then Egyptian colloquial (ECA) is the most practical choice.

Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is the language of formal written communication and media in the Arab world. Its grammar is based on classical Arabic and its vocabulary is derived from it. It is said that what enables each country to understand the other is MSA.

Some form of Arabic has existed at least since A.D. 328.³ However, around 1500 years ago the Arabs developed poetry to a very high standard. A good example of classical Arabic is the Quran:

انآ أنزلناه قرآنا عربيا لعلكم تعقلون ⁴

The following is my journey to the Arabic language:

In London, United Kingdom (UK), by 2007, I had tried to learn Arabic a couple of times on a part-time basis, but none of the courses really worked and I had pretty much given up. It was then while looking to study some history/archaeology, I came across a one-year full-time Arabic studies programme at the University of London.

The School of Oriental & African Studies (SOAS) offered a Certificate in Arabic, which included three units of Arabic and one unit (of my choosing), in almost any subject. Naturally, I chose history for my fourth unit.

This is when I started to understand what Arabic really is. However, the pace was very intense and I regretted not having started my studying with a short course in the Middle East. At the end of this, I returned to work, but, as fate would have it (during the Financial Crisis), I ended up in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Near East.

While moving between UAE and Jordan, I made some improvement via Ali Baba in Amman, but after a few Arabian misadventures, I returned to the UK (post financial crisis).

Finally, I made one more attempt in completing my Arabic studies by enrolling at the International Learning Institute (ILI) in Cairo, Egypt (ECA and MSA) and, in terms of language learning and cultural immersion, it was a positive experience.

Before moving on from Arabic, I retuned to SOAS, one last time, for Reading Classical Arabic Historians, which is a history course using Arabic texts. An experience that left me wanting more.

Post pandemic (Coronavirus 2019), I occasionally attend a Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) reading group in London and we are developing a small local MSA community. I have also been casually learning the Moroccan dialect, on a seasonal basis, and visited such places as Tetouan, Rabat and Fes, which has put me back in touch with the international Arabic learning community.

Are you ready for your Arabic journey?

Whether you decide on part-time or full-time study, to learn the Arabic language one really needs to plan for the long term, in terms of time and finance. It is therefore important to be clear on what one hopes to achieve (i.e. be able to do with Arabic skills) and then find out how much study time is required, for that level, and calculate how much it will cost.

So how long does it take? Of-course this depends on size of class, quality of teaching and how much time you put in on a daily basis. Assuming full-time study, I would say that fluency in a colloquial takes one year, MSA three years and Classical five years.

Furthermore, if you can not manage full-time study at all, then you might be looking at ten years of part-time study, with the addition of shorter periods of immersion in an Arabic-speaking environment. Similar results might also be achieved by classes that use Arabic as the medium of instruction (in your home country).

Resources

Books:

Arabic books and materials supporting Arabic learning can be found on eBay and other online stores, as well as at Foyles and other high-street bookshops.

Below are some titles that I think you will find useful:

Arabic Practical Dictionary: Arabic-English/English-Arabic (Hippocrene Practical Dictionary) [Paperback] Nicholas Awde

Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic: Arabic-English [Paperback]
Hans Wehr, J. Milton Cowan

Al-Mawrid Dictionary
M. Ba'albaki (Author), Rohi Ba'albaki (Author)
Widely available in Middle East and cheap. Short edition (fine for beginners, up to level 2 in UJ) and large edition (almost everything you need) available in the bookshops around UJ.
Instead of buying the large edition, consider an electronic dictionary at Amman mall (for about 230 JDs) or the University Bookshop in Sharja, UAE.

Any Arabic-Arabic dictionary should have all the words with all their plurals.

Arabic Verbs & Essentials of Grammar, 2E (Verbs and Essentials of Grammar Series) [Paperback]
Jane Wightwick

501 Arabic Verbs (501 Verbs): Conjugated in All Forms [Paperback] Raymond P. Scheindlin

201 Arabic Verbs (201 verbs series) [Paperback]
Raymond P. Scheindlin

Specialised Arabic equivalents also exist, such as A Dictionary of Arabic Verb Conjugation by Dr George M. Abdul-Massih (El-Dahdah Encyclopedia of Arabic Grammar).
Available in Egypt, Morocco and probably Lebanon.
However, you probably wont find it in any bookshop around the University of Jordan. See what you like in the library and then take a trip to Abdali. At least one of the shops (such as al-fursaan near to the Jet office) there should have something close to what you are looking for.

As for travel advice, the lonely planet guidebook series is recommended.

Websites:

In addition to you own government's travel advice, check the Lonely Planet online forum or a country-specific resource, e.g. Jordan Jubilee.

www.alchemiya.com
Arabic drama series that you can access directly from Alchemiya or via Amazon Prime

www.arabic-toons.com
Cartoons in MSA.

www.hayat.fm
Jordanian radio in MSA.

www.bbc.co.uk/arabic
News in MSA.

www.yamli.com/simple_editor
Arabic transliteration keyboard.

Hope this helps.

Written by Malik, UK.

Last updated: March 05, 2025

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References

1. 'year abroad' - phrase used to mean the second or third year of a language degree that is spent abroad.   I am using the term more loosely here.
Follow this link for an article on living abroad.

2. Thoughts on Arabic Diglossia from the Growing Participator Perspective

3. A.F.L. Beeston, The Arabic Language Today, (London, 1970), p.13.

4. Translation: We revealed an Arabic Quran so that you understand (12:2).