Little Nyssa Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 What curriculum do you like to teach Arabic? For elementary ages? thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 Depends on the child and situation. My oldest needs materials for kids who are Arabic speakers, while my younger two are approaching it as Arabic as a Second Language. I've tried a bunch of different curricula, with varying levels of success. But this is with parents who know Arabic and living in a semi-Arabic environment, kwim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amirah Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 im not teaching my little one with curriculum yet because he is two young but i plan to use iqra arabic reader http://www.noorart.com/school_section/iqra_arabic_reader_series_arabic_curriculum i will use the new edition which from my understanding they plan to redo all the levels and it will go up to 12th grade. i live this because it has the instructions in both english and arabic. now i am using this more for conversational arabic. i plan to use Ad-duha for islamic studies and Quranic arabic. outside support is my husband who spekas arabic as well as me inshallah i can read and write and will continue taking arabic for my islamic studies degree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted June 9, 2011 Share Posted June 9, 2011 I used Iqra last year with my younger ds, it wasn't a good fit for us. I'm having such a hard time finding the right thing for him. I've been using the Badran curriculum for my oldest (also available at NoorArt) which I think is great except that he's getting tired of the "we love Lebanon" themes (it is a Lebanese curriculum); the readings are really repetitive and blah (imo). I'm looking at other options for everyone this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. A Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 :bigear: My sister has Rosetta Stone for Arabic and is going to let us borrow it, but she hasn't used it yet so I don't know how she likes it, and since she hasn't given it to me yet I can't give any feedback. So.... not much help am I? :tongue_smilie: But once I get my hands on it and start using it, I can let you know how we like it. Our goal is just to get the dc to be fluent speakers. DH is fluent, but he doesn't make any effort to teach them even though he agrees that he'd like them to learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amirah Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 I used Iqra last year with my younger ds, it wasn't a good fit for us. I'm having such a hard time finding the right thing for him. I've been using the Badran curriculum for my oldest (also available at NoorArt) which I think is great except that he's getting tired of the "we love Lebanon" themes (it is a Lebanese curriculum); the readings are really repetitive and blah (imo). I'm looking at other options for everyone this year. Can I ask why it didn't work for your son?everyone I know speaks fluent Arabic so the curriculum doesn't really matter for them but that's not the case for me so I would definetly appreciate your opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Do you start with fusha? And assuming so, do you start the kids with MSA or Qur'anic Arabic? And do you simultaneously teach a colloquial Arabic? Bill (who misses his Arabic studies) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 (edited) Can I ask why it didn't work for your son?everyone I know speaks fluent Arabic so the curriculum doesn't really matter for them but that's not the case for me so I would definetly appreciate your opinion I, too, liked having a book that had some English in it, but I found the lessons really disjointed... And not enough practice. For example, in a chapter they'd have a short conversation as the basic text. Then half a page of drills on third person pronouns, then half a page on vocab, etc. Which is a really small amount, I was left trying to find a lot of supplemental practice. And I didn't find much review built in to subsequent lessons. I hear there is a teachers' cd, I haven't seen it myself, but I wonder whether that gives more? It just seemed really lite, to me.. And unclear on the progression of grammar topics. I found a curriculum I think I'm going to use for my middle ds at a local book fair. Unfortunately I'm visiting my parents in the States right now so I can't get the title for you, but basically it is a series of three workbooks that are heavy grammar drills. Not terribly exciting, but I thought I'd pair that with a learn-to-read curriculum I found at the same fair, which has a "Bob books" feel to it. I can send you more info on those once I get home the beginning of July. I'm not sure about my youngest (dd 6 yrs). I do know I want to get some new copies of Arabic computer games, like the JumpStart series. Our old ones are all done in. Edited June 10, 2011 by Kate in Arabia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Do you start with fusha? And assuming so, do you start the kids with MSA or Qur'anic Arabic? And do you simultaneously teach a colloquial Arabic? If you're asking me, I start with fusha, MSA. I actually don't know of any Qur'anic Arabic programs, at least what I would consider Qur'anic Arabic... meaning that it would focus in part on those elements that are different from MSA. However, I appreciate the reminder as I may parallel my oldest's study with a textbook that teaches grammar using Qur'anic ayat as the examples... Hmmm. I don't teach a dialect. I am assuming my kids are getting plenty of exposure to that through where we're living, friends, and what they watch on tv. It cracks me up to watch kids cartoons and hear either very proper fusha or an almost slang dialect.. I guess we have similar things in English... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amirah Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 I, too, liked having a book that had some English in it, but I found the lessons really disjointed... And not enough practice. For example, in a chapter they'd have a short conversation as the basic text. Then half a page of drills on third person pronouns, then half a page on vocab, etc. Which is a really small amount, I was left trying to find a lot of supplemental practice. And I didn't find much review built in to subsequent lessons. I hear there is a teachers' cd, I haven't seen it myself, but I wonder whether that gives more? It just seemed really lite, to me.. And unclear on the progression of grammar topics. I found a curriculum I think I'm going to use for my middle ds at a local book fair. Unfortunately I'm visiting my parents in the States right now so I can't get the title for you, but basically it is a series of three workbooks that are heavy grammar drills. Not terribly exciting, but I thought I'd pair that with a learn-to-read curriculum I found at the same fair, which has a "Bob books" feel to it. I can send you more info on those once I get home the beginning of July. I'm not sure about my youngest (dd 6 yrs). I do know I want to get some new copies of Arabic computer games, like the JumpStart series. Our old ones are all done in. i would like more info when you got home if that wouldn't be too much trouble. i hope u have a safe trip and i will keep and eye out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 If you're asking me, I start with fusha, MSA. I actually don't know of any Qur'anic Arabic programs, at least what I would consider Qur'anic Arabic... meaning that it would focus in part on those elements that are different from MSA. However, I appreciate the reminder as I may parallel my oldest's study with a textbook that teaches grammar using Qur'anic ayat as the examples... Hmmm. There is one from Iqra but I'd say it's more vocab than grammar. I've only got the Short Surahs volume. I'm sure you've seen this though. You can look inside on their website a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 I've decided for my oldest to go with Kristen Brustad's Al-Kitaab fii Ta'allum al-'Arabiyya. There is such a dearth of materials for the intermediate learner, IMO, but I got these materials today and think they will be a good fit for him. It's a college/upper high school level curriculum, he'll be starting in level 1. Some of it will be review, but the range of vocabulary will be quite different from what he has had in the past in textbooks. I'm interested to see how well the DVD will be integrated into the text, it's actually the first time I have a DVD that is designed to be used regularly throughout a curriculum. Oh, and I am noticing that they have a short lesson at the end of each chapter in Egyptian colloquial... I'm curious to see how that will work out as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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