EmmaNZ Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 Has anybody used Gateway to Arabic? Or the new Iqra Arabic series? Or does anybody have any other good suggestions for starting Arabic with an almost 6 year old? Not sure if it makes a difference but he can read the alphabet and harakaat. We are not Arabic speakers at home. TIA! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairytalemama Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 :bigear: We live in a community that is predominantly Middle Eastern. I look forward to hearing the responses to this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 Has anybody used Gateway to Arabic? Or the new Iqra Arabic series? Or does anybody have any other good suggestions for starting Arabic with an almost 6 year old? I have both of these series; I've become a bit of a pack rat where Arabic curricula is concerned. I think they are both fine programs, but where the problem is, especially for younger students, is in the amount of drill or repetition. I mean, for my kids to learn English they are exposed daily and in various manners. They have constant reinforcement of vocab and grammar. The challenge for Arabic, imo, is to try and mimic this as much as possible. I have a lot of Arabic textbooks, but where I spend the most time is in trying to think of ways to reinforce -- additional drills, outside reading, etc. Our Arabic studies end up with one program as a spine, and then me scurrying around for supplementals -- often pages from other curricula workbooks. So, in a nutshell, lol, I think both of these programs are decent, but not sufficient in and of themselves (particularly for children, adults may be a different matter). jmo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bayt ul-Hikmah Posted July 21, 2010 Share Posted July 21, 2010 :bigear: I'm struggling with this as well. Our focus right now is fluent reading with tajweed so that the boys can start hifzh, but I would still love to find a good program designed for non-native speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmmaNZ Posted July 22, 2010 Author Share Posted July 22, 2010 Jazakillah khayr for your advice Kate (in Arabia - I just realised you're both Kate!). I suppose my aim is only to make a start so that he has a basic understanding of some vocab/grammar rules etc. It seems either of these programs will supply that. I am not aiming for fluency at this stage - mostly because I don't feel able to teach him myself to this level. Should I be aiming higher? I had a look at your blog Kate of Bayt ul-Hikmah - our boys seem at a very similar level. We are sounding out words in Arabic too, and have just finished Surah Alaq. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cholderby Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 (edited) :bigear: You don't speak Arabic at home, but you do speak Arabic, right? We're non-speakers (DH's family is from Lebanon but they've been in America long enough that none speak Arabic now). I've studied Arabic on and off for years (and I don't have much to show for it, sad to say) but I'm looking to start my kids (ages 5 & 3) on some course of study. We live near a large Arabic speaking community so I'm trying to find playdates and other activities to expose them to the language. So far we've just read board books and played some YouTube videos of the alphabet and such. I'm really interested in the books you mentioned, where can I buy them? Amazon (in the US) is currently only carrying books 5 & 7. Fairytalemama - Are you in Dearborn? I'm from Dearborn, currently in Southfield. You'd think there'd be more Arabic for kids resources around. Edited August 23, 2010 by cholderby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 So far we've just read board books and played some YouTube videos of the alphabet and such. I'm really interested in the books you mentioned, where can I buy them? Amazon (in the US) is currently only carrying books 5 & 7. I ordered mine from NoorArt (in America) which carries a range of Arabic curricula, some are secular and some religious. I have also ordered Arabic books when living in America from Librarie du Liban Publishers; they are in Lebanon, but the cost of the books is low, so even if shipping doubles the overall cost it still isn't bad (imo). I also now see that Jarir, which is a bookstore chain here in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, have a US distributor. I have never ordered from them, but that may be another option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cholderby Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 Thank you so much! Since I'm not part of any Arabic speaking community, I have had a really hard time finding materials! Since reading this thread, I've ordered Arabic Without Tears, from the same publishers as Gateway to Arabic. Shipping cost more than the book so I imagine it won't be here anytime soon but I am so excited to finally have age-appropriate material for young English speakers learning Arabic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UmmAbduRahman Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 If you yourself are not familiar with the correct pronunciation of the Arabic alphabet, this website could help. If that link doesn't work, go here and click "Noorani Qaidah" on the right side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UmmAbduRahman Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 Al-Aafaq in Arabic is another series. I haven't used it myself but the most highly-regarded Islamic private school here uses it. I'll be checking it out. Arabic Course for English Speaking Students is set that I have used to learn Arabic, in a class setting with a teacher. It is a great resource but would probably need someone who understands Arabic to teach from it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 Hi, Subbing... I'm in the same boat (a 6 yo who needs to learn Arabic, and neither my husband nor I are native speakers).DS goes to Islamic school once/week but we're thinking of changing to a coop where the teachers are native speakers and doing longer classes twice/week. I'm just not good with languages. Here's a link we use for flashcards, if that's any help to anyone: http://flashcarddb.com/cardset/study/4168 UmmAbduRahman, thank you very much for the links. I'll be checking them out tonight after the kids are asleep! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cholderby Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 You can't buy it, but I thought someone might find it interesting to know the material I used to learn reading and writing in Arabic is a used 1st grade work book from a school in Baghdad (I know a former teacher who moved to the US). I always wonder what that little boy would think if he knew his old notebook flew halfway 'round the globe and ended up in the hands of an English-speaking 30-something mom :D. I REALLY appreciate your sharing resources! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UmmAbduRahman Posted September 25, 2010 Share Posted September 25, 2010 I just found PDFs online for download of the Lessons in Arabic Language series by Dr. V. AbderRaheem of the Islamic University of Madinah (the set I recommended earlier) They are here along with other texts (a more beginning book starting from learning the alphabet) and charts for learning Arabic. Please note when using the Madinah books that there are lessons written in English in the back pages which correspond to each Arabic lesson in the front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.