maize Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 I know this is a bit of a long shot, but can anyone here help me and dd16 think through options for studying a colloquial dialect in Arabic? Dd has so far learned mostly Modern Standard Arabic, which is really a written not a spoken language. The various dialects are different enough to be more like individual languages than variations on a single language--kind of as if MSA were Latin and the dialects are the Romance languages. Her first teacher was from Jordan so she learned a bit of that dialect, but her new tutor is from Morocco. They'll keep working on MSA but dd also wants to choose a colloquial dialect to learn. Moroccan would be a logical option but it is really used only in Morocco and is quite different from other dialects. Egyptian would be a solid choice as most television and film in Arabic is in that dialect. Her tutor says she can help her with any of the dialects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 Does she have a specific reason for learning Arabic? Any special goals? It seems that would affect the choice of dialect. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 I don't know that I'd agree that MSA is only written.. it is also spoken, although in more formal situations.. when I was learning Arabic in the US, studying dialects was not a thing (actually there was not much emphasis on spoken Arabic back then at all in my program); when I first went to Egypt, my local friends would (kindly) tease me by calling me "professor" 😉 but being immersed in the environment took me a long way towards being comfortable with the dialect and speaking Arabic in general. I agree with KL, if she has certain motivations for learning Arabic that might sway her towards one dialect over another, otherwise I don't see anything wrong with continuing to focus on MSA and perhaps as a side thing start introducing herself to different dialects -- either through local expat groups or media or... jmo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 All I know is that Moroccan seems to be an entirely different language. DS’s tutor is Syrian, and he is studying the Jordanian dialect now so they seem to have found some sort of equivalency... I frankly think they just practice MSA out loud like Kate in Arabia mentions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted November 19, 2019 Author Share Posted November 19, 2019 7 hours ago, Kate in Arabia said: I don't know that I'd agree that MSA is only written.. it is also spoken, although in more formal situations.. when I was learning Arabic in the US, studying dialects was not a thing (actually there was not much emphasis on spoken Arabic back then at all in my program); when I first went to Egypt, my local friends would (kindly) tease me by calling me "professor" 😉 but being immersed in the environment took me a long way towards being comfortable with the dialect and speaking Arabic in general. I agree with KL, if she has certain motivations for learning Arabic that might sway her towards one dialect over another, otherwise I don't see anything wrong with continuing to focus on MSA and perhaps as a side thing start introducing herself to different dialects -- either through local expat groups or media or... jmo I guess what I was thinking with MSA is that it isn't what is spoken by anyone at home with their family. Is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in Arabia Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 19 minutes ago, maize said: I guess what I was thinking with MSA is that it isn't what is spoken by anyone at home with their family. Is it? No, probably not much at home 😉 (except my father, if he had been an Arabic speaker, because he's such a stickler about speaking and language (not annoying at all) 🙄 😄)... There are many cartoons now where they speak colloquial.. but I still find it hilarious/charming to watch older cartoons where they are speaking MSA/formal Arabic, it is just such a... dissonance... to have this squeaky-voiced, wacky character speaking formal Arabic 😄... and back in the day almost all writing (like books) was in MSA but that has started to change over the years as well. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slackermom Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 My 15yo has been studying MSA, first at the public school they attended last year (where the class conversed in MSA), and is now self-sudying at home, but looking for additional reinforcement in the form of a tutor and/or CC classes. The CC classes are also MSA. The Arabic speaker we have in mind for possible tutoring is from Morocco, and could do either MSA or Moroccan dialect. They have described MSA as being like the news broadcast language, so not "dead" like Latin, but not casually spoken. For now, my kid wants to stick with the MSA, and get proficient in that before branching out. The public school teacher from last year also teaches in a local 3 week summer program for arabic language study, a bit more immersion style. The program teachers come from a bunch of different countries but they still teach basic MSA to the group. We are planning on that this summer, but maybe the following study abroad program the year after that. The ps teacher suggested it, and it has placements in Morocco and Jordan: https://exchanges.state.gov/us/program/nsliy/details I checked my local library to see what they had for movies, and of course there was only a single one of each dialect, but it looks like we can find a lot of Egyptian tv and movies online. That could be reason enough to go with that dialect, I suppose. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 Well I just asked my dh. He was on a path to go into the foreign service, and we lived in both Egypt and Jordan, and spent quite a bit of time in Damascus as well. He was fluent in Arablic during those years. He said he would advise the Jordanian dialect. I don't know exactly why... I just trust him. 🙂 And yes, the written is somewhat different than the spoken. Maybe more formal? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madteaparty Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 (edited) Oh totally unrelated but there is a Jordanian dialect show on Netflix called Jinn. They used to say the Egyptian dialect was one to learn bc most movies were in that but I haven’t heard that said recently. Edited November 20, 2019 by madteaparty 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted November 20, 2019 Share Posted November 20, 2019 8 hours ago, madteaparty said: Oh totally unrelated but there is a Jordanian dialect show on Netflix called Jinn. They used to say the Egyptian dialect was one to learn bc most movies were in that but I haven’t heard that said recently. Egyptian soap opera business got overtaken by Turkish soap operas. 😂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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