Steps that will save you years of learning the Arabic language

Learn Arabic:

It is no secret that discussing the topic of learning the Arabic language raises many questions about searching for new strategies that make it easier for the learner to acquire information faster, by using different learning methods according to the nature of the learner.

When we address the issue of learning the Arabic language, it requires us to look at the standards that must be followed by teachers so that the information reaches the recipient in a correct manner, without deficiency or confusion, which is what we seek today to convey to every knowledgeable person who wishes to present what he has in a complete form to the learner, which in turn makes us look closely at important points that enable teachers to master their job, as well as learners to acquire more in less time.

When we address the issue of learning the Arabic language, we must take several considerations into account, the most important of which are:

• Learner's language.

• The nature of the learner's intelligence.

• Age of the learner.

Teaching Arabic differs depending on the language of the learners, as those who speak classical Arabic do not face much difficulty compared to those who speak other languages, or what we call ( non-Arabic speakers ), and thus learning strategies differ between them.

The nature of the learner’s intelligence and age also contribute to the teacher’s use of the strategy and the appropriate learning method for him.

Intelligences differ among students as follows:

2-Auditory intelligence.

3-Logical intelligence.

4- Verbal intelligence.

5- Social intelligence.

6- Emotional intelligence.

7- Reflective intelligence.

8-Physical intelligence.

A child’s learning differs from that of an adolescent, who is an adult with an opinion and responsibility, which we will discuss earlier in our topic.

Learn Arabic for non-native speakers:

Teaching Arabic to non-native speakers requires several components that must be available in the teacher first, and perhaps the most important of them are:

The teacher was able to speak standard Arabic.1.

2- The teacher’s mastery of the most common foreign language in the world, such as English, to the extent that he can use it to explain and communicate the rules and terminology of classical Arabic.

3- The teacher’s participation with the learners in the educational process, through their previous experiences, to facilitate the acquisition of the language personally to express oneself first, and then move on to expressing what is happening outside and the surrounding context second.

Non-native speakers need to learn Arabic from scratch. There are stages to teaching Arabic to non-native speakers, which are:

Teaching letter sounds:

• There is a difference between it and the name of the letter, and the teacher must take into account the absence of some sounds of the Arabic language from other languages, which forces him to focus on them, such as the sounds whose point of articulation is the pharyngeal, which is the letter (Q), and the sounds with guttural points of articulation such as: ء, ح, خ, ع, غ.

Listening strategy:

• It is based on learning words and sentences by pronouncing them and pairing them with pictures, to make it easy for the mind to memorize the picture and quickly remember the words and sentences paired with the pictures.

Teaching ready-made sentences

• Used in most life situations, such as: This is my father, this is my sister, I want, I am hungry, I feel... etc.

Studying Arabic grammar through similarities between it and English grammar

• And explaining it through the comparison between them, taking into account the difference between some rules that do not exist in Arabic, such as: simplefuture tense, and its translation in Arabic is the simple future tense, which does not exist in the Arabic language, but is compensated for by verbal clues such as: s (procrastination), and will, and circumstances of time such as after, tomorrow, and later.

Replacement strategy

• Which is used to make it easier for the learner to form many sentences from ready-made and fixed patterns, such as: I love ...., and the recipient changes the required place of the dots, such as saying: I love fruit, I love reading, and so on.

Conversion strategy

• Which is based on converting singular sentences into dual or plural, such as the sentence: The girl is excellent, and its dual: The two girls are excellent, and its plural: The girls are excellent, and converting the affirmative sentence into a negative, such as: Ahmed watches TV, and negating it by adding the negative (la), so the sentence becomes: Ahmed does not watch TV, or converting declarative sentences into performative sentences, such as: The weather is hot, and when converting it into an interrogative performative sentence we say: Is the weather hot? And so on.

Learn Arabic for kids

• Teaching Arabic to children is similar to teaching it to non-native speakers in that the teacher begins teaching Arabic from scratch, given that both agree on the lack of foundations and rules in the Arabic language to a large extent among students, with the difference in the acquisition of life experiences by non-native speakers compared to children.
• The study of Arabic for children depends on the teacher first and foremost, since the child does not have in his mind and conscience any experiences through which he can participate in the educational process. Therefore, the child is a being who receives information silently without interference from him, because there are no countervailing or preconceived ideas that contradict what he is taught.
• Accordingly, the teacher must be careful and cautious with the child, because the information presented to him is like the first seed, which is placed in fertile soil that has not been used before.

Teaching Arabic to children is considered education from scratch, because the teacher starts from the smallest unit in the Arabic language, which is the sound (letter), and ends with complete topics. The steps for teaching children Arabic can be identified as follows:

1- Studying the sounds of letters and distinguishing between them and the name of each letter, through listening skills.

2- Studying words consisting of two letters, then three letters, then four letters... and so on, and reading and writing them.

3- Knowing the types of words: noun, verb, and letter.

3- Forming, reading and writing two-word sentences.

4- Forming a sentence of three words, reading it, writing it, and so on.

5- Studying the sentence parts: nominal and verbal.

Several strategies can be used in teaching children, such as:

1-Individual learning.

2- Cooperative learning.

3- Peer learning.

4-Brainstorming.

- Various learning methods that are appropriate for the age can be used to add happiness and increase children’s desire for education, such as:

1- Educational games.

2-Smart board.

3- Competitions.

4-Learning with pictures and videos.

5-Learning with educational songs.

6-Learning through visual and audio stories.

Therefore, teaching Arabic to children is one of the most difficult stages of education, due to the necessity for the teacher to have a broad mind and diverse ideas, which add activity to his class, so that the children do not feel lethargic and mentally exhausted.

Learn Arabic for adults:

As for learning Arabic for adults, it differs from what was previously mentioned for learning by non-native speakers and children. The methods and patterns used in teaching Arabic to children and non-native speakers have failed with adults, and have not borne fruit, as they have witnessed a kind of dissatisfaction from the elderly due to the following:

1- Feeling shy about studying some terms that many people see as related to childhood stages.

2- Feeling bored with studying Arabic grammar (grammar) and finding it difficult to understand.

3- Lack of time to practice the Arabic language by reading, listening or speaking due to adults being busy with work.

4- The difference in working hours between students, which makes it difficult for them to gather at the same time.

Therefore, it was necessary to develop a curriculum for learning Arabic for adults that is compatible with their different circumstances, taking into account:

1- Studying the sounds of the Arabic language.

2- Selecting words that suit the age group of learners and their work.

3- Studying grammar rules by comparing them with colloquial sentences.

4- The participation of the elderly in the educational process by presenting their life experiences and work within the class, such as: the jobs lesson, and each student mentions his profession, but within the sentence (I work...), and mentions the type of his work in place of the dots, then tries to present a summary about the nature of his work in Arabic.

5- Assigning students homework that is appropriate for their age.

6- Linking the Arabic language to the work of each student, such as:

One of the students works as a carpenter, so the teacher directs him to a scientific material that talks about his profession, such as a book, an audio clip, or a visual documentary.

-Thus, it is clear from the above that learning the Arabic language requires the teacher to take into account the ages and thinking styles of the learners, as well as relying on more than one strategy to convey information, given the differences among learners in terms of type of intelligence, culture, language, and age.