As you may know, I am a tutor of French and an Arabic and French to English translator. So, it can definitely be said that I know a lot about learning languages and especially about learning Arabic. My Arabic learning journey began in 2013, when I started my BA at Cambridge University and I continue to practise my Arabic to this day. Language learning is a lifelong process and you never stop learning!
Especially during these uncertain times, you may not be in a position to pay for language lessons, access them in person or online or find a tutor. As such, I would like to share the best way to learn Arabic online for free! I have found some free resources that you can utilise for your Arabic learning journey.
Learn Arabic with Maha
Learn Arabic with Maha is a youtube channel with lots of fantastic videos on speaking Arabic. She talks about different dialects and even has videos on how to correctly pronounce the letters of the alphabet. Perfect for complete beginners.
Duolingo
Duolingo may not be perfect and I am planning to do a full review once I’ve completed the course, but it’s a good starting point. It focuses quite a lot on learning the sounds and how they correspond to the letters of the alphabet. Again, a very good resource for beginners.
The Aswaat Arabiyya Project
This is an online project run by the University of Texas. It presents a collection of videos in Arabic (mostly in Modern Standard Arabic or Fusha) and transcripts so you can practise your listening skills. Some of the videos are quite complex, so better suited for more advanced learners.
The Writer
This is a TV series that is currently on available on UK Netflix. It’s not the world’s best TV series, but it’s interesting enough to maintain interest. You could try watching with English subtitles to aid comprehension or if you’re feeling more ambitious, try Arabic subtitles.
Ejtaal.net
This is a useful dictionary that is a searchable version of the infamous Hans Wehr Arabic-English dictionary. If you are reading a text and are familiar with how Arabic dictionaries work (you have to look up by the root of the word) then it proves very useful.
Almaany Dictionary
Another very useful dictionary. You can either use it as a bilingual dictionary between Arabic and English or a monolingual Arabic dictionary. The perfect accompaniment for your reading practice.
Reverso
Reverso is a great resource for searching phrases. If you’re reading a text and there’s a phrase you don’t understand, you can search the whole phrase and if it’s been written on the internet in English and Arabic, it will come up for you!
Quran.com
If you’re interested in reading the Quran, then this resource is great. It gives you a blow-by-blow account of the surahs in English and Arabic and also provides audio files of the surahs read with full vocalisation.
I hope these resources help you with your Arabic learning journey! If you are struggling to read a text and need it translating from Arabic to English, contact me on verity.roat@cantab.net for a free no-obligation quote.
Next week, I’ll be discussing my vocabulary learning tips, so if you’re interested in language learning, keep an eye out on my social media to read it when it comes out!
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