Learn Arabic

Shelster

Shelster

Shelster

Associate
Joined
3 Aug 2003
Posts
2,028
Location
Plymouth, UK
Has anyone on here learnt to speak Arabic and if so, how did you go about it?

Reason for asking is that may have a job coming up in Saudi that will require me to live over there (in a company compound) and so thought it would be good to start learning. Plus it will show willing when I attend the interview too.

Shukran ;)
 
If you're living and working in a company compound you won't need to learn arabic, most of the people working on constructions sites there are Indian and Filipino anyway!

Good luck, rather you then me!
 
Shelster said:
Has anyone on here learnt to speak Arabic and if so, how did you go about it?

Reason for asking is that may have a job coming up in Saudi that will require me to live over there (in a company compound) and so thought it would be good to start learning. Plus it will show willing when I attend the interview too.

Shukran ;)
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Just out of interest, are you only doing it for the money? Personally I wouldn't go over there if you paid me double what i'm on now. I know a few people who worked over there for the big tax-free salaries, and after a year (or less) couldn't wait to leave. It is a huge, huge (and often irreconcilable) culture shock... so get used to drinking in hotel bars with small groups of despondent expats.

As for learning Arabic... absolutely no need whatsoever, and the level you would reach after a couple of years wouldn't even be appreciated by the locals.

EDIT - Ahh, you're military? Fair enough makes sense.
 
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I've not tried Arabic but I'm currently doing beginners Russian and I'd highly recommend the Cactus language schools. The format I'm doing is one 2 hour lesson a week for 10 weeks and it has been excellent so far. £215 for the whole course. I think they have Arabic classes.
 
panthro said:
If you're living and working in a company compound you won't need to learn arabic, most of the people working on constructions sites there are Indian and Filipino anyway!

Good luck, rather you then me!
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Work will be outside the compound with Royal Saudi Naval Force

bitslice said:
Allahu Akbar
Then push the button

What more do you need to know? :confused:
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Who's been watching too much Homeland then ???

simulatorman said:
I would have thought all you need is this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/other/arabic/guide/phrases.shtml
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Very handy page that, cheers for the link
 
Bloody foreigners should bloody well learn to speak bloody English.
 
MickeyFinns said:
I've not tried Arabic but I'm currently doing beginners Russian and I'd highly recommend the Cactus language schools. The format I'm doing is one 2 hour lesson a week for 10 weeks and it has been excellent so far. £215 for the whole course. I think they have Arabic classes.
Click to expand...

Wow that's an interesting website, cheers!
 
Learning arabic is a massive undertaking. You cant truly understand it without learning the script alongside the spoken language. You will be better off learning phrases rather than the language from scratch.
 
If it helps my dad works in Abu Dhabi at the moment and I visited him last month. I didn't hear anyone in the street speak a word of Arabic, let alone have to speak to them in it. Slightly different to Saudi as I think native Emirati's only make up about 11% of the population, the rest are Indian/Pakistani/Philipino etc. Every sign is in English as well as Arabic too, and like most foreign countries unless you can speak perfectly fluent people will often speak English to you anyway even if you start the conversation in their native tongue.
 
It's not that difficult, my dads learnt arabic fairly quick going to classes. I could read and write arabic at the age of 12-13, forgot most of it now though.
 
My dad has worked all over and never learned the local language (except Portuguese when he was in Brasil in the 70's)

He's worked in Saudi Arabia a few times now (contract based) and is now in Angola.
 
Just started myself - used to speak Hausa/Arabic as a child but forgotten every word. Using a combination of internet, Rosetta stone and my best friend. Though my friend says some of the words used in Rosetta are words which are more suited to writing than speaking. Immersing yourself (hearing my friend and her sister talk in my case) really helps, good luck :).
 
Yeh just marry a Libyan like I did and you'll learn it in no time.

Best way that works for me is to just learn phrases from people, all those structured classes confuse the hell out of me. You'll soon figure out the language structure.
 
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