How to Learn Arabic Language

Here is an Arabic adjectives list to help you know some of the very common and most used adjectives in Arabic. This is for beginners so I won't bother you with plural forms because they change with the position of the word.
The adjectives are in masculine form, for the feminine form of most of them you will just add "ah" ـة
at the end for example:
Tall (in hight) = طويل (Masculin). The feminine form is طويلة.

Here we go:

Short قصير
Long طويل
Beautiful جميل
Sad حزين
Happy سعيد
Angry غاضب
Silent صامت
Quite هاديء
worried قلق
Tense متوتر
Brave شجاع
Big كبير
Small صغير
Shy خجول
Generous كريم
Fat سمين
Thin نجيف
New جديد
Old قديم
Expensive غال
Cheap رخيص
Comfortable مريح
Dark مظلم
Bright مضيء
Hot ساخن
Cold بارد
Delicious لذيذ
Masculine مذكر
Feminine مؤنث
Alive حي
Dead ميت
Sick مريض
Safe آمن
Different مختلف
Young شاب
Boring ممل
Married متزوج
Favorite مفضل
Serious جاد
Polite مهذب
Funny مضحك
Soft طري
Hard جامد
Sharp حاد
Heavy ثقيل
Light خفيف
Deep عميق
Lazy كسول
Active نشيط
Wide واسع
Narrow ضيق
Important هام
Trivial تافه
Respectful محترم
Clean نظيف
Dirty قذئ
Perfect مثالي
Easy صعل
Difficult صعب
Moderate متوسط
Stupid غبي
Smart ذكي
Arrogant مغرور
Wise حكيم
Proud فخور
Humble متواضع
Loud صاخب
Fast سريع
Slow بطيء
Poor فقير
Rich غني
Honest صادق
Much كثير
Little قليل

This is just a short list, if you have more in mind or wish to request more, feel free to ask in the comments section. I hope this list of Arabic adjectives was helpful.

This post is archived under adhectives, words

Practicing Arabic with natives is very helpful because you get to use what you are learning; thus, you won't forget it easily. There are many websites designed specially for learning languages by contacting natives and befriending them. Another style is "language exchange" in which you find a native speaker who wants to learn and practice your native language and you can take turns in teaching each other, asking questions or speaking in each language for a period of time.

One of these communities is italki.com, it is a nice website, like a forum where you can find new friends, you can post things in Arabic and let others correct you or ask questions, discuss anything in Arabic, etc. There are also teachers who offer online courses for a fee.

Other websites include Voxswab.com and livemocha.com. At Voxswab you can search for native speakers and contact them, it is a social website that allows you to create a profile, search for members by language and country, etc. Livemocha is also very similar but has th advantage of free basic lessons and tutorials, you can write some prose or sentences about specified topics and get corrections from native speakers.

If you are looking for a really rich social experience and a great community, try interpals.com, it is like facebook but more focused on making friends from other countries who want to chat, email or do snail-mail. You can also search for people by language and country. There are forums, too, to ak questions or discuss your interests and a designated forum for each language.

If you just need an Arabic native speaker to pronounce a word or a paragraph for you, there is a website only designed for this! At http://rhinospike.com, you can post words or paragraphs and ask a native speaker to record himself saying it and mentioning his accent, you can specify you preferred accent/dialect, natural or slow speed, etc. You can also participate by answering requests for speaking words in your native language.

If you know more language exchange or sites where you can find native Arabs online, feel free to add them in the comments or contact me.
Thank you.

Related:
Practice writing Arabic online.

This post is archived under language exchange

The Arabic body language is very rich and has many variations in different countries. The common body language shared by everyone world wide of course, forms a big part of the Arabic body language but some gestures and moves have more than one meaning and some my even have an opposite to what it means it other cultures. Also, remember that most of the offensive or obscene gestures in the west or elsewhere is also offensive in the Middle East. Here are some gestures, do's and don'ts in the Arab world:

• Kissing. Kissing on the cheeks among friends is considered normal in men, hugging too is another sign of friendship and trust. In the gulf there is also kissing of the shoulder which can be a sign of respect to elderly or may be to a royal person. Hand kissing is also a sign of great respect mainly done to parents and may be to religious figures.
  
• High five! Yes, Arabs do it too but most people do the "down low" version.
  
• Don't try to initiate any physical contact with females (hugging, handshaking, etc). Only, if a woman stretches her hand, respond and shake her hand gently.
  
• Hand on chest. If done after handshaking or greeting it means respect. It can also mean "No, thank you" if someone is being offered something.
  
• Cupping the hand (all finger tips put together including the thumb) means "slow down" or "calm down".
  
• Avoid pointing shoes or the sole of your foot towards someone, it is a sign of disrespect. As when you are crossing your legs or the "ankle over knee" position known as American four figure, make sure your shoe isn't facing someone. Remember the shoe thrown at G. W. Bush in Iraq? This was obviously a sign of disrespect, a strong one!
  
• Rotating the hand (from palm facing down to upward) is used frequently when asking questions.
  
• When asking some one to "come closer", Arabs use the whole hand instead of just the index.
  

If you have any questions or things that should be explained at How to learn Arabic Language, please feel free to write a comment.

This post is archived under body language

This post is archived under greetings, hello

This post in intended for people who can write some Arabic and want to practice their writing. As with speaking, these language skills vanish quickly if you don't use them. You can read millions of websites in Arabic whether it is news, information, social or personal blogs, etc. To practice writing there are so many online communities, websites and forums where you can get into discussions and create contact with people. This might be a good chance for you to practice you Arabic writing skills.

While doing this, try not to focus on one subject, discuss and write about different topics and you will also learn many new vocabulary during the process. In this post I want to point out to 2 of the best online communities for learning languages including Arabic:

The first one it italki.com, at this website you can ask questions, start discussions with many Arabic native speakers and learners. You can also write posts (essays, stories, whatever) and ask people to tell you what they think about your writing.

The other website is lang-8.com which is designed solely for people learning a certain language so that they could write posts and native speakers could correct their mistakes in each line of the post, comment on their writing and give suggestions. What I like about Lang-8 is that they are just focusing on one aspect and the site is specially designed for this. The community there is very helpful and supporting. Give it a try.


I hope this was useful.
Motaz

This post is archived under writing

Photo by Motaz.

Here is a list of Arabic verbs. Before reading the list, you might want to have a quick look at how different tenses and forms of verbs are written and spoken. This is not a grammar lesson, of course and if you are seeking more detailed grammar approach you might do some searching online.

Example: the verb: (to) write يكتب "yaktob"
We write  نحن نكتب "nahno naktob". Notice adding the letter ن to the begining.
He writes هو يكتب
She writes هي تكتب
I write أنا أكتب "ana aktob"
The past tense is wrote كتب "kataba"

The imperative form of the verb write is اكتب "oktob" or in Egyptian Arabic "Ekteb". Most verbs are pronounced like the latter (like Egyptian Arabic) in the imperative form even in standard Arabic and other dialects. Examples: إفهم "Efham" (both standtard Fus-ha and other dialects).

Arabic verbs list: (in present tense):

Run يجري (yajry)
See يرى (yara)
Sit down يجلس (yajles)
Enter يدخل (yadkhol)
Call (on the phone) يتصل (yatasel)
Ride يركب (yarkab)
Smell يشم (yashom)
Hear يسمع (yasmaa)
Taste يتذوق (yatathawaq) "th as in the"
Use يستعمل (yastaamel)
Pay يدفع (yadfaa)
Stand up يقف (yaqef)
Write  يكتب (yaktob)
Read يقرأ (yaqraa)
Cut يقطع (yaqtaa)
Eat يأكل (yaakol)
Drink يشرب (yashrab)
Choose يختار (yakhtar)
Come يأتي (yaati)
Book (a ticket) يحجز (yahjez)
Carry يحمل (yahmel)
Hit يضرب (yadreb)
Drive يقود (yaqood)
Scream يصرخ (yasrokh)
Take a photo يصور  (yosawer)
Walk يمشي (yamshy)
Sleep ينام (yanam)
Sing يغني (yoghanni)
Ask (a question) يسأل (yasaal)
Ask for يطلب (yatlob)
Get out يخرج (yakhroj)
Feel يشعر (yashoor)
Tell يقول (yaqool)
Work يعمل (yaamal)
Watch يشاهد (yoshahed)
Talk يتكلم (yatakallam)
Fight يتشاجر (yatashajar)
Buy يشتري (yashtary)
Sell يبيع (yabea)
Shut down يغلق (yoghleq)
Visit يزور (yazoor)
Steal يسرق (yasreq)
Cheat يغش (yaghosh)
Love يحب (yoheb)
Remember يتذكر (yatathakar)
Look at ينظر (yanzor)
Help يساعد (yosaaed)
Play يلعب (yalaab)
Drive يقود (yaqood)
Play (music) يعزف (yaazef)

I hope you like this list of Arabic verbs. If you need more verbs added feel free to add them in the comments section "add your thoughts".

Related posts:
How to say I want in Arabic.

This post is archived under verbs

شكرا باللغة العربية
So, how do you say thank you in Arabic? This is one of the important phrases you need to know and the good thing is it is very easy and similar in many Arab countries.

"Shukran" شكرا means thank you in Arabic. "Shukran gazilan" شكرا جزيلا means thank you very much or many thanks. It is the same in Egyptian Arabic and standard Arabic as well as many other dialects too.

More examples and variations:
"Shukran lak" شكرا لك =
"Shokran le Ahmed" شكرا لأحمد = Thanks to Ahmed.
"Ored an Ashkor Ahmed" أريد أن أشكر أحمد
"Oqadem shokry le Ahmed" أقدم شكري لأحمد
"Khales ashokr le James" خالص الشكر لجيمس

To thank God we use another word in Arabic which is الحمد لله "alhamdolellah".

Another way to say thank you is like this: "Thank you for what you did" : Ashkoroka a'ala ma faalt أشكرك على ما فعلت
If you are wondering how to say (No, Thanks) it is "La, shokran" لا شكرا

Variations of the word:
In some gulf countries you can also use "Mashkour" which have the same meaning.
In Egypt you can also say: "Motshaker", meaning "I'm thankful". Also "alf shokr" ألف شكر means "a thousand thanks".
In Syria you can also use : "mamnoun" but shukran is also more common.
Muslims commonly use "Jazak allah khairan" جزاك الله خيرا  which is like 'God bless you' (it literally means may God reward you).

By Alao http://www.flickr.com/photos/rainsong/4379185764/, via flickr.

Arabs often associate a gesture with "Shukran" to stress the "thank you" idea or to add respect to it such as touching the chest or touching the head or prolonged handshaking.

The answer to thank you in Arabic is العفو "alafw". Also, you can use: لا شكر على واجب "La shokr ala wajeb" which means don't mention it or literally "don't thank me for my duty" or in Egyptian dialect إنت تؤمر "enta to'omor" which is like at your service.

Here is a video I found on youtube to demonstrate the pronunciation of thank you in Arabic:

This post is archived under thank you, words

We are going to talk about a very basic and important phrase you need to know, which is "I want" in Arabic. We will also talk about other pronouns.

In Fus-ha (Standard Arabic):
I want = أنا أريد "Ana ored"
"Ana" means "I", "ored" means "want"

In Egyptian Arabic:
I want = أنا عايز "Ana Aayez", or Ana aawez أنا عاوز
I = أنا = "Ana"
Want = عايز = "Aayez"

Examples of how to say I want in Arabic:

In standard Arabic:

• I want a ticket, please
  أريد تذكرة من فضلك  "Ored Tathkarah men fadlek"
  
• I want to go to my room.
  أريد الذهاب إلى غرفتي  "Ored al thahab ila ghorfathy"
  
• I don't want to go.
  لا أريد الذهاب  "La ored al thahab"
• I want you to buy me a book.
  أريد منك أن تشتري لي كتابا
• I want to see the lions.
  أريد أن أرى الأسود

If you want to ask someone about what they want, say : ماذا تريد؟ "matha toreed?" = What do you want?. (th as in "the").

In Egyptian dialect:

• I want a ticket, please.
  عايز تذكرة لو سمحت "Ayez tazkara law samaht"
• I don't want meat.
  مش عايز لحمة "Msh ayez lahma"

One of the very popular slogans during the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia was: الشعب يريد إسقاط النظام which mean: people want to overthrow the regimen.

Remember to say "excuse me" لو سمحت or "please" من فضلك. :)

If you are in Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan or Syria, use the word "bedde" أنا بدي which means "want" in their dialect.

Other pronouns:
He wants = هو يريد
She wants = هي تريد
They want = هم يريدون
We want = نحن نريد
They wanted = هم أرادو
He wanted = هو أراد
She wanted = هي أرادت

You may also like:
How do you say thank you in Arabic.

Photo by Alexandre Van de Sande.[GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Hello everyone :) أهلا وسهلا

This is a quick lesson about the colors  in Arabic. I'll try to make as simple as I can so you can learn the basic colors. There can be some different forms of plural but for the sake of simplicity, you can use the feminine form (المؤنث) with plural. Note that this is Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) also know as formal Arabic or Fus-ha الفصحى.

Color= لون Laon
colors= ألوان Alwan



Examples:

This is a black car.     هذه سيارة سوادء
The apple is red.       التفاحة حمراء
The shirt is white.          القميص أبيض
Did you see the yellow card?     هل شاهدت الكرت الأصفر؟

I hope this was useful for you. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to post them in the comments section below.

This post is archived under colors, words