How to Learn Arabic Language

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