Many Arabic learners find that learning a dialect of Arabic is easier than learning Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) or Classical Arabic. Dialect Arabic, such as the Levantine Arabic (Shāmī) spoken in Jordan and Palestine, was more natural and intuitive for me to learn because of its proximity to MSA in accent. The book "Speaking Arabic" by J Elihay is a valuable resource for those interested in learning this dialect. It covers essential aspects of the language, including grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation, using a unique approach that enables beginners like me to quickly and effectively grasp the language. By studying this book and practicing daily English-to-Arabic translation exercises, I overcame my fear of speaking Arabic, gained confidence in forming sentences, and improved my ability to understand classical Islamic literature.
In addition to the book, I recommend this flashcard deck I created to complement my study of "Speaking Arabic." The deck contains over 4,500 phrases and sentences in the colloquial Palestinian/Jordanian dialect, accompanied by audio recordings. It was important for me to have the sentences in Arabic script, as the book primarily uses transliterated/romanized Arabic. So, I spent over two years converting the transliterated text into Arabic script to enhance my learning experience and improve my ability to read and write colloquial Arabic. I can now confidently attribute my fluency in speaking Arabic to the daily use of this Anki deck.
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