Arabic Study Group

[voron]

And it finally happened! I'm officially opening the Arabic Study Group!
!اهلا و سهلا بكم في مجموعة دراسة اللغة العربية


Just like in the other groups, we won't necessarily use the same book. I know that Saim and Vijay were interested in re-doing "Syrian Colloquial" -- so you can go for it guys, while I want to try and do the book "Arabiyya bayna yadayk", part 2 (yes, it's for MSA -- I want to try and do some MSA for a change).

The book is available here:
https://archive.org/details/arabiyyah-b ... ayk-book-2

And the audio is here:
https://archive.org/details/BaynaYaadaykBook2

(I suppose I can freely share links from archive.org because everything on it is supposed to be in the public domain.)

I remember that Eskandar once expressed his negative opinion about this book, because in his opinion the texts are very conservative and stereotypical. I think it adds humour to the book, and if you don't take them too seriously you can get a lot of fun from this book. Also, the audio recordings and the pictures are cool.

Eskandar, Antea, would you like to join as well with a book (or any other resource) of your choice?

EDIT: Eskandar, Vijay and I are going through the Arabic reader named "Tales from Kalila Wa Dimna".
https://archive.org/details/TalesFromKalilaWaDimna

[Antea]

Yes, yes! I want to join Thanks for thinking about opening this group

As for the materials, it has been a long time since I really used a book for Arabic As I suppose you already know, I mostly watch TV and videos. I am currently posting them in my TAC, and maybe people are not always interested in what I watch. So I don’t know how could I contribute? Maybe I should try to follow one of these books you suggested?

[voron]

YAs I suppose you already know, I mostly watch TV and videos. I am currently posting them in my TAC, and maybe people are not always interested in what I watch.

I am interested! You can post videos here as well. Because I've been avoiding listening to original Arabic videos all the time, I'm not very good at listening comprehension, and my vocabulary is not very large, so I would have problems understanding them. Maybe you can write short summaries for the videos that you post so we can follow easier? Or maybe you can make it a challenge for us, so that we have to write summaries? I don't know, what do others say?

Maybe I should try to follow one of these books you suggested?

Of course I would be happy if you chose my book. But I'm not insisting, it's up to you. Perhaps you will find this book boring or below your level. You can wait and see what books other people will suggest. Eskandar may come up with an interesting book which suits your level.

I've started creating a course on Memrise for my book, and I'm recording audios for the words myself, check it out:
https://www.memrise.com/course/2016285/ ... -part-2-2/

[Antea]

I am interested! You can post videos here as well. Because I've been avoiding listening to original Arabic videos all the time, I'm not very good at listening comprehension, and my vocabulary is not very large, so I would have problems understanding them. Maybe you can write short summaries for the videos that you post so we can follow easier? Or maybe you can make it a challenge for us, so that we have to write summaries? I don't know, what do others say?

[/quote]

I will do that I watch a lot of videos in Arabic, and maybe other people want also to share some. And I think it’s a good idea because, as I don’t have the vocabulary for all the dialects, maybe we could help us each other’s with the meaning of some words in one or other dialect

[voron]

So, this book "Arabiyya bayna yadayk" contains 16 chapters, and each chapter has 5 lessons, with texts, dialogues and exercises. I think I'll skip most of the exercises as they are quite easy, or just do them mentally.

Goal
Chapter 1 (العناية بالصحة - Healthcare) July 31 - August 13

[vijayjohn]

I'm going to see whether I can try to do something from the textbook you're using, too, voron. I haven't looked at it yet, though.

[voron]

That would be awesome, Vijay!

[eskandar]

This is great! For the sake of consistency maybe I'll join you guys in reviewing Al-'arabiyya bayna yadayk. Igor, I think your attitude (approach it with a sense of humor and don't take it too seriously) is a great one. I'll try to do the same.

[voron]

Great Eskandar. So let's kick it off guys!

Let's read and listen to the texts from the book, post our comments and questions, and our answers to the exercises. Anyone may feel free to do any exercises they want (or no exercises at all if they don't like them). Let's just put the answers under a spoiler tag.

I've read the dialogue في العسل شفاء from lesson 1.
Exercise 1 from lesson 1, section مفردات

► Show Spoiler

شعر بألم في رأسه - he felt pain in his head
اشترى العسل من السوق - he bought the honey from the market
شفى الله المريض - let Allah cure the sick person
تناول الدواء بعد الغداء - he took the medicine after lunch
أخذ هدية من صديقه - he received a present from his friend

I think I'm gonna skip most grammar exercises, and do mostly vocabulary exercises and compositions.

[Antea]

One of the videos I watched. I don't think I really understood the anecdote with St*rbucks (min. 4:12 aprox). Does he say that some people saw a place where there was this Coffeshop in the mountain , and there were amazed about it?

If you are interested in watching it, you can also tell what you have understood or not

https://youtu.be/FezHfOAZiGg

[eskandar]

What I understood is that the woman says that breathing at those high altitudes is important and mentions that, due to the paucity of oxygen, people can hallucinate. The guest agrees, saying he saw things he can't even describe (I think), saw things that weren't there. He says you have to control your mind, to return to reality...some people can die while hallucinating...then he swears that there was one person on the mountain, David, who tells a tough story: he says he saw Starbucks, "oh my God, Starbucks!", and went [towards it, I assume].

[voron]

Thanks Antea for the video! What dialect is it in? The guy is Saudi, so is this Saudi?

I don't understand it well -- just the general idea. At least I can guess the spelling and look up new words in a dictionary. I've learnt:
مغامرة - adventure
هلوسة - hallucination

[Antea]

I don’t distinguish all the dialects very well, I just recognise it when they speak in Egyptian. I just distinguish what I can understand

It was also difficult for me to understand because it’s mostly a conversatIon with not a lot of video to give clues. But is good for training listening comprehension. Maybe I will choose something easier for next time

What I suppose I could understand, was that in this video they interview a Saudi man who is the first person from that country that has skated (يتزجل) in the Pole Nord. I think that at one point they ask him if he is the first person from that country to have gone to the Pole Nord, and he answers that no, but he is the first one to have skated there.

They also ask him about the trips, and if he makes some special preparation for them. He says that he has to be fit and trained for walking, and that he usually studies the zone very well, previously to the trip. That he has always liked the aventure since he was a kid. That the pole nord is also a big area and that nearby that area there are some cities and part of Siberia. He also talks about special gloves he has to wear on this temperature of minus 40 degrees, and that he has to plan very well the space for the things he chooses to wear to the trip, because the space is limited. And they also ask him about his next adventures, and he says that he wants to go to India (to a mountain, I suppose ).

What I understood is that the woman says that breathing at those high altitudes is important and mentions that, due to the paucity of oxygen, people can hallucinate. The guest agrees, saying he saw things he can't even describe (I think), saw things that weren't there. He says you have to control your mind, to return to reality...some people can die while hallucinating...then he swears that there was one person on the mountain, David, who tells a tough story: he says he saw Starbucks, "oh my God, Starbucks!", and went [towards it, I assume].

Thanks !

[vijayjohn]

Oh my God (and I do mean "God"), these texts are so conservative they're hilarious! They're like the Iranian first-grade textbook I have from the time of the Iran-Iraq War. ("Birds want to be free. Humans want to be free just as badly. But humans need laws! In the name of God" [insert pictures of girls all dutifully wearing hijab and steering clear of any boys outside their family] "let me tell you all about Shia Islam" ). Yeah, voron, I definitely see your point about not taking them too seriously.

I'll start off niiiice and easy and start with Exercise 1 from lesson 1...from the استيعاب section!

► Show Spoiler

١ - صواب
٢ - خطاء، لم قابل عامر الطبيب.
٣ - خطاء، لم شرب عامر العسل.
٤ - خطاء، لم أعطى حازم العسل لعامر.
٥ - صواب

[Antea]

So, for people interested in the listening, I have found an easier video. It’s a 3 minute mini reportage of Albanian countryside. They speak in Fusha and I think they use basic useful vocabulary, not very difficult to find, like agriculture, tourism, etc

https://youtu.be/DEM2TjPPeLI

[voron]

Thanks Antea for posting these videos. Maybe they will help me to finally stop being scared of listening to real-life Arabic and improve my listening comprehension.

I've tried to transcribe a short piece between 1:01 and 1:21:
يبدأ اليوم كل صباح بالأستيقاظ في الساعة السادسة صباحا
ثم اخرج و اتفقد منحل. و مع انتجهم(?) من عسل
بعدها اذهب الى ? لاتفقد المحصول
في نهاية اليوم بعد العمل اذهب للقاء اصدقائي لنقضي معهم بعد الوقت

Can you guys please fix it?

ِAlso, in the first line of my transcript, why does he say يبدأ اليومِ with the kasra ending on اليوم? Isn't it supposed to be the nominative case, i.e. the day starts?

[Antea]

Thanks Antea for posting these videos. Maybe they will help me to finally stop being scared of listening to real-life Arabic and improve my listening comprehension.

I've tried to transcribe a short piece between 1:01 and 1:21:
يبدأ اليوم كل صباح بالأستيقاظ في الساعة السادسة صباحا
ثم اخرج و اتفقد منحل. و مع انتجهم(?) من عسل
بعدها اذهب الى ? لاتفقد المحصول
في نهاية اليوم بعد العمل اذهب للقاء اصدقائي لنقضي معهم بعد الوقت

Can you guys please fix it?

ِAlso, in the first line of my transcript, why does he say يبدأ اليومِ with the kasra ending on اليوم? Isn't it supposed to be the nominative case, i.e. the day starts?

I have understood more or less, the same as you. Just in the first question mark (?) I think is أنتجه
And in the second one, I think is مزارع العنب
I also think they say معا, not معهم

For me it’s also difficult to understand every single word, and sometimes there are words or whole sentences that I don’t get the meaning. But at least you can get something. And don’t be afraid to listen and not understanding. On the contrary, the more you listen, the more you will increase your vocabulary. So it’s Ok

Yesterday I was reading aloud a newspaper article from Arabic BBC with a native, and he was helping me to correct my accent (because I pronounce the ح to hard, like Spanish J, and other things ), and I realised that while I was reading aloud I didn’t understand what I was reading (it was a new article). So I suppose I also have to work on that

[Antea]

Another little video. In this one, the man is from Syria, so I suppose he speaks in the dialect.

https://youtu.be/P23NdZjl3x0

[voron]

Another little video. In this one, the man is from Syria, so I suppose he speaks in the dialect.

Yeah, this is Syrian, and I can understand it better.

This guy arrived in Holland in 2014. He immediately liked people because of their positiveness (ايجابي). He started learning the language 2 times a week, for 3 hours. And for the rest of the week, he had nothing to do (و باقي الاسبوع ما عندي شي), so he started searching for volunteer work (عمل تطوعي) to fill his free time, to improve the language and meet people.

And when the reporter starts speaking in MSA, I get lost. Antea help me out, what does the reporter say?

And in the second one, I think is مزارع العنب
I also think they say معا, not معهم

Thanks! Yes, I heard عنب, but I didn't know the word مزرع, so I couldn't hear it.
And I wasn't familiar with معا because in the Syrian dialect 'together' is سوا

[voron]

Here's my next exercise from the book.

Chapter 1, lesson 1, part فهم المسموع. I listened to the recording and answered the questions according to it.

► Show Spoiler

1 خطا. يريد المشتري العسل, لأنه يشعر بألم في معدته.
2 صواب
3 صواب
4 خطا. طلب البائع من المشتري مئة ريالا
5 صواب

Vijay, I checked your answers, they look correct to me.