Product Description

This textbook is designed to cover the first year of instruction in Modern Standard Arabic. Accompanied by an instructor's manual and an audio programme, it will teach students to read, speak, and write Arabic. The text presents an engaging story that involves Adnan, a Syrian student studying in the U.S., and Michael, an American student studying in Cairo. In diaries, letters, and postcards, the two students describe their thoughts and activities, revealing how a non-American views American culture and how the Arabic culture is experienced by an American student. The text also provides information about the geography of the Arab world, prominent characters in history, festivities in Arab culture, the media, daily life, and the family. Exercises in comprehension, vocabulary, grammar, and writing attend to both form and meaning and develop functional abilities and knowledge about the Arabic sound, writing, and language systems.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #481639 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 10
• Binding: Hardcover
• 614 pages

Review
"A major advance in the way Arabic is taught and an outstanding new addition to the available materials on the subject." Roger Allen, University of Pennsylvania

About the Author
Mahdi Alosh is associate professor of Arabic at The Ohio State University.

Customer Reviews

Very Good Indeed!
I have several books about learning arabic and this one is the best of all of them. It has a lot of information about arab culture from several arabic countries and info about differences between standard and colloquial arabic. It has a very good thing that is lots of exercises that tests you along the lessons. It presents the grammar in a simple and understandable way that it's very good for begginers. The vocabulary is very good also because it covers the most important things in life(in 30 lessons). I do recomend this book if you are seriously interested in learning this beautiful language.

The Best Introduction to "Correct" Arabic
This is the best book I have studied in modern standard arabic.
I have shown it to and discussed it with some native Arabs from the Levantine(Syria, Lebanon) and Egytian(Cairo) area. They have all whole heartedly recommended it as accurate. Within a few months I could pick up the key points on arabic news channels and could hold understandable and meaningful conversations. I cannot wait to complete the book ( presently about 3/4 of the way) and then get the intermnediate volume shortly to be published. A word of warning - if you dont buy the complete CD course with the book then forget it - use the book as a book end or door stop instead. Arabic is a tough language as the sounds of the letters and vowels and how they change in different conjugations requies a lot of listening to unravel and the 10 CD's accompanying the book ( purchased separately)are absolutely essential. Incidentally it makes reading classical arabic easy as well as the grammar and even most of the vocabulary are virtually identical. Have fun.......!