How Hard is Arabic To Learn?

[NakaNaka]

Next year I have to start a language in college. I was thinking about Arabic. I could definitely see me working for the government in the future and I know that being fluent or close to fluent in Arabic is a major major plus on government applications. Now, I don't know if this is what I want. How hard is Arabic to learn? Is it similar to Hebrew at all?

Thanks

-Phil

 

[Dman877]

I've only heard this second hand but it's very difficult to learn for a english/latin root speaker. I don't know much about hebrew so I can't help you there. But like you said, there's all of 5 arabic speakers in the state department so a job there is almost garunteed if you are fluent in it.

 

[ThePresence]

I speak fluent Hebrew, and I understand some Arabic. There are similarities, but they are two completely different languages. Knowing one will definitely help you with the other, but you won't understand Arabic just because you know Hebrew.

 

[DeeKnow]

it's extremely difficult from what I could tell. English is my second language, I can get by in French and can understand Spanish. Arabic is like none of these by a long shot

and it's not just the accent (which is hard to say the least) or even the script (which means you can't even begin to read the letters until after a few weeks of study), but the entire logic of expression... meaning they just say things differently from the western languages.

in short, very difficult to learn, but the upside is very few ppl bother, so if you get halfway good, you have a job

 

[NakaNaka]

I can't speak Hebrew but there was a time when I was getting decent at it reading it and speaking it (around the time of my bar mitzvah) .. Thanks for the feedback. Any more would be great. Thank you.

-Phil

P.S. - I bet the upside of it being tough though is that in class probably everyone is having a hard time with it.

 

[ThePresence]

Originally posted by: NakaNaka
I can't speak Hebrew but there was a time when I was getting decent at it reading it and speaking it (around the time of my bar mitzvah) .. Thanks for the feedback. Any more would be great. Thank you.

-Phil

P.S. - I bet the upside of it being tough though is that in class probably everyone is having a hard time with it.

Your bar mitzva Hebrew is probably completely different than the spoken Hebrew.

 

[Arkitech]

Interesting thread. What careers are out there for people who are fluent in multiple languages (outside of political jobs)?

 

[AccruedExpenditure]

If you study Arabic, you let the terrorists win.

 

[NakaNaka]

Originally posted by: ThePresence

Originally posted by: NakaNaka
I can't speak Hebrew but there was a time when I was getting decent at it reading it and speaking it (around the time of my bar mitzvah) .. Thanks for the feedback. Any more would be great. Thank you.

-Phil

P.S. - I bet the upside of it being tough though is that in class probably everyone is having a hard time with it.

Your bar mitzva Hebrew is probably completely different than the spoken Hebrew.

But at the same time she was teaching me other stuff. Doesn't matter though I forgot it all.

 

[bmacd]

Originally posted by: Gnote
If you study Arabic, you let the terrorists win.

most ignorant post of the year nominee

-=bmacd=-

 

[NakaNaka]

night time bump

 

[Isshinryu]

I would assume almost as hard as English. Took me quite awhile to get the transition from Gaelic to English right. But I've never tried to learn it, so I don't know for sure.

 

[Aimster]

I took three years of Arabic in college... if you are interested in learning it then you can do it. It was hard for me however, I didn't really have the heart to do it. I got a B B C.

 

[NakaNaka]

Originally posted by: Aimster
I took three years of Arabic in college... if you are interested in learning it then you can do it. It was hard for me however, I didn't really have the heart to do it. I got a B B C.

Did a lot of kids struggle with it? How long does it take to pick up the alphabet and such?

 

[glenn1]

It's generally considered one of, if not the hardest, language for an English speaker to learn. Per the ratings of the Defense Language Institute (generally acknowledged as perhaps the premier language training school in the world), here are the ratings for English speakers:

Category I: Dutch, French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish
Category II: German
Category III: Belorussian, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Persian, Polish, Russian, Serbian/Croatian, Slovak, Tagalog [Filipino], Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese
Category IV: Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean
Category V: English (for non-native speakers)


Just to give you an idea, I got sent to training for Arabic at the Defense Language Institute. It ran 63 weeks. That's 8 hours a day, 5 days a week of heavy-duty, immersion training by mostly PhD-level native speakers in a cost-is-no-object training environment. And even then we had over half wash out during the course and less than half of those who completed the training got a passing score, which is a 2 on a 5 point scale. With a 5 score meaning having the fluency level of educated native speaker, a zero score meaning someone who could say "I don't speak your language," read signs intended for the mentally handicapped, etc. Level two (a passing score) is being able to read, write, or speak on limited, non-abstract topics which would be understandable (although challenging) by a native speaker.

 

[ThePresence]

Wow, English is the hardest?

 

[cw42]

woot. chinese is catagory 4

English grammer IMO is retarded. Also considering that there's so much slang, it makes it even more difficult to speak properly. After going through some SATII classes did I realize how poorly we Americans speak our own language. English was my first lang btw, my Chinese sux

 

[Isshinryu]

Originally posted by: ThePresence
Wow, English is the hardest?

I believe it. Took me 6 years of everyday learning before I got it down.

 

[Juno]

How about American Sign Language?

 

[glenn1]

Wow, English is the hardest?

While it would obviously be easier for someone who has an Indo-European root language for a native tongue, yes, English is generally considered the hardest language (and by a long shot). We've borrowed extensively from several other languages, have an extremely complex grammar pattern, and have more exceptions than rules for everything from spelling to syntax. Add to that the fact that English slang and pop culture expressions are the most prolific in the world, and you have the makings of a kick-ass hard language for a non-native speaker to learn.

 

[Koing]

You don't speak 'English' you speak 'American' j/k

Koing

 

[Turkish]

T, E, G, G and F on the way for me.

 

[Chu]

I've taken to linguistics recently, and in my (educated) opinion it's not so much how much harder/easier one language is then another, rather it's how good you are at learning languages in general. Pick one your interested in, don't worry about the difficuluty.

 

[Isshinryu]

Originally posted by: Koing
You don't speak 'English' you speak 'American' j/k

Koing

I'd never want to speak the language of the snobbish oppressors.
[shite english accent]
"Look at that Irishman, isn't he so...Irish."
"Quite, let's take over the northern part of his country and steal his beer."
"Oh yes, let's."
[/shite english accent]

 

[lobadobadingdong]

Originally posted by: Isshinryu
I would assume almost as hard as English. Took me quite awhile to get the transition from Gaelic to English right. But I've never tried to learn it, so I don't know for sure.

Whats Goelic, I've never even heard of it.

I speak only 2 languages, Texican and Mexitex.
I can understand most Mexican Spanish (note it's not exactly the same as European Spanish) if it's spoken slowly. I can read ASL but can't sign it. (my hands are very stiff so my fingers can't move right for a majority of the sign)