Common Mistakes Students Make When Learning the Arabic Language

Learning a new language is a noble endeavor that opens up many doors of opportunities, both personally and professionally. Learning a new language is also challenging, requiring a lot of time and effort. Learning Arabic is no exception.

In today’s world it is becoming more advantageous for business students as well as business people with current or potential commercial links to the Arab countries to learn and master Arabic.

Though the payoff is great, learning Arabic doesn’t come without its challenges.

Before you proceed in your Arabic language studies, watch out for these common mistakes students make when learning Arabic:

1. Approaching Arabic like any other language

Some languages are more difficult to master than others. Chinese, for instance, is generally harder to learn than Spanish. Arabic is one of the hardest languages to learn. Many students approach their learning of Arabic the same as an easier language, thinking that they will be fluent in a matter of a few months.

Arabic requires many months of arduous work and studying. Many students get frustrated at their lack of quick progress when studying Arabic. Learning Arabic takes longer to master than many other languages so students should not have such high expectations of their progress.

However, don’t lose hope just yet! There are online Arabic language courses that are proven to make it easier and faster to learn the language than most other Arabic courses.

2. Not recognizing the uniqueness of the Arabic language

Many students with no prior exposure to Arabic don’t know that the Arabic language consists of two formats. Arabic is unique in this way as other languages use a single format for both writing and speaking.

Classical Arabic (or MSA) is what is used in writing and literature as well as formal settings, whereas colloquial Arabic is used in communication. Students learning Arabic need to learn both forms of Arabic.

3. Not knowing or having an end goal

Arabic has many forms, dialects and subdivisions that can overwhelm even the most astute student. Each form of Arabic has a purpose and appropriate use. If a student doesn’t know his or her end goal and the reason why they want to learn Arabic, they will end confused, not getting the specific, thorough skills they need.

For example, students who want to learn Arabic for business should focus on learning spoken Arabic while those looking to learn Arabic for academic reasons should focus on written, classical Arabic or MSA.

4. Not practicing

Like any other language, students can only become fluent with constant practice. With Arabic being a complicated language, a student can’t expect to master it if he or she studies it and puts off using it until later. The Arabic language contains a lot of pronunciation rules that require students to practice while they are learning it.

It is recommended that students practice speaking Arabic daily during their studies. It is best for the student to practice speaking with a native Arabic speaker.

5. Utilizing only one type of study method

Arabic is too complicated a language to learn simply by reading textbooks. Arabic is not a self-study language. Students who want to master Arabic utilize a variety of study tools including speaking classes with native speakers, audio tapes, videos and textbooks.

6. Not using a tutor

It is not uncommon for students to have difficulty in learning Arabic. Besides utilizing a variety of study tools and resources, the help of a tutor can be the key to a student either succeeding or failing to grasp Arabic.

As intimidating as it may be to learn Arabic, there are programs that make it easier and faster to learn. Arab Academy has been helping students all around the world learn Arabic and is known to be the fastest way to learn Arabic. We utilize a diverse curriculum taught by native Arabic speakers that has been successful in producing over 150,000 students fluent in Arabic.

No matter what your end goal is, the Arab Academy has a variety of courses available tailored to every ability level. If you want to learn Arabic, contact us today to learn more about our school and Arabic language program.