Teach Yourself Arabic Complete Course Package (Book + 2CDs) (TY: Complete Courses)
by Jack Smart
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List Price: $28.95
Our Price: $15.53
Your Save: $ 13.42 ( 46% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 492
EAN: 9780071430180
ISBN: 0071430180
Label: McGraw-Hill
Number Of Items: 1
Publication Date: 2004-04-14
Publisher: McGraw-Hill
Studio: McGraw-Hill
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not Too Helpful
Comment: I bought this book shortly after starting to self-study Arabic using Rosetta Stone software. What I was hoping to find was a well written, useful book the basics of spoken Arabic with effective drills and exercises to facilitate retention. This is not what I found with the Teach Yourself book. Let me highlight some of the glaring deficiencies for you, and then decided if this book is right for you.
1. The Arabic script is barely even touched upon.
2. The Arabic script which is used in the book does not include vowel marks ANYWHERE. This makes learning new words and being able to read new words nearly impossible. It is true, written Arabic seldom includes the vowels in practice, with the only exception being education materials for children because they are just learning the language... ummmmmm isn't that what we are trying to do too?
3. Exercises in the book quickly become worthless due to the issue mentioned in #2. The book asks you to read passages of words you never learned and asks questions you can't possibly answer.
4. The audio exercises do not add much value to the book and suffer similar problems as #3.
5. Many chapters consist of just a collection a phrases used for particular situations. This kind of content should not be the main focus of an educational language book. After all, we are trying to learn how to speak the language, not walk around like a tourist with a travel phrase book.
6. New vocabulary that is introduced is not reiterated nearly enough to allow for retention. In some parts of the book it is like reading from the pages of a dictionary...
I could go on and nitpick at this book a little more, but the important things are mentioned above. Many people have noted some of the points I made in their reviews, but then have ultimately given the book a 4 or 5 star score citing that it does have basic grammar points explained clearly. I would say that is the absolute minimum you would expect from a self teaching language book. That doesn't make it praiseworthy! "Teach Yourself" certainly is what will not be happening with this book. I could only recommend it if you want a extremely mediocre reference book on Arabic. I hope my review is helpful to you.
Customer Rating:
Summary: warnings and suggestions
Comment: First warning - there are a lot of Arabics. There is media Arabic (like BBC English), Western Arabic, Egyptian, Levantine (Syrian), and Gulf. This book seems to be kind of media, kind of Egyptian. But don't think these distinctions matter so much. You can learn German from a book; but you have to learn Swiss German, Bayrisch, or Schwabish on the ground. Arabic is like that. (For Iraq and Saudi Arabic, this same series has Teach Yourself Gulf Arabic Complete Course, CD package.
Second warning - you'll need a dictionary. Don't get the big ones yet. Get Arabic Practical Dictionary: Arabic-English English-Arabic (Hippocrene Practical Dictionaries)
Third warning - it is really hard to learn how to read and write Arabic _as_ you learn the language. Do the read and write part first with The Arabic Alphabet: How to Read & Write It
Fourth warning - this book has only about 15 minutes of pronunciation drill on CD. Go on the web and get a free FSI Levantine Pronunciation PDF with 9 1/2 hours of mp3s or buy Arabic (Eastern), Conversational or Conversational Egyptian Arabic
Here's a few suggestions:
This book is laid out differently from others in the Teach Yourself series. It doesn't break out into dialogs, grammar, and exercises. So I find the easiest way to approach it is to do three pages a day, five days a week. This will get through the book in about five months. Two pages, three days a week would work too, if you had less time.
I mark in the book what CD track number and what time on the track each day's lesson is on. If day one ends on track 5, at 2:52, I write that down at the first audio bit in the next day's lesson. I listen to each audio bit at least three times and always until the noise resolves itself into words in my ear and mind.
I write each Arabic phrase, in Arabic, at least three times. I work hard at breaking myself from any reliance on the transliteration because -- bonus warning -- there is no standard transliteration from Arabic into the Roman alphabet. The best one I have seen is in the FSI course but no one else uses that one.
Here's one last suggestion -- don't be too hard on yourself. I've already done the FSI course and the Pimsleur. After this book, I'll do Teach Yourself Arabic Conversation (3CDs + Guide) and then a good Arabic textbook (I haven't picked one yet). But I sure don't expect to be fluent after five months of this book. I figure it will take about four years of plugging along through all the good stuff I can find. Then I still have to learn the real thing on the ground.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Teach Yourself Arabic Complete Course Package
Comment: I've been looking for a good Arabic teaching book for a long time and luckily I came across this textbook. It's written in a very simple language. It's divided into several chapters. Each chapter introduces a particular topic, discusses certain grammar patterns and gives new vocabularly. This book doesn't teach you how to write in Arabic script but focuses on reading and conversational skills. What I really like about this book is that the words and texts are given both in Arabic and in its phonetical equivalent, which is very helpful. Also, I find this a very good book for self-instruction. The book is accompanied by two wonderful CDs that help you work on your pronunciation. I'd definitely recommend this book along with CDs to anyone who is just starting to learn Arabic and for those who want to acquire a general knowledge of the language. It's a very well organized, comprehensive book and I'm very happy with it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great book for beginners
Comment: This book takes you step by step to demystify the Arabic language. I thought the script would be hard to learn, but it's actually not that hard. I enjoy using the book very much.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wonderful foundation to learn Arabic
Comment: I had taken a six week intensive course in Iraqi Arabic in the military a few years ago, and ordered this with the intention of refreshing and maybe adding to what I knew. This course, like most of the "Teach Yourself" courses is wonderful. It works to provide a solid foundation before moving on to actual phrases. It's so difficult to really get all the sounds in Arabic correct and the audio CD helps immensely with this. It would be even better if they offered a video DVD supplement, but I'm sure that's in the works. Lessons are very well organized and really allows you to learn at your own pace.
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Editorial Reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Not Too Helpful
Comment: I bought this book shortly after starting to self-study Arabic using Rosetta Stone software. What I was hoping to find was a well written, useful book the basics of spoken Arabic with effective drills and exercises to facilitate retention. This is not what I found with the Teach Yourself book. Let me highlight some of the glaring deficiencies for you, and then decided if this book is right for you.
1. The Arabic script is barely even touched upon.
2. The Arabic script which is used in the book does not include vowel marks ANYWHERE. This makes learning new words and being able to read new words nearly impossible. It is true, written Arabic seldom includes the vowels in practice, with the only exception being education materials for children because they are just learning the language... ummmmmm isn't that what we are trying to do too?
3. Exercises in the book quickly become worthless due to the issue mentioned in #2. The book asks you to read passages of words you never learned and asks questions you can't possibly answer.
4. The audio exercises do not add much value to the book and suffer similar problems as #3.
5. Many chapters consist of just a collection a phrases used for particular situations. This kind of content should not be the main focus of an educational language book. After all, we are trying to learn how to speak the language, not walk around like a tourist with a travel phrase book.
6. New vocabulary that is introduced is not reiterated nearly enough to allow for retention. In some parts of the book it is like reading from the pages of a dictionary...
I could go on and nitpick at this book a little more, but the important things are mentioned above. Many people have noted some of the points I made in their reviews, but then have ultimately given the book a 4 or 5 star score citing that it does have basic grammar points explained clearly. I would say that is the absolute minimum you would expect from a self teaching language book. That doesn't make it praiseworthy! "Teach Yourself" certainly is what will not be happening with this book. I could only recommend it if you want a extremely mediocre reference book on Arabic. I hope my review is helpful to you.
Customer Rating:
Summary: warnings and suggestions
Comment: First warning - there are a lot of Arabics. There is media Arabic (like BBC English), Western Arabic, Egyptian, Levantine (Syrian), and Gulf. This book seems to be kind of media, kind of Egyptian. But don't think these distinctions matter so much. You can learn German from a book; but you have to learn Swiss German, Bayrisch, or Schwabish on the ground. Arabic is like that. (For Iraq and Saudi Arabic, this same series has Teach Yourself Gulf Arabic Complete Course, CD package.
Second warning - you'll need a dictionary. Don't get the big ones yet. Get Arabic Practical Dictionary: Arabic-English English-Arabic (Hippocrene Practical Dictionaries)
Third warning - it is really hard to learn how to read and write Arabic _as_ you learn the language. Do the read and write part first with The Arabic Alphabet: How to Read & Write It
Fourth warning - this book has only about 15 minutes of pronunciation drill on CD. Go on the web and get a free FSI Levantine Pronunciation PDF with 9 1/2 hours of mp3s or buy Arabic (Eastern), Conversational or Conversational Egyptian Arabic
Here's a few suggestions:
This book is laid out differently from others in the Teach Yourself series. It doesn't break out into dialogs, grammar, and exercises. So I find the easiest way to approach it is to do three pages a day, five days a week. This will get through the book in about five months. Two pages, three days a week would work too, if you had less time.
I mark in the book what CD track number and what time on the track each day's lesson is on. If day one ends on track 5, at 2:52, I write that down at the first audio bit in the next day's lesson. I listen to each audio bit at least three times and always until the noise resolves itself into words in my ear and mind.
I write each Arabic phrase, in Arabic, at least three times. I work hard at breaking myself from any reliance on the transliteration because -- bonus warning -- there is no standard transliteration from Arabic into the Roman alphabet. The best one I have seen is in the FSI course but no one else uses that one.
Here's one last suggestion -- don't be too hard on yourself. I've already done the FSI course and the Pimsleur. After this book, I'll do Teach Yourself Arabic Conversation (3CDs + Guide) and then a good Arabic textbook (I haven't picked one yet). But I sure don't expect to be fluent after five months of this book. I figure it will take about four years of plugging along through all the good stuff I can find. Then I still have to learn the real thing on the ground.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Teach Yourself Arabic Complete Course Package
Comment: I've been looking for a good Arabic teaching book for a long time and luckily I came across this textbook. It's written in a very simple language. It's divided into several chapters. Each chapter introduces a particular topic, discusses certain grammar patterns and gives new vocabularly. This book doesn't teach you how to write in Arabic script but focuses on reading and conversational skills. What I really like about this book is that the words and texts are given both in Arabic and in its phonetical equivalent, which is very helpful. Also, I find this a very good book for self-instruction. The book is accompanied by two wonderful CDs that help you work on your pronunciation. I'd definitely recommend this book along with CDs to anyone who is just starting to learn Arabic and for those who want to acquire a general knowledge of the language. It's a very well organized, comprehensive book and I'm very happy with it.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great book for beginners
Comment: This book takes you step by step to demystify the Arabic language. I thought the script would be hard to learn, but it's actually not that hard. I enjoy using the book very much.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wonderful foundation to learn Arabic
Comment: I had taken a six week intensive course in Iraqi Arabic in the military a few years ago, and ordered this with the intention of refreshing and maybe adding to what I knew. This course, like most of the "Teach Yourself" courses is wonderful. It works to provide a solid foundation before moving on to actual phrases. It's so difficult to really get all the sounds in Arabic correct and the audio CD helps immensely with this. It would be even better if they offered a video DVD supplement, but I'm sure that's in the works. Lessons are very well organized and really allows you to learn at your own pace.
You can use Teach Yourself Arabic Complete Course to learn at your own pace or as a supplement to your classwork. This complete course utilizes the very latest learning methods in an enjoyable and user-friendly format. The new edition also features: - Engaging visual materials such as menus, photographs, signs, and tickets
- Two CD recordings allowing quick and easy access to individual lessons and exercises
- A clear, accessible new page design
- Strong, striking cover photography
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