We bet that along with getting a tan, saving some money and going on road trips to all six of the other emirates, one of your main goals when moving to Abu Dhabi was to learn Arabic. Then even with the very best of intentions, work, socializing and the million and one other things to do get in the way. But there are all sorts of ways to learn the local lingo and not all of them are classroom-based – from joining practice groups to taking online courses. Read on to find a method that will make it easy for you to fit learning the language around your personal schedule.
Learning the basics
Perhaps you want to impress some local business contacts by saying something polite when you meet them. Or manage more than a mumbled ‘shukran’ when you’re in your local grocery store. If you don’t want to commit to the time or expense of a long Arabic course, you can pick up some very rudimentary Arabic through handy smartphone apps or online. These won’t get you chatting, but they will certainly give you some basic vocabulary and get you on the right track.
Smartphone apps
Learn Arabic for iPhone (free)
This app just covers the basics – think numbers, colours, family and shopping. Single words are read out in Arabic for you to imitate, and the script is provided too. Try out the free version first to see if the material suits you (and laugh at the hilarious pictures used to demonstrate various emotions).
Pocket Arabic for iPhone and iPad (free)
This handy beginner’s guide to Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) has handy translations of basic sentences (good morning, nice to meet you etc) given in standard English, Arabic and romanisation, and vowelled Arabic too, as well as a recording of each sentence you can play. There’s a handy function that lets you record yourself saying each sentence to compare how it sounds with the correct version.
Survival Phrases – Arabic for iPhone (free)
Planning to venture outside of Abu Dhabi and explore the Middle East? This app has all the basic sentences you might need on your trip, from asking for help to booking transport and accommodation. And if you get really stuck, you can always just play the recordings to make yourself understood…
Online courses
Gulf Arabic
This free online resource is terrific for learning the Gulf’s regional dialect. While other courses tend to focus on Modern Standard Arabic, this site focuses on the spoken, colloquial Arabic used across the UAE and in the rest of the Gulf. Learning tips, pronunciation checkers, grammar lessons and vocabulary lists are all readily available, making it one of the best online resources there is for this dialect. Best of all, it’s completely free!
www.GulfArabic.com
Arab Academy (Dhs220-365)
This isn’t a free online course, but it does come highly recommended. Beginners can sign up to an Arabic language course-track: Modern Standard Arabic, colloquial Arabic, Quranic Arabic or Islamic Arabic. These all run in a series of modules right up to advanced level. Live chat functions with Arabic teachers can get you instant help through sticky learning spots, and the site is partnered with a number of prestigious universities worldwide.
www.arabacademy.com
Get conversational
To manage a simple chat with an Arabic speaker, you’re obviously going to have to put in a bit more work than just glancing at your mobile every now and again. Learning through conversation has lots of pros and cons – you won’t get a thorough grounding in grammar, and you can end up with large vocabulary gaps. But many multi-linguists say there’s no teaching method as effective as just throwing yourself into conversation with Arabic speakers.
There are a number of Arabic-English practice groups in the city, and it’s easy to set up your own informal meet-ups, through Facebook, online forums, or friends of friends. For an established group, however, try Meetup.com.
Meetup.com’s The UAE Arabic Speaking Group
Meetup.com was established primarily to give non-native Arabic speakers a chance to practise chatting to locals and vice versa, but has developed into a multi-cultural mingling group too, aimed at bridging the gap between different nationalities. Shisha sessions, barbecue nights, visits to the cinema and more are all on the agenda. Read the founder’s top tips for learning Arabic on the previous page.
Become fluent
This is no overnight task of course! Becoming fluent in any language takes years, and for many Arabic will be a particularly tricky tongue to master because of the unfamiliar sounds and script. So is it worth it? Definitely! The benefits of being able to chat in Arabic will make you feel far more at home in Abu Dhabi, and enable you to travel across the rest of the Middle East with ease. As for business meetings and making local friends, fluency would be invaluable. So try some of these intensive learning courses. They’re a big commitment both financially and time-wise, but should really pay off.
Berlitz Total Immersion Course
This course is an intensive form of private language instruction. The personalised programme has 12 units spread over two-three weeks, and really throws you in at the deep end. You’ll be able to take advantage of double lessons with two instructors simultaneously to simulate group discussions and practise rapid question and answer exchanges.
Berlitz Language Center, Zayed the First Street Bin Haiyai Building (02 667 2287)
Mother Tongue Centre
This rather formal, but still highly regarded, language centre offers courses from beginners to intermediate and advanced levels. It specialises in polishing the language skills of those working in the diplomatic services, while the rest of the courses are geared towards helping you communicate in an Arab working environment.
Zayed 1st Street, Bin Fardan Building, Khalidayah (02 639 3838)
Pro tips
Murtaza Kaizer founded the very popular UAE Arabic Speaking Group on Meetup.com. Here are his top tips for learning Arabic
1 You don’t need Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) in your daily communications. Try learning the colloquial dialect of the country instead of learning MSA first. Very few language centres provide a course that teaches the colloquial dialects: Berlitz institute is one of the few in the UAE.
2 Coffee, shisha and an Arab should be your best friend – or at least the last one to practise your new language. Find a partner who is comfortable sharing his or her culture.
3 Playing online vocabulary games and investing in a good audio/ video learning kit will keep you on the move.
4 To stay in contact with an Arab may not be very easy for all, so try joining or creating a language exchange group. It certainly helps in Abu Dhabi where English is actually more widely spoken than Arabic.
5 Finally, don’t give up if you have not achieved satisfying results. It’s not easy to learn a language, especially if you are over with high school or university, but if you love this language and can dedicate a minimum of four hours per week then nothing can stop you from reaching your goals.
A question of dialect
As you probably know, there are plenty of dialects in the Arabic language, and before you start picking up your vocabulary you’ll need to make a firm decision concerning them. Since you probably live and work in the Emirates, it’s best to find courses that teach conversational Emirati Arabic, also known as Gulf Arabic. Other popular dialect in the city include Egyptian Arabic and Levantine Arabic (as spoken in places such as Syria and Lebanon).
If your interest is academic, then you’ll want to learn Modern Standard Arabic (also known as literary Arabic). This is the written language of all Arab countries, and while you may sound a bit strange using it for communication, it’s pretty much a guarantee that all Arabs will understand what you’re saying.
