ArabicPod – Blog

We have been featured on Syria’s English language daily newspaper Baladna.

Click to view article in PDF format

We’ve finally released a beta version of our own dictionary! This is what we believe is the only Audio Pictorial Arabic dictionary on the web. Some of the additional features of this dictionary are:

• Audio and text examples
• Related lessons
• Multiple results per search
• Random search

This is still in a beta version because the dictionary doesn’t cover all Arabic words at the moment, but words searched for that are not in the dictionary will be recorded so that we can add them soon after, until the dictionary covers all the words out there.

We have been featured in Dubai’s leading English newspaper

Click here to go to article link

As this is one of the most common questions we get asked, I have decided to write a brief entry on this blog to clarify the matter. Firstly, I would like to explain that we tend to teach Arabic that can be understood and used throughout the Arab world. To achieve this, we teach the “common colloquial” Arabic, that is shared by all Arabs, as well as classical Arabic.

An example of a colloquial word is the word فلوس which is pronounced ‘fuloos’ and means money. This word is colloquial and is used everywhere. The classical word for this is مال which is pronounced ‘maal’. So we try to use such common Arabic words in addition to classical Arabic as we believe this is the most effective way to learn Arabic.

We don’t believe one should concentrate on a specific dialect only used in certain parts of the Arab world when one can learn Arabic that is widely understood throughout the Arab world. It is not necessary to learn the Egyptian dialect if your travels take you to Egypt. Our Arabic lessons will enable you to communicate, not only there, but also in other Arab regions.

To cater for all needs, we occasionally teach dialects in our lessons but we always mention the dialect that is used. An example of this can be found in the beginner lesson called ‘wake up!’ which uses the Sham dialect.

For those of you who are still unsure about which dialect to learn, we advise you to avoid worrying about dialects too much and start learning the Arabic that we teach, which will certainly enable you to become more universally communicative in Arabic. After learning this ‘Universal Arabic’, you will, undoubtedly, find learning the various Arabic dialects much simpler, if you so wish to delve further into the wonderfully, rich world of the Arabic language!

We have been featured on Saudi’s leading English newspaper Arab News. Click on the image to view the article or on the link to see it on their website

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=11§ion=0&article=107210&d=26&m=2&y=2008

ArabicPod has been hard at work (as always) to bring you the best resources to help you on your way to learning Arabic.

You may have noticed some of the new features added in the last few weeks, including:

• An Arabic Keyboard for lesson discussions:  You can now get writing Arabic letters with ease and share your Arabic comments.

• Arabic text align: Arabic text has now been programmed to align to the right, as it should be, making the Arabic easier to read on lesson comments.

•  ‘Audio Transcripts’: These are exclusively for Premium Users, you will now be able to listen to each sentence in the pdf and really get to grips with the words.

• Exclusive games that were created to help you learn certain aspects of the Arabic language.

Keep your eyes peeled for more new features coming your way soon!

February 2007, Ehab and I discussed our frustration at the lack of Arabic teaching podcasts. There were many for other languages but not for Arabic. That’s when we discussed the notion of an ArabicPod, and so we agreed on a recording date. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to find a decent microphone on time; nevertheless we made do with what we had.

We set up a tripod and hung a pair of headphones on it, we then connected it to the laptop, placed our chairs at the ready and recorded our very first lesson, “How are you?”. At first we were a bit hesitant about releasing the lesson on the website, but after sending it to a few friends and receiving good feedback, we made the decision to use it. You can probably tell that the quality of the first lesson isn’t as good as the others. Fortunately, we had our new microphone, “Samson SP01”, delivered by the time we recorded the next lesson.

We hope for ArabicPod to become the leading source for learning Arabic on the Internet. The website will provide much more than lessons; needless to say, we hope to make learning the language “an entertainment” by not only providing MP3 podcasts, but videos, games and more. Above all, our success depends on you. We understand that there would be no need for an ArabicPod.net if there were no users, and that’s why we would be grateful if you spread the word. Tell your friends about it. Submit reviews on iTunes or write about it on your blog.