Do You Speak Arabic Chat? ta7ki 3arabi?

Posted on: Friday, September 25th, 2009 104 comments

When chatting online Arabs often use the Latin letters to write in Arabic instead of the Arabic alphabet. And, because certain sounds in the Arabic alphabet don’t have a counterpart in Western languages, there are a number of symbols used to represent these special sounds. So don’t be surprised to … Continue reading

Quick And Easy Way To Learn The Arabic Alphabet

Posted on: Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 0 comments

Finally! Today I published Arabic Genie’s Magic Key To The Arabic Alphabet. It contains a unique method for learning the Arabic letters that hasn’t been published anywhere before. Instead of rote memorization, the method works through the use of mnemonics, or memory aids, that anchor the shape and sound of … Continue reading

Arabic Short Vowels – what you need to know about tashkeel and harakaat

Posted on: Saturday, September 12th, 2009 8 comments

Arabic vocalization or تشكيل (tashkeel) is used to indicate the short vowels (a, i, u) that are usually not written in Arabic. There are three short vowel sings or حركات (harakaat) and a few more additional signs to indicate the absence of a vowel, the prolongation of an alif and … Continue reading

Egyptian Arabic – A Quick Introduction

Posted on: Friday, August 28th, 2009 5 comments

Egyptian Arabic is spoken by around 76 million people and thus the most widely-spoken Arabic dialect. Given the fact that Egyptian TV and cinema are ubiquitous in the Middle East, it is also the most widely-understood dialect. Taken together, these two considerations add a lot of weight in favor of … Continue reading

BBC Correspondent Learns Arabic In Damascus – And Fails!

Posted on: Sunday, August 23rd, 2009 1 comments

There is an interesting article on the BBC News page detailing the experience of one of their correspondents in learning Arabic in Damascus. While I certainly applaud his efforts, I nevertheless have to remark on some inconsistencies in his article. In the article, the author writes: But however modest our … Continue reading