Arabic

My PhD specialization is in Akkadian Language and Literature.

Akkadian is an ancient Semitic language which was spoken in Mesopotamia for several millennia, and is related to many other Semitic languages, both ancient and modern. Arabic is structurally very similar, but I’ve never really had the opportunity to learn it until now; I’ve taken the introductory courses at Wilfrid Laurier University, AB101 and AB102, and am now enrolled in AB201.

Resources

Textbook

The textbooks being used are

• for AB101:
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  Brustad, Kristen, Mahmoud Al-Batal, and Abbas Al-Tonsi. Alif Baa Madkhal Ilaa Huruf Al-ʿArabiyyat Waʾaswatiha: Introduction to Arabic Letters and Sounds. 3rd ed. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2010.
• for AB102, AB201:
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  Brustad, Kristen, Mahmoud Al-Batal, and Abbas Al-Tonsi. Al-Kitaab Fii Taʿallum al-ʿArabiyya: Textbook for Beginning Arabic with Website. 3rd ed. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2011.

Flashcard system

As a help to studying, I have produced flashcards for the Flashcards Deluxe mobile app which I have installed on my iPhone.¹⁾It works on Android devices as well, by the way, though I am not able to test my files on that system. The app can be loaded from .xlsx or csv files, the latest versions of which are available here to anyone who wants them. See the Flashcards site for instructions on how to use the app.

The app allows for categories to be assigned to cards for the purpose of applying filters. I have specified two categories for each card:

• Category 1 identifies which unit (Alif Baa) or lesson (Al-Kitaab) in the book the vocabulary item belongs to (1, 2, …), and
• Category 2 differentiates between dialects using F, L, or E, for ‘formal’ (i.e., standard) Arabic, Levantine dialect, or Egyptian dialect.

For the most part, cards follow the book, though I have made several adaptations for ease of use as a flashcard system. In the main, I have amplified with editorials (in italic) where dialect or grammatical detail is best indicated. I have provided overrides in braces for the text-to-sound feature in order to approximate as much as possible the pronunciation offered by the books’ companion website²⁾This works quite well using Siri’s built-in Arabic voice on an iPhone; I can’t speak for Android but would be pleased to obtain feedback on that.—note that in many cases, these overrides resort to incorrect spellings in order to tweak the text-to-speech algorithm; the correct orthography is given outside the braces.

Please advise of any errors you may find using the contact form. Otherwise, feel free to adjust as you see fit!

Enjoy!

Downloads

Note: lesson 8 is complete through exercise 1; lessons 9, 10 have vocabulary only.

Please use the contact form on this site to let me know of any corrections! I and my peers thank you in advance!