CONTINUING EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
LANGUAGECENTER
ARABIC LANGUAGE
اللغة العربية
Contact Information
Instructor: Jamil Istifan
Language Center, Continuing Education Department
Phone mail: (305) 237-2587
E-mail:
General Description of the Course
An overview of the Arab World helps the student gain information and insight in several areas including history, culture, art, religion and historical development of the Arabic language. This course is an introduction to the phonology, morphology, and syntax of classic and modern standard Arabic.
Course Syllabus
Week 1Lecture and Introduction
Week 2Arabic Alphabet, Vowel System
Week 3AhlanWa Sahlan Chapter 1, 2
Arabic Alphabet, Vowel System, Article, Demonstrative Pronouns
Week 4AhlanWa SahlanChapter 3, 4
Week 5AhlanWa SahlanChapter 5, 6
Week 6AhlanWa SahlanChapter 7
Past Tense, Idafa
Week 7AhlanWa SahlanChapter 8, 9
Nisba, Idafa, Demonstratives, Question Words,Negation, Cardinal Numbers 1-10
Week 8AhlanWa SahlanChapter 9, 10
Dual, Number – Noun Agreement, Plural / Non-rational Nouns
Week 9AhlanWa SahlanChapter 10, 11
Objects of Verbs, Ordinal Numbers
Week 10AhlanWa SahlanChapter 11, 12
Present Tense: Negation & Conjugation,
Cardinal Numbers 11-100
Week 11AhlanWa SahlanChapter 13, 14 Cases: Nominative, Accusative & Genitive
Imperative, Plurals / Nouns, Adverbials
Week 12, 13, 14Software and CD practices
Arabic is the official language of 22 countries spread out of the Middle East, the Persian Gulf and North Africa. About 215 million people speak it. In addition, millions of Moslems have some knowledge of Arabic being the language of their religion and their sacred book, al Koran القرآن. In 1974, the Arabic language attained an international achievement and was introduced in the United Nations as the 6th official language.
Arabic is derivated from Afro-Asiatic (Hamito-Semitic) family. As Semitic language, it was first attested by inscriptions in the Arabian Peninsula from about the 5th century B.C. carried by the expansion of Islam in the 7th and 8th century A.D. to a large area of the world. Like Hebrew, both languages are much related; especially they are written from right to left, but with different scripts. However, other languages written with the Arabic script are Kashmiri, Kurdish, Pashto, Persian/Farsi, Sindhi, Turkish, Uyghur, and Urdu.
Arabic Alphabet is evolved from the people of Nabateans. In the Mohammedan period, 2 scripts were in use: the Naskhi نسخي and the Kufi كوفي. There are 2 main types of written Arabic:
- Classical Arabic
- Modern Standard Arabic
Spoken Arabic (colloquial/regional) varies from one country to another, these include: Egyptian, Levantine/Middle Eastern, Gulf, Maghrebi, Moroccan, but the classical or standard Arabic has remained unchanged since the 7th century A.D. Unifying this language has helped in the development and the progress of the whole Arabic society.
Arabic language has contributed many words to the English language, most of them starting with the definite article [al-], example:
alcohol, alchemy, algorithm, algebra, albatross, alcove, alkali, almanac, giraffe, gazelle, cotton, magazine, artichoke, coffee, tobacco, assassin, arsenal, asphalt, sofa, mattress, tariff, admiral, hazard, cipher, syrup, zero, jewel, jar, genie, amen, carat, safari, checkmate, chess, mancala, candy and (possibly from salAm= سلام) so long...
On the other hand, since the Arab conquisted Spain and stayed in for almost 800 years, the Spanish language is flooded with Arabic words, some of them starts with [al-]
like: algodón, almohada, almacén, alcalde, alberca, alcázar, alheña, alquitrán, aldea, alcoba, albañil, alcachofa, alguacil, albatros, alcohol, azar, zapato, quilate, regar, ría, cáscara, genio, asfalto, joya, crimen, ataúd, diván, derviche, esponja, naipe, sésamo, tabla, aceite, aceituna, arroz, arrecife, fulano, dinero, usted...
As a matter of fact, learning this language helps not in discovering a new world but in making it closer, reachable with a new culture that sometimes we feel we need it, especially, when in these days, the new technology, the computer, the Internet and other cyber-cultures have contributed in making the whole world closer and closer. Good luck.
Your Instructor J a m i l جميل
Required Textbook
Mahdi, Alosh: Ahlan wa Sahlan, Functional Modern Standard Arabic for Beginners.
YaleUniversity Press. New Haven and London, 2000.
Recommended Selected Supplementary References
CD:
Pimsleur, Instant Conversation, Simon & Schuster, Inc. New York, 2002
Software:
Learn Arabic Now, for Windows. (Available in some computer stores, or online).
Speak & Learn! Arabic, for Windows & Mac CD-ROM.
Easy Language, The Rosetta Stone, for Windows & Mac CD-ROM.
Books:
Haddad, Yousif & Ingle, Jack: Simple Arabic. A comprehensive Course. Saqi Books.
London, 2002.
Wartabet, John: Arabic-English/ English-Arabic, Dictionary. New York, NY.
Hippocrene Books, 1999.
Wightwick, Jane & Gaafar, Mahmoud: Mastering Arabic. New York: Hippocrene.
Books, 1999.
Observation:
Since this course is a non-credit class that does not mean that there is no responsibility in carrying it. It is in fact your responsibility in making it successful together with me. I guarantee you the learning if you do your part and fulfill all what is assigned to do. It requires your help and your real cooperation. Class meets only one session a week. If you miss a class, it is really like missing 2 weeks. So please do your best as I will do to make this class and its objective attain the best success having in mind always what the Greek philosopher Aristotle said: "The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet".
N.B:
The learning is very challenging, and we will use some MNEUMONIC devices to make it eeeeeeeeeeasy like:
I Mail My Roof = اعمل معروف
In Arabic, it means “please” or “do me a favor!”
Say it faster, and it sounds correctly in Arabic.
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