Learning Arabic in Egypt (Egypt)
I teach at an international school in Cairo. I always find it interesting that, not only do all Egyptian students have to study Arabic, which isn't Egyptian Arabic, but Koranic Arabic, but the foreign students must take AFL (Arabic as a Foreign Language) as well. They are also required to learn Koranic Arabic and not the language spoken in the country where they're living. It's comparable to international students coming to the US or Britain and not learning Modern English, but, instead, being required to study the English of Beowulf. How useful is this?
Sent by: Noel
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The standard Arabic, that u termed Koranic, is the only Arabic which is understood in all 22 Arab countries. Once you learn it and travel to any Arab country u will find that all educated people will understand you. On the coutrary, if you learn only the Egyptian dialect u will find it difficult to communicate with people of other countries. Moreover, there is no written form for dialects. Ur comparison with English is illogic.
If by Koranic Arabic you mean traditional or standard Arabic, the reason, I guess, is by learning the standard Arabic you would be able to use it in any Arabic country. Furthermore, you never write in Egyptian or any dialect Arabic.
I had a Nigerien friend at college who used standard Arabic almost entirely. I can't say that there were no awkward moments when I was unable to explain a dialect word to him, but the important thing is he used a correct language that we understood. As for him, he gradually grasped the meaning of words we use almost solely in Kuwait. So unless your planing to immigrate to an Arabic country stick to the standard language.
Yes, I understand waht you said. But I wonder if 'Koranic Arabic' means the Arabic written in Koran. Isn't it Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) which can be said a modern form of Koranic Arabic? If so, it's still worth while learning it, because newspapers or most of documents are written in MSA. Also, TV news are provided in MSA. I think international students, if they have chance, should learn two languages, MSA and spoken Arabic. But of course, to understand daily conversations and join arguments, spoken language is very important. Learning two languages at the same time is very tough and confusing. But they have some similarities. Some people may say learning Standard Arabic makes learning spoken Arabic easier, because the grammar of Standard Arabic is more complicated. As a learner of Arabic, I agree with that opinion. If Koranic Arabic really means Arabic used in the Koran, well, the issue may be more related to national identity?
Arabic as a second language presents a unique challenge due the extensive differences between Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and various regional dialects. While most language can be divided into a "standard form" and sundry dialects, the positioning versus the myriad dialects is, in my experience, rather unique. I would estimate that the lexicon of MSA and any given dialect varies by at least 50%. Because of these lexical differences I often find myself unable to understand certain Arabic speakers no matter how many times they repeat what they have said. I simply do not know the meaning of the words they are using, even though I might know the equivalent terms in MSA. MSA can act as a good starting point and it allows students to communicate with any native speaker with a modicum of education. Comparisons between MSA and the English of Beowulf aren't really accurate since MSA is very much a living language, even if it is used mainly in news-media and academic forums.
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