Regret learning MSA When you learn Arabic, you are faced with this question: MSA or a dialect? I have struggled with this question myself. I met a man from Syria and he told me to learn MSA and a t

John

Regret learning MSA

When you learn Arabic, you are faced with this question: MSA or a dialect? I have struggled with this question myself. I met a man from Syria and he told me to learn MSA and a teacher I had named Jaouad, whom I highly recommend, said MSA connects all the dialects and it is easier to start with. A man from Algeria told not to waste my time and learn a dialect. I have heard people say they regret learning MSA first. What about you? Did you regret learning MSA first or did you find it to be rewarding?

Oct 29, 2019 10:09 PM

Comments · 8

No, I don't think this question is worth struggling with.

MSA is literary Arabic. If you want to learn what Arabs speak, learn both. Both are <em>parts</em> of linguistic experience of Arabic speaking countries: every Arab who can read Arabic books can understand MSA.

If your goal is different... then it is like asking "whould I learn Spanish or French". How can I know?:)

October 30, 2019

My good friend and old German exchange partner knows MSA but is fluent in the Egyptian dialect, which he needs to be because he married an Egyptian woman who has been learning German. That's the main problem with Arabic, that it is not one language but a whole family of them. MSA acts as a bridge and is reserved for literary use as well as TV newscasting. I understand that it sounds stilted and bookish in routine use, but can at least be understood to some extent by nearly all Arabs.

October 30, 2019

If you can learn classical Arabic better, it is far from dialects. Also if you learn it you include all dialects.

We are Arabs and sometimes we do not understand some Arabic dialects even in one country dialects differ. My advice is to learn classical Arabic away from the dialect.

I'm not saying Jawad is wrong. But the dialects vary from region to region and country to country. Sometimes you hear a tone saying it is impossible to be from Arabic.

October 30, 2019