Megumi
Arabic vs Hebrew- which one is easier for a native italian speaker? I've been learning arabic for aboout 6 months. This language is very interesting, especially i love the writing... But the verbs are difficult, same the plurals. Especially the broken ones, where changes the scructure of a noun. In the future i would like to leran it again. Now i'm interested in the hebrew language- just a little bit. As for the alphabet, arabic has much more sounds than hebrew. But im not sure about the grammar...
Nov 13, 2013 2:47 PM
Answers · 11
2
HEBREW! It's so much easier than Arabic. Arabic is so complicated with all the grammar rules and different dialects. But don't worry, if you study Arabic you will know Hebrew and if you know Hebrew you will know Arabic. Simple as that because they're both Semitic languages. For example you know Italian, so if you study Spanish, French or Portuguese it will be easy for you because these languages are all Latin languages. But Arabic has different dialects like in Italy people learn standard Italian but some speak their own dialect like Sicilian or Sardinian. From my personal experience I feel that Hebrew is easier. I first learned Hebrew before learning Arabic. Hebrew prepared me for Arabic. Once a really got into Arabic I quit learning Hebrew and dedicated all my time for Arabic. I studied Modern Standard Arabic and realized that all that studying was for nothing because Arab people really don't speak it. They speak their own different dialects, so I had to learn one dialect out of so many to communicate with people. The most popular is Egyptian Arabic, but I feel that Egypt Arabic is not enough. For me, studying Arabic is like studying 3 languages in 1 language. Hebrew is easy, there is only 1 Modern Hebrew people speak today and if you learn it you will be able to talk to all Israelis. I think that if I dedicated the same time I dedicated in Arabic for Hebrew I would already be fluent in Hebrew. Arabic is never ending. If you want to learn Biblical/ Ancient Hebrew it will be a little more hard because the writing system went through many changes in styles through out the ages and each Jewish community has their own way of reading the Tanakh/ Hebrew Bible. The difference is in the pronunciation, there is Ashkenazi and Sephardi accents. Modern Hebrew today is spoken in a Sephardi accent because this accent is from the Mediterranean and it's more authentic to the original Hebrew.
November 14, 2013
2
Hello Megumi I think languages are for communication. So which language you choose to learn has a lot to do with which people you desire to communicate with. Also languages come with cultures, and as you learn a language you are studying a lot about the culture as well. So maybe the way for you to choose is to think more deeply about why you want to study, and who you hope to communicate with, and which culture you desire to be associated with or to learn more about. Languages are not sterile sets of information to get a dry knowledge of, but rather they bring you into communication with people, real people, and their culture. A love for the people will surely increase anyone's ability to study their language.
November 14, 2013
1
Hello..I'm Egyptian.. Concerning the broken plurals in Arabic, it is not really a thing to worry about as they are also hard for a native speaker of Arabic to memorize. As you get deeper in learning Arabic, you will find it easier to derive the plural from the noun by sense. Nouns can have many plural forms at the same time. Hebrew has its irregular plural nouns. In general Hebrew and Arabic are very similar, first, because they are both Semitic languages. Second, because Hebrew has borrowed much of Arabic when the resurrection of modern Hebrew took place...Note that Sephardi Hebrew pronunciation is very very similar to Arabic.
November 13, 2013
1
Modern Hebrew is easier than Arabic. (Maybe because I know it :)) ). But the structure is similar for all Semitic languages. But actually I don't know the language easier than Hebrew..
November 13, 2013
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