Learning Arabic Verbs : Mighty Patterns

One of the main difficulties students of Arabic encounter when they reach the novice-high level is definitely learning Arabic verbs and specifically the patterns. During my years of teaching the Arabic language, I have noticed this bump in students' learning experience over and over. This encounter with the verb patterns, normally at around the third semester of Arabic when using the Al-Kitaab series, leads students to ask several questions as to the purpose of the patterns and why they have to learn this long table of Roman Numbered patterns that look owe-fully similar.

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Learning Arabic Grammar: what beginners must know

Every student of Arabic goes first through the process of mastering the Alphabet. Once this step is done with it tricky letters and pronunciation hurdles, one feels empowered by a new ability to read every word in Arabic and ready to take on next challenges. This motivation however, often dwindles down in an alarming pattern when students begin learning Arabic Grammar. While many reasons can cause such a tendency, one of the often mentioned causes is the difficulty of Arabic grammar. However, a closer look at this situation reveals that often times students were not ready to learn the Arabic grammar because they did not have the proper introduction as to what to expect or what to look for or target. Of course, students normally have a syllabus that guides them, but what is meant here, and what i hope to explain the following paragraphs, is not to provide the students the titles of the lessons introduced at a specific points in the class, but rather a global perspective of what the students should expect and what they should look for and most importantly why are they learning Arabic grammar just now. 

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Learning Arabic Alphabet: Best Practices

Many choose to learn a roman language thinking that this would be easier than learning say... Arabic which entails the task of learning Arabic alphabet and a new set of rules related to writing and reading from right to left in a cursive way. While this might be intimidating to many, learning Arabic alphabet is far from being an obstacle that you cannot overcome. However, as any attempt to undertake a serious project, several key rules need to be abided to for best results.

First things first, the Arabic alphabet is made of 28 letters made up of long vowels and consonants. Most of these letters connect to what's before and after them (Arabic writing system is cursive remember?). We said most of them connect because 6 of them do not connect to what's after them. So keeping this information in mind when writing would help when one is stuck wondering whether this letter should be connected. So the first thing a student of Arabic should do is memorize those non connecting letters which are: ا - د - ذ - ر- ز- و 

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This selection is highly thought of to target learners of the Arabic language at the novice/lower intermediate level. There is more than 370 words per set allowing for an almost endless combination of sentences with a great flexibility and ease of use.

The verbs provided are of common usage and the fact that they are conjugated in the present tense (al muDaara`) helps students focus on one kind of inflection with the most common personal pronouns. The words in this set are color coded for ease of use and to help students memorize each category without confusion. Creating sentences with these magnetic words becomes a real pleasure and an effortless way to learn the proper spelling and inflections.

This set is ideal for class or group work and an effective learning tool as students are not focusing on spelling while creating as many sentences as possible.

The recurrent contact with the words allows for an easy learning of the spelling and the verb inflections. Color Coded (verbs in green, adjectives in blue, personal pronouns in red, proper nouns in orange, etc...) Verbs inflected with the main personal pronouns introduced at novice/low-intermediate levels Gender inflected (many adjectives and words come in both masculine and feminine form, a "tah marbuutah" is available in both connected form and disconnected form to add where needed).

Present tense only (al muDaara`) : for the novice/low-intermediate level of Arabic. Great for group activ ities and games. Enhances memorization of proper spelling of words. Ideal for instructors who wish to apply the ACTFL principles of the five Cs in programs like STARTALK among others... Lends itself to many classroom or group games.