I am often asked by my students where they can find Arabic books in the Netherlands. I will keep this list updated as I find new information: Dilara is a bookshop in Bos en Lommer, Amsterdam. Students have found that they have many colourful, cheap storybooks for children in Arabic. (These can be found in …
Author: Leston Chandler Buell
Arabic 4 syllabus, July-August 2018
The following is the overall syllabus for UvA Talen Arabic 4, January–March 2018. This is a work in progress that will be modified and added to as the course progresses. Some useful links: Mastering Arabic official resources. Searcheable PDF of the Hans Wehr Dictionary Official vocabulary memorization packages for Mastering Arabic on Memrise. Useful link …
Counting things 1-10
If you have learned the numbers in Arabic and also a few plural nouns, you might be at the point that you would like to start using numbers in combination with nouns, as in “one car”, “two apples”, and “three houses”. This can be a bit tricky in Arabic. Here I will explain how to …
Arabic 2 syllabus, April–June 2018
The following is the overall syllabus for UvA Talen Arabic 2, April-June 2018. The syllabus is still a work in progress and may be updated gradually with more details as the the course progresses. A couple of useful links: Audio vocabulary flashcards on Memrise. Mastering Arabic official resources. Lesson Material Covered Lesson 1 18/4 During …
Arabic 3 syllabus, April–June 2018
The following is the overall syllabus for UvA Talen Arabic 3, April–June 2018. This syllabus is based on how the course proceeded in January-March. It will be updated as the course proceeds. Some useful links: Audio vocabulary flashcards on Memrise. Mastering Arabic official resources. Searcheable PDF of the Hans Wehr Dictionary. Lesson Material Covered Lesson …
I want to learn Arabic. How should I start?
As a teacher of Arabic, I am sometimes asked what the best way is to start learning the language. In this article I’ll give some tips and things to consider. What kind of Arabic? The language normally used in newspapers, books, and scripted material is usually known as Modern Standard Arabic, abbreviated as MSA. MSA …
Using Bite-Size Arabic in the classroom
Bite-Size Arabic: Learn to Read and Write Arabic Using the Tiniest Bit of Vocabulary and Grammar by Leston Chandler Buell (that is, by me, Dr. Bulbul) is a new textbook designed for both classroom use and independent learners. The book’s companion website has a (hidden) page for teachers where you can also download sample pages. …
Umm Kulthum’s «ألف ليلة وليلة» (A Thousand and One Nights)
Though she died in 1975, Umm Kulthum is undisputably the Arab world’s most renowned and beloved singer. If you would like to learn more about this Egyptian icon, take a look at this Wikipedia page. (If you have some Arabic reading skills, you could also look at her page on the Arabic Wikipedia page.) There …
Bite-Size Arabic: A review
Bite-Size Arabic: Learn to Read and Write Arabic Using the Tiniest Bit of Vocabulary and Grammar by Leston Chandler Buell (that is, by me, Dr. Bulbul) is a new textbook designed for both classroom use and independent learners. The book has been included as one of the five best books in Tutorful’s 2018 Expert Guide …
Tasharrafnaa: A short textbook in transcription for use with Alif Baa or Bite-Size Arabic
Two introductory textbooks for the Arabic writing system—Alif Baa and Bite-Size Arabic—teach the alphabet gradually, introducing just a few letters per unit. If the teacher covers just one unit per class meeting using these books, we are left with the problem of how to teach communication skills with the remaining classroom time before students have …