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[Steven Champeon <schampeo AT hesketh.com>]

on Thu, Aug 04, 2005 at 09:23:42AM -0400, Greg Brown wrote:
> I need to find a book that has the basic stuff: basic script
> deciphering, how to read basic script, basic pronunciation, etc. 
> There are *LOTS* of books on Amazon, most with 4 star ratings, and I
> don't have the money or time for all of them so I am looking for
> suggestions.
> 
> I am more interested in the Arabic used today rather then the
> traditional, historical Arabic of the Qur'an.
> 
> Any thoughts, pointers?  Also, once the basics are covered does anyone
> have a suggestion for a Arabic to English dictionary?

I also dug into Arabic over the past couple years (didn't get very far,
but learned most of the script; I should try to pick it up again and see
how much further I get this time). AFAICT, the script really hasn't
changed much - due to the intense focus on the "original" Qur'an,
classical arabic remains a strong influence on the more local dialects.
I understand there are several scripts, though, Naskh and Ruq'ah among
them.

I got the Oxford Arabic<->English dictionary, and it doesn't suck. I
also picked up the compact Hans Wehr/Cowan dictionary, but honestly
haven't used either of them much. The latter is just Arabic->English.

I'd avoid the T. F. Mitchell "Writing Arabic" unless you enjoy reading
badly typeset Courier (focused on Ruq'ah). I settled on the Hippocrene
"Arabic for Beginners", which at least has some structure to it, and the
"Arabic Alphabet" by Awde and Samano. I'd also recommend you pick up a
nice ring-bound lined notebook; it made it much easier to write
right-to-left. Start at the back, it's easier on the hand.

But as I said, I didn't get very far; for a while I could recognize
words on the television and in the Economist, and could write basics
like 'bint' or 'qataba' - so YMMV. I'd be curious what you end up
using, etc.

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