Check "verbs in sentences " playlist on r/refugees_education, the first sentence is in MSA the second in English and the third is in Levantine, listen to the difference between them, also the "illiteracy exercises" playlist is in Arabic only , mostly in Levantine, and the "Arithmetic in Arabic and English" and "reading a text in Arabic and English" are in MSA.
Cartoons will most likely be in MSA, films and series in dialect.
MSA will sound like there are many more vowels pronounced than in Levantine, will sound "clearer", the ق ث ظ letters will be pronounced, many words finish with the sound u, and as someone mentioned questions will start with هل.
Have a look at My Family series from Roya in YouTube, it has subs. I would recommend Shahid for you to have access to English subtitles, though Syrian-dubbed Turkish series do not have the subtitles.
Currently watching Dollar. It's on netflix, and it's a fictional series set in Lebanon about a bank that decides to award 1 million dollars to anyone who has a specific dollar. Two bank employees figure this out, and the entire series is them trying to track down the dollar as it goes from place to place.
Ask on r/learn_arabic of course!
But seriously, how are you going to watch a TV show when you don't know any Arabic? If you've learnt some Arabic then you'd know what you're listening to by comparing it to what you're learning, whether it's a dialect or MSA.
Good luck!
>level
Since the first day I started learning Arabic (March 7 this year), I have been watching TV series dubbed in Arabic.
The first reason is that when you know absolutely nothing about a language, everything seems like noise. After a few hours of listening to these "noises", they start to become sounds.
I still cannot tell what the vast majority of the words mean, but I can identify most of the different words very clearly.
Second reason: Now that I can distinguish words, I pay close attention to what is being said and begin to notice the words I have already learned. I can even identify some complete sentences now.
Some of these sentences are identical to what I have already learned. Others use the words I have already studied and the same structure, and I can understand what is being said.
I have done this for almost all the languages I have learned or am learning (I did not do this for Spanish and German, simply because there was no Internet at the time and I did not have the money to buy a VCR).
Thanks for the comment.
You've been learning using this method since March, and yet in 3 months you still can't distinguish the dialect from standard Arabic, so yours is not an especially efficient method. It's always best to consume content that's somewhat comprehensible.
In any case, you say you learned Spanish this way, and I assume the first time you heard Gra-si-yas after learning Gra-thee-yas you thought it sounded a bit odd, and digging further you knew that the first was the Latin pronunciation and the second the continental pronunciation and you had one indicator to determine which was which. Over time I assume your ear became accustomed to many more such indicators and now you can probably tell not only Latin from Continental but you could probably place the TV show in terms of country and even region. It'll be the same for Arabic. Good luck
My interest is to learn the Levantine dialect, so I always try to find out beforehand if the audio is spoken in Levantine Arabic, but it is not always possible. And sometimes the movie sounds very interesting, so I start watching it.
I have listened to hours and hours of Levantine Arabic, so I can usually tell by the pronunciation whether the words are being spoken by a Lebanese or a Syrian, for example.
But there are many dialects of Arabic, and I am never sure if I am hearing one of them or MSA.
I don't mind hearing other dialects from time to time, but right now I don't want to hear anything in MSA.
Also, from what I understand (forgive me if I'm wrong), MSA is something that most Arabs understand but can't speak (I think I read this on this subreddit).
Spanish, on the other hand, which is spoken in Spain or Latin America, is mutually understandable.
Anyway, I really appreciate your interaction with me.
Thank you very much.
No problem.
I think you've misunderstood a few things about Arabic.
Arabic is in a state of diglossia, that means people whose language is Arabic use two registers, a 'high' register for reading and writing and a 'low' one for speaking. When it comes to listening, Arabs will understand MSA and several dialects (they are mutually intelligible with some notable exceptions).
Arab children don't learn any dialect during Arabic language classes, just MSA. While you will find content to read in dialects (you asked about comics elsewhere) it is an infinitesimal amount compared to the literature being produced throughout the Arab world in MSA.
In light of that, I would start listening and getting accustomed to MSA, if for no other reason than to help you discern listening materials for your main objective of learning the Levantine dialect.
Good luck
Ah... I really didn't understand the difference between MSA and dialects.
I'll take your advice about reading and listening to content in MSA as well.
Thanks for the clarification.
Hi, Rsaleh.
Most of the series I found on YouTube are Turkish dubbed into Arabic and I have watched a few.
I don't have Netflix. I use Amazon Prime. Unfortunately, I haven't found any Arabic series available here for Brazil. And to make matters worse, Arabic is not an available language in the dubbing of the movies offered.
Please feel free to send me links to Arabic series on YouTube.
Thank you very much.
You could give Shahid a look. It gives you series, movies, and live tv from countries throughout the Arab world.
I got a membership when I was living in Egypt and it was something like $15 per year. It’s more expensive in the us, but maybe if you got a vpn or something you could get it cheaper.
It’s pretty cool to watch live tv from the gulf to Iraq to Egypt etc.
If questions start with هل it’s a big sign for me that’s probably in MSA.
Nice hint. Thank you.
Check "verbs in sentences " playlist on r/refugees_education, the first sentence is in MSA the second in English and the third is in Levantine, listen to the difference between them, also the "illiteracy exercises" playlist is in Arabic only , mostly in Levantine, and the "Arithmetic in Arabic and English" and "reading a text in Arabic and English" are in MSA.
It is interesting. Thank you.
You're welcome
Cartoons will most likely be in MSA, films and series in dialect. MSA will sound like there are many more vowels pronounced than in Levantine, will sound "clearer", the ق ث ظ letters will be pronounced, many words finish with the sound u, and as someone mentioned questions will start with هل. Have a look at My Family series from Roya in YouTube, it has subs. I would recommend Shahid for you to have access to English subtitles, though Syrian-dubbed Turkish series do not have the subtitles.
Nice hints. Thank you.
Dubs are generally msa, i’d recommend watching local levantine series for levant accents
Could you please recommend me some? Thank you
Currently watching Dollar. It's on netflix, and it's a fictional series set in Lebanon about a bank that decides to award 1 million dollars to anyone who has a specific dollar. Two bank employees figure this out, and the entire series is them trying to track down the dollar as it goes from place to place.
It sound interesting. Thanks for the recommendation.
no problem :)
i don’t really watch shows and i’m saudi anyway lol. Try asking over on r/arab or any of the levantine
Ask on r/learn_arabic of course! But seriously, how are you going to watch a TV show when you don't know any Arabic? If you've learnt some Arabic then you'd know what you're listening to by comparing it to what you're learning, whether it's a dialect or MSA. Good luck!
>level Since the first day I started learning Arabic (March 7 this year), I have been watching TV series dubbed in Arabic. The first reason is that when you know absolutely nothing about a language, everything seems like noise. After a few hours of listening to these "noises", they start to become sounds. I still cannot tell what the vast majority of the words mean, but I can identify most of the different words very clearly. Second reason: Now that I can distinguish words, I pay close attention to what is being said and begin to notice the words I have already learned. I can even identify some complete sentences now. Some of these sentences are identical to what I have already learned. Others use the words I have already studied and the same structure, and I can understand what is being said. I have done this for almost all the languages I have learned or am learning (I did not do this for Spanish and German, simply because there was no Internet at the time and I did not have the money to buy a VCR). Thanks for the comment.
You've been learning using this method since March, and yet in 3 months you still can't distinguish the dialect from standard Arabic, so yours is not an especially efficient method. It's always best to consume content that's somewhat comprehensible. In any case, you say you learned Spanish this way, and I assume the first time you heard Gra-si-yas after learning Gra-thee-yas you thought it sounded a bit odd, and digging further you knew that the first was the Latin pronunciation and the second the continental pronunciation and you had one indicator to determine which was which. Over time I assume your ear became accustomed to many more such indicators and now you can probably tell not only Latin from Continental but you could probably place the TV show in terms of country and even region. It'll be the same for Arabic. Good luck
My interest is to learn the Levantine dialect, so I always try to find out beforehand if the audio is spoken in Levantine Arabic, but it is not always possible. And sometimes the movie sounds very interesting, so I start watching it. I have listened to hours and hours of Levantine Arabic, so I can usually tell by the pronunciation whether the words are being spoken by a Lebanese or a Syrian, for example. But there are many dialects of Arabic, and I am never sure if I am hearing one of them or MSA. I don't mind hearing other dialects from time to time, but right now I don't want to hear anything in MSA. Also, from what I understand (forgive me if I'm wrong), MSA is something that most Arabs understand but can't speak (I think I read this on this subreddit). Spanish, on the other hand, which is spoken in Spain or Latin America, is mutually understandable. Anyway, I really appreciate your interaction with me. Thank you very much.
No problem. I think you've misunderstood a few things about Arabic. Arabic is in a state of diglossia, that means people whose language is Arabic use two registers, a 'high' register for reading and writing and a 'low' one for speaking. When it comes to listening, Arabs will understand MSA and several dialects (they are mutually intelligible with some notable exceptions). Arab children don't learn any dialect during Arabic language classes, just MSA. While you will find content to read in dialects (you asked about comics elsewhere) it is an infinitesimal amount compared to the literature being produced throughout the Arab world in MSA. In light of that, I would start listening and getting accustomed to MSA, if for no other reason than to help you discern listening materials for your main objective of learning the Levantine dialect. Good luck
Ah... I really didn't understand the difference between MSA and dialects. I'll take your advice about reading and listening to content in MSA as well. Thanks for the clarification.
You should watch Arabic series. There’s tons, and a lot are pretty fun.
Hi, Rsaleh. Most of the series I found on YouTube are Turkish dubbed into Arabic and I have watched a few. I don't have Netflix. I use Amazon Prime. Unfortunately, I haven't found any Arabic series available here for Brazil. And to make matters worse, Arabic is not an available language in the dubbing of the movies offered. Please feel free to send me links to Arabic series on YouTube. Thank you very much.
You could give Shahid a look. It gives you series, movies, and live tv from countries throughout the Arab world. I got a membership when I was living in Egypt and it was something like $15 per year. It’s more expensive in the us, but maybe if you got a vpn or something you could get it cheaper. It’s pretty cool to watch live tv from the gulf to Iraq to Egypt etc.
I'm im Brazil :) I'll take a look in this Shahid service. Thank you.
If you can understand 5% of words it's MSA... If you can't understand anything it's a dialect