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Morocco is a popular tourist destination in the Arabic-speaking worldmorocco majorelle garden image by Jennifer LaFleur from Fotolia.com
Consider your reasons for learning conversational Arabic since it will determine how and what type of dialect you learn. Be aware that there are many Arabic dialects--and not all are intelligible to the average Arabic speaker. Decide which one you want to learn and take if from there. Most people who speak Arabic understand Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). A popular dialect is Egyptian Arabic, which many people in Arab countries understand because of the sheer amount of media Egypt produces. Many foreigners prefer this dialect over MSA because it is more informal. - 2
Tea houses are common destinations for friendly chats in Arabictea time image by Fahed meddeb from Fotolia.com
Decide whether or not you want to learn the alphabet. Knowing the alphabet isn't necessary for conversational Arabic. It can be helpful for traveling or if you want to read newspapers. Written Arabic is more standardized than a spoken dialect, which is written only informally or when providing local color in novels, plays or movies. So you'll need to study MSA and the dialect to be minimally literate. English-Arabic conversational educational materials exist, but it's a good idea to learn the alphabet so you can sound out new words. - 3
A Middle Eastern sunsetapr?¡§s la temp?ate image by GOL from Fotolia.com
Practice chatting. Arabic dialects change constantly, with new words and phrases coming into use almost daily. LiveMocha is a free, interactive online language learning site. It lets you note in your profile that you want to learn a certain dialect, so you can contact those who speak it. From there, you can arrange chat times on Skype or on another online chatting site. - 4
Arabic writing on a facadearabic image by Eldin Muratovic from Fotolia.com
Use the new language every day by reading some text or chatting with someone else. A solid half hour or reading or interacting a day is more effective in learning the language than two hours every few days. - 5
Souvenirs from the Arab world- you can often get a better discount if you bargain in ArabicBig silver turkish hookah on red carpet in front of red sofa image by Alexey Kozhevnikov from Fotolia.com
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