Browsing Tag
teaching arabic
10 posts
A Fortnight in the Life of a Hyperpolyglot
How do you manage to maintain and speak multiple languages? Reginald (Reggie) Hefner speaks more than ten languages. For Arabic for Nerds, he wrote down his daily language revision routine and shared his routines and tips.
What happens in your brain when you learn Arabic?
Learning Arabic requires different brain activity than learning German. What does this mean for adult learners? Can the brain adapt to the new demands? A study from the Max Planck Institute provides answers. In this in-depth interview, Dr. Matthias Schwendemann, who was part of the research team, provides fascinating insights into what happens in our brains when we learn Arabic or German.
20 questions for: Jan Hoogland (#31)
I am a big fan of the Oxford Arabic Dictionary. Therefore, I am honored that one of the creators of this exceptional dictionary was available for the 9273-roots series: Jan Hoogland, a Dutch Arabic scholar and Moroccan Arabic expert.
20 questions for: Betül Aslan (#30)
I have always come across excellent Arabic speakers in Turkey. Betül Aslan is one of them. "The reason for learning a language is the most critical point that affects the learning process", says Betül in interview #30 of the 9273 roots series.
Does the term “foreign language” still fit our times?
Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language (TAFL); the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL): we need to talk about the "F"-word in these acronyms, writes Dr. Roger Anderson. If Arabic is a "foreign" language, then every time Arab-Americans speak it within their home, they are performing something foreign in every conversation. Hence, the "foreign" has to be abandoned, opines Dr. Anderson in a thought-provoking guest article.
Is Arabic taught differently in Germany than in the USA?
"Real-life-situations" (USA) versus "lots of grammar" (Germany) - that's what studying Arabic used to be in both countries. But that is changing, says Paula Rötscher, who has studied Arabic at university level in the US and in Germany - and, moreover, teaches Arabic at several institutions.
Now available: e-book of Arabic for Nerds 2
Many readers have asked me about an electronic version of Arabic for Nerds 2 - because the book is too large and heavy to carry around. It is out now!
20 questions for: Reginald Hefner (#13)
20 questions for the man who speaks all the languages which the famous Middlebury Language School offers (except for Korean): Reginald Hefner
What are the best Arabic grammar books?
What are the best Arabic grammar books (nahw and sarf) for beginners, intermediate and advanced students? Some recommendations (in English, German, Arabic).
20 questions for: Dr. Hanada Taha Thomure (#4)
Episode #4 of my series "9273 roots": 20 questions for Hanada Taha Thomure who develops standards to measure text levels in Arabic.
