Arabic as a second language for non-speakers
Arabic language is spoken by about 480 million people in the Arab world and everywhere else. Moreover, it takes part in a very ancient and broad culture. The Arabic language is considered to be one of the main international languages. A lot of people decide to learn Arabic for several reasons which could be political, diplomatic, economical, religious, cultural, and educational or for reasons related to communication or tourism. Also, some people learn Arabic because they have a passion to know about culture, traditions and history of the Arab world.
The basics of learning Arabic language for non-speakers:
- Paying attention to the phonics of the language as well as the shape of some letters depending on their places in words and sentences as the Arabic language is rich with phonetics not found in any other language which are usually found to be difficult to pronounce by non-speakers.
- Introducing the most commonly used terms and phrases and using new words in sentences which would teach students when and how to use such words to make learning the language easier and faster. Also, the definitions and meanings of vocabulary words would be linked to the daily lives of individuals for them to learn faster and easier.
- Focusing on punctuation and introducing each punctuation mark while paying particular attention to teach students when and how to use punctuation marks, which might be used in other languages as well, in such a way which would allow students to construct correct and meaningful sentences.
Subjects taught to non-speakers should be many and varied. For example: historical, cultural, political and economical to allow non-speakers to develop a wide range of vocabulary which would allow them to construct many sentences and improve their speaking skills.
A wide range of multimedia should be included in the teaching process like: videos, audio records and figures to associate certain terms to their meanings.
The teaching process should be divided into stages and levels which would suit the learner and their purpose from learning the language.
The teaching process should start by oral instruction and then move onto written instruction to allow students to gain confidence in their ability and language skills.