Is it realistic for a college student to learn to speak Arabic or Hebrew reasonably well?
I speak English fluently as a native speaker and know some Spanish (studying and developing my fluency in it), but in college I want to try and learn a Middle Eastern language such as Farsi or Hebrew or Arabic. I know I’ll never learn to speak it fluently, or understand it in the way a native would, but is it reasonable to learn to be able to communicate and understand the language effectively?
That’s reasonable and quite useful if you know another language, no matter how native-like you’ll become at the end of the day. For learning a foreign language, the first goal that you would have is being able to express yourself and being understood (accent? no matter at all!). The next stage would be working on your speed and grammar. Never assume that you need be native-like so that the native speakers understand you, or accept you.
However, there are two points here: 1) What is your REAL goal (call it "motivation") for learning a, say, Middle Eastern language? I see that you haven’t even decided on which language exactly you like to learn. Do you like to travel there (quite different countries are there: Iran is geographically and historically the most fascinating country in that region, Arab states are trying to modernise their outside appearance, and Israel is already a modern country scientifically). Do you like to read their literature? Do you like to work there? Are you interested in their cultures? … If you don’t have a strong motivation, you will not succeed to learn that language in the long run.
2) how much learning stuff do you have at hand? Do you have any software, book, film, etc? And, how much exposure do you have to the native speakers of those languages? No exposure means no real learning environment, and that means no real learning.
Finally, I repeat my words, it is very useful to learn another language (at least you won’t lose anything), but it is motivation and amount of exposure that count.
Good luck with it! 
Edit:
Just to correct a few things Rumaitha said,
1) Farsi (Persian) is an Indo-European language not Semitic. It has many words and word roots in common with European languages.
2) Letters are out of question here, because the writing systems used in those languages are different to the Latin writing system used in English.
3)Talking about "sounds", Arabic has six vowels, and 28 consonants (9 of which don’t exist in English, but lack 4 English sounds), while Persian has 6 vowels and 21 consonants, only 2 of which are absent in English, and the 2 "th" sounds of English are not present in Persian. Unfortunately I’m not informative enough about Hebrew.
4) English is among the few languages which don’t have verb conjugations regarding "person" (except for third person singular). On the other hand, most of other languages, from Latin languages, Germanic, Iranian, Semitic to African languages have complex conjugations for every person.
5) Farsi has no grammatical distinction for gender.
6) The Grammar Structure given by her is correct only for Arabic, not Farsi (and most probably Hebrew).
July 8th, 2010 at 5:19 pm
To learn a language you need to expose yourself to it- so ren mideastern movies and travel to the midle east.
References :
July 8th, 2010 at 6:09 pm
uhm, naa. college life is really busy andto learn a language you need more time and people you can talk to in that language.
References :
July 8th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
well it depends on a few things ; 1) how much time will you dedicate to the cause? 2) are you naturally good at languages? your Spanish might help you to answer this question but probably not as Spanish is one of the easiest langaugesto learn. i will say the odds against true proficiency are probably against you but learning to understand somewhat would be a great move if youa relooking into going into some kind of government or international relations.
References :
July 8th, 2010 at 6:47 pm
That’s reasonable and quite useful if you know another language, no matter how native-like you’ll become at the end of the day. For learning a foreign language, the first goal that you would have is being able to express yourself and being understood (accent? no matter at all!). The next stage would be working on your speed and grammar. Never assume that you need be native-like so that the native speakers understand you, or accept you.
However, there are two points here: 1) What is your REAL goal (call it "motivation") for learning a, say, Middle Eastern language? I see that you haven’t even decided on which language exactly you like to learn. Do you like to travel there (quite different countries are there: Iran is geographically and historically the most fascinating country in that region, Arab states are trying to modernise their outside appearance, and Israel is already a modern country scientifically). Do you like to read their literature? Do you like to work there? Are you interested in their cultures? … If you don’t have a strong motivation, you will not succeed to learn that language in the long run.
2) how much learning stuff do you have at hand? Do you have any software, book, film, etc? And, how much exposure do you have to the native speakers of those languages? No exposure means no real learning environment, and that means no real learning.
Finally, I repeat my words, it is very useful to learn another language (at least you won’t lose anything), but it is motivation and amount of exposure that count.
Good luck with it!
Edit:
Just to correct a few things Rumaitha said,
1) Farsi (Persian) is an Indo-European language not Semitic. It has many words and word roots in common with European languages.
2) Letters are out of question here, because the writing systems used in those languages are different to the Latin writing system used in English.
3)Talking about "sounds", Arabic has six vowels, and 28 consonants (9 of which don’t exist in English, but lack 4 English sounds), while Persian has 6 vowels and 21 consonants, only 2 of which are absent in English, and the 2 "th" sounds of English are not present in Persian. Unfortunately I’m not informative enough about Hebrew.
4) English is among the few languages which don’t have verb conjugations regarding "person" (except for third person singular). On the other hand, most of other languages, from Latin languages, Germanic, Iranian, Semitic to African languages have complex conjugations for every person.
5) Farsi has no grammatical distinction for gender.
6) The Grammar Structure given by her is correct only for Arabic, not Farsi (and most probably Hebrew).
References :
MA in linguistics
July 8th, 2010 at 7:15 pm
Simple answer: Absolutely.
Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew are all Semitic languages that share similar sounds, grammar structures, vocabularies, and conjugation patterns. Since you are a native English speaker and have taken up on Spanish, then learning another language shouldn’t be a problem for you. The Arabs occupied Spain for over 700 years and left the country influenced by their culture, music, and language. The Spanish grammar structure and conjugation patters are somewhat similar to that of Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew.
Three things to keep in mind when studying any of those languages:
1. Pronunciation differences compared to English.
- Arabic:
The Arabic language contains 28 letters, 10 of which do not exist in the English language. Arabic does not contain the sounds: P, V, X, Ch, G (except in certain dialects) and are substituted by the Arabic sounds B, F, and KS (the letter K followed by the letter S). In addition, Arabic borrows sounds/letters from the Farsi language which is comprehensible among all Arabs. You can refer to this link below for more information on these sounds:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ao_3LlORCBVoiosQgHHmeAjty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080909211026AAeeYRt&show=7#profile-info-tbD6xFyFaa
- Farsi:
The Farsi language contains 32 letters, 11 of which do not exist in the English language (the same letters as those in Arabic with the addition of the "zhe" sound).
- Hebrew:
The Hebrew language contains 22 letters, 5 of which do not exist in the English language, but are easily pronounceable by English speakers. There are also 5 letters in the alphabet which change form when occurring at the end of a word. Like Arabic and Farsi, Hebrew contains extra letters which can be used to substitute for sounds that do not exist in the Language.
2. Writing system compared to the English language:
Arabic:
The Arabic language is written from right-to-left, opposite that of the English writing system.When written, Arabic is done in cursive, the letter form changes when occurring alone, in the beginning, middle, or end of a word. Contains its own set of numbers (originally borrowed from India) but still used its original set of numbers as well (The English numbers are borrowed from Arabic originally, i.e. 1, 2, 3…).
Farsi:
Uses the same writing system as Arabic as well as it’s letters, with a few additional alphabets. Written from right-to-left, changes form when alone, beginning, middle, or end of a word. Uses the Arabic set of numbers (which is originally borrowed from India) but has different names for them.
Hebrew:
Uses a different set of alphabets and the set of writings differ when reading and writing. Textbooks, as well as the Torah, Newspapers, etc. are written in a different set of letters that those when you would normally write. There are the block style letters (reading) and cursive style letters (writing). You need to learn how to read one set and write another set. It’s not very difficult. The letters do not connect together like those of Arabic and Farsi, each letter is on its own, like in English. There is no "cursive (connecting letters)" in Hebrew, just individual letters. Arabic and Farsi consist of connecting letters in a word. Does not have a number system, used the English numbers with different names.
3. Grammar Structure compared to English:
Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew:
Differentiates between male and female in pronouns, verbs, words, and sentence structure. Pronouns like "they" and "you" have specifications for male and female, singular and plural.
Conjugation is different compared to English. All verbs stem from a root verb (usually the past form of that verb) and conjugates depending on number and gender. The root verbs conjugate to make different meanings as well, if you know the root word, you can almost always guess what the conjugated verb means. The grammar structure of all these Semitic languages are very complex, but systematic and contain few exceptions. When being spelled, it’s almost always written as you hear it. In English, hearing what you think is spelled "neybur" is spelled: neighbor. There aren’t really any silent letters except in few rare cases.
The hardest for a native English speaker to learn would be in this order:
Arabic
Farsi
Hebrew
Another thing to think about is dialectical differences. Arabic contains hundreds of different dialects depending on which city, country, or town you come from in the Middle East. Though, all dialects are commonly understood among all Arabs, with the exception of the Franco-Arabic dialect of Tunisia, Algeria, and Morocco.
Farsi has severl dialects but are also commonly understood among all Farsi speakers. I would call them "accents" instead of "dialects".
Hebrew also has a few dialects, but are easily understood among each other. Also should be referred to as "accents".
You would get the best shot studying Hebrew. Arabic is more of a challenge, and Farsi would fall in between. Arabic and Farsi would be the most useful if you plan on traveling overseas or translating. Of course, studying the language for several years is a must if you want to be able to speak it fluently and understand it as well. One to two years is good enough for "simple" talk and short conversations. The more you study the better, and you need lots of practice. Do immersion programs, or find a community of those speakers in your area. Go to synagogues and join Hebrew classes, or Mosques and communicate with others in Arabic. Read the Torah in Hebrew for practice, and the Quran in Arabic. Make friends, or sign up as a conversational partner in ESL classes so you can learn Arabic from a student while you teach him/her English. Read plenty of books, check out movies, watch series online, etc. There are many ways to bring immersion at home. There are many people who take both Hebrew and Arabic, ranging in ages from 17 – 67, so don’t think it’s impossible. And you will be able to speak it fluently if you have the motivation and interest. It’ll take a while, but a year is enough to have a good discussion about yourself, the weather, school , work, everyday talk. I really recommend studying those languages, as they are very useful and you will be able to speak and understand it effectively starting the second year.
Let me know if you have other questions =)
Amir:
1. My bad, I forgot that. It’s because the original language spoken there was Pahlavi and they used to write a modified version of the Aramaic alphabet, I always get confused on that part. It has many, not most. Most of the words are similar to Arabic then they are European, they use Arabic letters, etc. So pardon me for making that mistake, as I am not fluent in the language.
2. And? I was merely pointing out the difference in the writing system.
3. Arabic has more than just 6 vowels. And there are 10 sounds that do not exist in the English alphabet, not 9, you seem to have forgotten the glottal stop which can occur in the middle of a word (as in English, but not as a letter) and at the end of a word. There are three long vowels, three short vowel marks, and over 10 different marks used.
4. As I already elaborated on.
5. Again, my mistake. I had assumed that Farsi was almost exactly the same as Arabic grammar structure wise.
6. I know both Arabic in Hebrew, so unless you speak both languages, then correct me. From what you already did relating to Farsi, I can conclude that Arabic and Hebrew are much closer to one another than Farsi is. Thanks for your input.
Asker:
Sorry for the confusion. When reading my answer, just keep in mind that I am wrong about Farsi being a Semitic language and having gender differentiations. I am not fluent in the language and I made assumptions that it is like Arabic and Hebrew. As for the Arabic and Hebrew, I do know both languages, so no problem on those. Hope I helped.
References :
July 8th, 2010 at 7:55 pm
I studied 3 foreign languages in college. I also learned Greek 20 years later. I speak all four fluently. Not perfect but fluently. So yes, you can. What i found hardest was learning to pronounce the arabic alphabet, the kasra specifically. I still have trouble with it. It all amounts to how much time you spend on the language. To learn a new language well you must become it. I eat the food, listen to the music, associate with the people, etc. Only that way will you learn it well.
References :