this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2024
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Building Solidarity - One Word at a Time

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Who wants to learn Arabic? (hexbear.net)
submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Marhaba marx-hi about 3 years ago I made a similar post and ended up teaching a comrade for almost 2 years, and I loved teaching my native tongue so I wanna go on that journey again, especially now that I have so much experience and already made the “course material”, it’s a fun “side hustle”.

Ofc I make sure to adapt the lessons and study plan to the student’s interests and pace. I try to incorporate Comprehensible Input as much as possible even though it’s very scarce to find input made for learners. I think language learning has to be fun, engaging and things need to make sense, and believe me Arabic makes a lot of sense unlike English.

You can dm me from a throwaway account if you want. Let me know if you have any questions about Arabic or my approach to teaching. And dw about money, really!

And if there is enough interest we can have group lessons as well... just let me know if you're interested and we can try to make it work ت

Arabic is nowhere near as intimidating as you think, it actually has internal logic and consistency

::: spoiler I'm just gonna quote what @prolepylene said about his experience learning Arabic

Learning languages is hard, but I find it very rewarding. My lessons are fun, the language itself makes sense in a way that allows me to infer meanings and uses I don't explicitly know, and it teaches me about English almost as much as Arabic. Arabic as a language makes a lot more sense than English. A big part of it is that Arabic isn’t a bastard language of Germanic and Romantic influences, though the history of the Arabic world has left it with many loan words from the west. The other big thing is MSA (Modern Standara Arabic), though not really spoken colloquially, is actively managed to make it universal and easy to learn. In my opinion, the script is the least intimidating part of the language.

The [Arabic root system] is pretty great. At first I wasn’t sure how it was substantially different from the Latin root system, but comparatively to English the Arabic root system is everywhere throughout the language. As you learn the forms and patterns you can break down basically all verbs, nouns, adjectives, and adverbs to a base form and a pattern that you can use to infer meaning.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Hi, I am a linguist who studies how people learn languages. Duolingo isn't terrible, but there are better uses for your time.

Here are some reasons:

  • it's basically just flash cards + gamification. Not terrible for rote memorization, but it's not the whole picture of learning a language.
  • the sentences are decontextualized. Language is meant to be used in context, so ideally you want your language practice to happen within a conversation (or story--this is why I recommend the Duolingo Stories)
  • the computer scientists who founded it didn't know that language acquisition was a field of research, despite there being world-class scholars at the same institution.
  • Duolingo employs some linguists now. Some launder the reputation of the company by publishing research (mostly A/B design UX research on how to retain users).
  • Many Duo linguists work on the Duolingo English Test (meant to replace the exams universities use for international students), which means their research is centered around assessment practices. Not on its face a bad thing, but this influences the kind of research done.
  • other Duo linguists oversee the revolving door of underpaid contractors who produce content for their lessons. The company is currently working on AI to replace these workers.
  • Alphabet owns them

As others in this thread have pointed out, it's also much better for Western languages with the Latin alphabet. Duo started with Spanish and French, and I've heard through contacts that work there, French is their archetypal/flagship course. The computer scientist-oriented solution for expanding to other languages is to assume typological similarity between languages, which means languages that are farther from French in grammar, writing system, etc. will all be contorted to fit the shape of their system.

My suggestions for anyone looking to learn a new language:

  • practice rote memorization on your own, and prioritize communicating with others in authentic contexts.
  • find a community of language learners to practice with. This can be formal classes or informal meetups, but keep each other accountable to using the language. You will all help each other improve.
  • find a community of people who already speak the language. Practice with them as much as possible.
  • focus as equally as possible on reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. These are all different skills that synergize with each other but don't correlate 1:1 (i.e., being good at reading helps you get better at writing, but if you only practice reading, you aren't automatically improving your writing)
  • do not be afraid to make mistakes. It's okay to use the wrong word, pronounce something weirdly, or use incorrect grammar. People make mistakes in their native languages all the time. You'll learn from the mistakes and get better in the future. The most important thing is putting the time in. Automaticity comes from practicing.

I could literally go on for days. Happy to answer specific questions anyone has.