Arabic: a world language with several variants
Arabic is one of the most widely spoken languages with some 319 million speakers worldwide. Besides native speakers, there are also many people who can read and recite the Quran. Calligraphy and literature are also a big part of Arab culture. So Arabic has great value both culturally and religiously.
Since Arabic is used in so many different countries and contexts, we obviously can’t say it’s a static language. We do refer to it as the Arabic language, but in practice we face diglossia. By this we mean there are two significantly different language variants in use in Arab countries, namely the official standard language Modern Standard Arabic (fushâ) and the informal local spoken language (3âmiya). The spoken languages are usually divided into four main groups:
- Maghrebine (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia)
- Egyptian (Egypt and Sudan)
- Levantine (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine)
- Gulf Arabic (Persian Gulf: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, etc)
In each of these regions, there are different subdialects; the spoken language in Cairo, for example, differs from that in Alexandria. Either way, they share enough similarities to be classified as one category. People from the same region have few problems understanding each other. Between the individual groups of spoken languages, however, the differences are significant. For instance, a Middle Eastern Arab would understand only 10% of the Maghrebian colloquial language. In Morocco and parts of Algeria and Tunisia, the language situation is even more complicated. Besides the varieties of Arabic mentioned, Berber is the mother tongue of many inhabitants in these countries. This means that Moroccan spoken language and Modern Standard Arabic are two foreign languages for them. They often learn these variants at school, but it’s common, however, for a Moroccan to master only Berber.
Arabs use the local dialect in informal contexts. These spoken languages are hardly ever written but spoken, heard in songs, films, television shows, and mainly day-to-day conversations. Modern Standard Arabic is used in the media, literature and for official occasions. It’s also often this variant that’s taught in universities in the West.
Yet no Arab uses Standard Arabic in daily life. Their mother tongue is the spoken language used in the area where they live. They only learn Standard Arabic when they start school, so their proficiency depends hugely on their level of education. Higher-educated Arabs can read and understand it fluently, but many lose the ability to speak and write this variant because they don’t use it so often.
Knowing only Modern Standard Arabic, you can safely travel to the Middle East and make yourself understood among the Arab population (unless your interlocutors are very poorly educated). But you yourself are unlikely to understand much of what people are saying. Indeed, Arabs are used to speaking their own dialect, and conversing in Standard Arabic feels unnatural. Some Arabs use a mix of dialect and Standard Arabic.
Studying Arabic at Linguapolis: a double whammy
Students of Arabic always face a dilemma: which variant of the language should I choose now? If you only study Standard Arabic, you won’t be able to communicate naturally with Arabs. You’ll also miss out on a lot of Arab culture, such as music, TV and films. But if you restrict yourself to the spoken language, you’ll be shut out of literature and the media. So ideally, it’s best to be proficient in both variants of Arabic.
Arabic belongs to the Semitic language family and has some major differences from Dutch in terms of grammar and vocabulary, as well as writing and pronunciation. At Linguapolis, we focus on Modern Standard Arabic on the one hand; the grammatical basics behind the language are examined, and writing is also taught. This way means the door to the Arabic media world is open to you afterwards.
On the other hand, we also offer the Egyptian spoken language, as this is by far the most understood dialect in the rest of the Arab world. Most notably, Egypt has significant political and cultural influence. The majority of Arabic films, soaps or popular songs are Egyptian-made. There are about 80 million Egyptians whose native spoken language is Egyptian.
At Linguapolis, there is a strong emphasis on communicative language teaching. A conscious decision was made to have all listening, reading and speaking exercises conducted in the Egyptian spoken language, because if you want to travel around the Middle East, talk to Arab family and friends, and enjoy its rich culture, we obviously need to focus on speaking. What’s more, the lessons also cover cultural information and facts so that you feel comfortable interacting with Arabs.