Well, having gotten Latin most of the way under my belt, I’m looking to learn some new languages: Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, and probably a West Germanic language and a North Germanic language. Can anyone advise me on some books to get for Arabic, to start?
(Not looking to speak Arabic, and most of the reason I want to learn it is to read the Qu’ran in the original, not that I’m remotely Muslim)
Well, I have to start with the rhetorical question ‘Why Bother?’ Other than religious writings, this is a culture that is comparatively poor in literature. Further, it is not very welcoming to foreigners. I cannot help but think your time would be more practically spent with a Slavic language. If you insist on a Semitic language, Hebrew is more rewarding.
Further, Arabic is a toughie. The dialects of the spoken variant are widely divergent. It is (of course) not Indo-European. It is a bear to learn, and not a teddy bear either.
Also, if you desire to read Scripture, an admirable goal, you will need religious instruction. No way around it, classical Arabic is so tied up in religion classes in one always become classes in the other.
But, if you insist, Saudi modern spoken Arabic is widely considered to be the closest to Classical Arabic. On the the other hand, spending quality time in Lebanon is easier on the lifestyle and many scholars there actually are quite good with Classical.
Perhaps a good first step is to call the local Saudi Embassy. They generally sponsor religious and language education.
Best of luck.
Hmm. Well, in that case, perhaps I should delay Arabic in favor of Hebrew, Greek, or (possibly) German. If a passing mod has nothing better to do, could you kindly amend the title thus?
Any ideas for those?
If you’re looking to learn Arabic to read the Qu’ran, you’ll need a few years of university-level instruction to get much out of it. Even if you choose to live in an Arab country, you’ll still have to take a course to approach the poetic and comparatively formal language of the Qu’ran, as opposed to the day-to-day language. So it’s a long-term, fairly expensive commitment we’re talking about
I have a suggestion though. You could do what many non-Arab Muslims do, and merely learn to recite the Qu’ran - that is, to read the vocalised script aloud. (I believe the Jews do something similar with their very similar language for the bar mitzvah.)
So you couldn’t understand what was being said without a translation of the meanings of the Qu’ran (don’t call it a translation, it’s a Muslim belief that the Qu’ran is perfect and cannot be accurately translated, but you could impress your friends and perhaps get closer to Allah, if that’s your aim. Learning to read and write Arabic without comprehending the meaning is not particularly difficult - you could learn to do so in a few months.
A local mosque might offer such courses, and even couple them with a bit of religious instruction. Even if you’re not vaguely interested in converting, they might be flattered that you want to learn about their scriptures.
Just noticed Paul’s assertion that Arabic is relatively poor in literature. This might be GD fodder, but I don’t think that’s the case. Certainly there aren’t as many novelists as in English (with notable exceptions such as Naguib Mahfouz, Abdelrahman Munif), but novels are a comparatively modern invention in English anyway. There’s a great deal of poetry, song, history, travel literature and one hell of a lot of material about politics available to Arabs - you won’t be starved for choice if you develop your Arabic skills to that high a level.
I certainly enjoyed studying Ancient Greek at school and wish I had more time to keep up my knowledge. Being able to read the works of Sophocles, Thucydides etc in the original is a real blast. Even geometry was more fun when you gould go to Euclid’s original text. There are plenty of good teach-yourself books available. Perhaps you could get in touch with the Classics department at your local university for a recommendation?
Yes the novel is (basically) unknown in Arabic. But also lacking are technical books (in original or in translation), reference tomes and even things like high-quality atlases. Remarkable, but true.
A UN report from a couple of years ago pointed out fewer books are translated into Arabic each year than are translated into Danish (or something). The National Library in Riyadh has barely a million unique titles. Many of those are very old.
(Not that anyone is likely to read a million books in a lifetime, but still.)
Anyway, not a slam at Arabic-speakers, but facts is facts. Other languages are much more useful than Arabic.
The guy’s just been studying Latin. I doubt he’s after Arabic for pure usefulness.
Besides, it’s spoken by a few hundred million people - it’s useful just for that.