And, believe me, you will find that everybody is eager to help you.Learn standard Arabic and all dialects will be much easier to learn. It really over-complicates Arabic Grammar. from one of the four countries and sticking to them.Alternatively, you can also choose exposure materials from one of the two subdivision of Levantine Arabic (North or South).Once you’ve got a good grasp of a sub-dialect, it is then easy to pick up the small differences that exist amongst the other variations of Levantine Arabic.If there is one thing that I hope you take away from reading this article is the fact that MSA is not spoken in everyday life.I was not made aware of this distinction when I first enrolled in an Arabic Level 1 module as a university undergraduate years ago.

The difference is most apparent when dealing with people from the far eastern regions of the country, particularly Deir al-Zur, al-Raqqa, and Arabic speakers of al-Hasakeh.

Or the vocabulary as well?

After all, MSA is not a simple language to grasp, let alone master.There is a certain kind of prestige attached to MSA as most Arabs would consider it to be the purest version of the Arabic language, hence a superior language than spoken dialects.Therefore, while students of MSA might experience a few laughs and giggles for speaking in a formal register, students of Arabic dialects, on the other hand, may face critical comments from some native speakers who insist that they learn MSA instead.Remember that the simplest way to retain your sanity is to be crystal clear about your language goals. Ditch some features of MSA and make some tweaks such as replacing MSA words with their spoken counterparts and you’ll get Levantine Arabic.At the same time, I do think it is possible to reach an intermediate level in Levantine Arabic and beyond without any formal background in MSA but only with comprehensive dedicated resources as well as proper learning techniques.Resources in Levantine Arabic are indeed slowly growing in numbers and prominence but it is safe to say that they are still few and far in between (especially in comparison with resources in MSA).Until then, I would recommend starting your language journey with basic MSA knowledge to understand the workings of the language.Spoken Educated Arabic is a type of Arabic spoken most commonly amongst the educated where the Amiyya speech structure is retained but where some features of MSA are incorporated.This type of Arabic which is a mix of both literary and colloquial Arabic is typically used to discuss politics or other topics commonly found in the media but in a less formal register.Such topics may NOT be of interest to a learner at a beginner level but Spoken Educated Arabic can be useful as one seeks to increase his or her proficiency by tackling more complicated topics such as politics and the likes.It is much easier to resume MSA studies if a learner has a foundation to fall back upon.I understand that from a beginner’s standpoint, all that you are concerned with are the necessary steps needed and the resources available to take you from point A to point B in your language journey.Besides, it is hard to imagine being able to achieve conversational fluency in the years to come.

That being said, since I already have a grasp on Ammiya in such a way, do you think I should go back and try to learn Fusha/MSA? I have lived in Jordan for the past several years on and off (my dad is with the US Embassy and I am a university student) so I have a fairly strong grasp on Ammiya (Jordanian dialect). I was able to get a solid grasp of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, reading, and culture before going it on my own with piecing together dialect resources.Hi Nicole, I’m glad that you felt the same way In my opinion, having MSA background knowledge before learning a dialect helps in the long run.Although I must add that jumping straight into learning a dialect as a beginner is very tempting due to the fact that nobody speaks MSA on a daily basis.I am not sure if you will see this since it has been a while. Very informative. A Levantine Arabic learner will not only find the dialect useful to converse with the locals when travelling within the Levant, but also to connect with the Levantine-speaking diaspora communities abroad. I learned that the hard way.Thanks for your insight. Mesopotamian Arabic (Iraqi Arabic) North African Arabic can be a genuine test to understand, even to Arabs of the Middle East. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcutsCookies help us deliver our Services. Standard Arabic is the foundation of all the dialects.Standard Arabic is the foundation of all the dialects.Its more complicated than that. My wife is Iraqi and I still only pick up the general idea of what she and her family are talking about.