Is it better to learn Levantine Arabic or MSA?
Originally Answered: Is it better to learn MSA Arabic or Colloquial (Levantine)? Go for MSA for literate, and Levantine for daily life/personal communications. By the way learning MSA is better, because almost all Arabs can speak MSA while there are no books in Levantine.
Is Levantine Arabic similar to MSA?
While Levantine Arabic is not extremely close to MSA (no dialect really is), is it the closest a dialect can get and is often the best dialect to learn if you want to learn MSA in the future as the similarities between them will appear so obvious in the future.
How difficult is Levantine Arabic?
This is especially for Westerners who often find some of the strange new sounds a struggle. The good news is that Levantine Arabic is one of the easiest Arabic dialects to pronounce. This is because in some cases, Levantine Arabic speakers omit some of the harsher sounding letters in their everyday language.
Which Arabic dialect is the hardest?
The hardest are Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian because they mix French and Arabic. They have some words that are totally different from MSA. For example, Moroccans say “الزنجلان” which is “سمسم” in MSA and Egyptian.
Is Levantine Arabic the best?
If you’ve been learning Arabic for a while and banging your head against the wall trying to understand spoken Arabic, then you should definitely consider learning the Levantine Dialects. With more than 30 million speakers worldwide, it’s the best dialect to learn if you’re interested in the Arabic language.
Is Levantine Arabic useful?
Levantine is very close to MSA and is very much a worthwhile version of Arabic to learn, as it hits the middle between the extremes of Arabic, from Morocco to the Gulf. I’ve heard quite a bit of both, and personally, I would suggest Levantine dialect. However, Egyptian dialect can just as useful.
Is Levantine Arabic written?
With numerous dialects and over 38 million speakers worldwide, Levantine is one of the two prestige varieties of spoken Arabic, comprehensible all over the Arab world….
| Levantine Arabic | |
|---|---|
| Writing system | Arabic alphabet Latin script (Arabizi) Hebrew alphabet (in Israel) |
| Language codes |
Should I learn Egyptian or Levantine?
If you want to learn Arabic and don’t care what dialect you’re going to learn, we definitely suggest learning Egyptian Arabic. A close second contender would be Levantine Arabic. People speak Levantine Arabic in Lebanon, Jordan, Syrian, and in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Which Arabic dialect is most similar to MSA?
Peninsular or Gulf Arabic This form of Arabic is seen as closest to MSA as it has fewer loan words from other languages than other dialects. This dialect is commonly spoken in Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Should I learn Levantine?
Should I learn Levantine or Egyptian?
As a Levantine speaker, I recommend you learn the Egyptian dialect because it’s easier. There is no standard Levantine accent, Lebanese is different from Jordanian for example, but the Cairo-based popular Egyptian dialect is somewhat the same and very easy to catch, and easy to capture in TV series and movies.
What is the difference between Levantine Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA)?
The difference between Levantine Arabic and Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) may very well be the number one concern that most Arabic learners have at the beginning of their language journey. As you may or may not have already know, Modern Standard Arabic is the standardised Arabic used in formal writing and speech across the Arab world.
Is it better to learn Egyptian or Levantine Arabic?
Other Dialects You didn’t come to learn Yemeni Arabic, or Egyptian Arabic, but keep in mind that Levantine Arabic isn’t the most popular dialect out there. If your aim is to speak with a wide variety of people, you’re best bet is to learn Egyptian Arabic.
Should I learn Arabic dialects or MSA first?
In other words, to study MSA from the beginning allows for a solid foundation and better understanding of Arabic language before one delves into learning a dialect. The argument is that students may feel confused and lost as to the lack of proper structure in any Arabic dialects.
What is the Levantine Arabic dialect?
It is also sometimes referred to as Shami or Eastern Arabic. 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.