Choose an Arabic Program with
a Good Audio Component

By Gerrit du Plessis

Regardless of whether you've chosen to learn Arabic online, in a classroom, or in front of a television set, you need CDs or MP3 recordings to listen to. Unless you have a very serious hearing impairment, this rule isn't negotiable, so let me say it again: you NEED to listen to CDs or MP3 recordings, because this is how you are going to learn Arabic!

You may argue that you are a visual learner (fine, I am too), or that you only remember what you read. But if that were true, you never would have learned English in the first place. Visual learners need an audio-based program with a great deal of printed or web-based backup material to reinforce what they're hearing.

Kinesthetic learners need a good audio-based program complemented with Arabic language based activities like video games. Think about it. If you don't have an audio-based program, you won't know how the language sounds – and consequently, you won't be able to learn to speak it. So get the very best audiobased program you can afford, and use it consistently.

A good Arabic audio course I recommend you try out today is Rocket Arabic. It's beginner friendly and will help you speak basic Arabic in a very short time. You can join the Rocket Arabic free course here.

But that's not all, you must talk, talk, talk!

Use every opportunity you can to practice your Arabic out loud. Many language programs today offer not only recorded conversations you can listen to, but also technology that analyzes your attempts to speak. This is very good, but it's even better to find a real live Arabic-speaking person and befriend him or her. Go out for coffee, go to a sporting event, and chatter on in Arabic. If your new friend's English isn't that great, all the better – she can help you learn Arabic as you help her learn English.

But where do you meet Arabic speakers? Try Meetup.com – you may be able to connect with someone, or even a group of people, interested in learning Arabic, or Arabic people wishing to learn English. If all else fails, post your desire to meet a Arabic-speaking friend on Facebook or Twitter and see what happens!