Standard Arabic: An Advanced Course

This is probably the best advanced Arabic textbook I have ever seen. I applaud the efforts of the authors.I had been looking for an advanced course for some time. I'm completely self-taught in written and colloquial Arabic, and I need to push myself as I felt I was hanging at an "upper-intermediate" level with no progress.I happened by chance to pick up Dr. Watson's "Lexicon of Arabic Horse Terminology" as I hear she is an avid equestrian. This was a curio, a coffee table book. But then I saw that she was co-author on this text and I was basically sold.The text:1. Does not lie to you about the sociolinguistic situation of Arabic and even allows for oral discussion to take place in the dialect of interest. I.e. - it does not try to teach a conversational standard Arabic course. It teaches you standard Arabic in the modalities in which it exists. This is in direct contrast to other works like the Al-Kitab series.2. Forces the student to direct their own learning by developing their own vocabulary lists. I noticed one review did not like looking up words in an Arabic dictionary as it is apparently "a chore." Well sorry, it's a basic skill.3. Chooses texts/excerpts in a thematic way - teaching students about religion, politics, language, history, geography in the Middle East. The texts span the gamut of classical texts like Ibn Battutah to newspaper articles.4. Translation work! Though not all of us are aspiring translators, translating into and out of our native language is excellent practice.5. Writing and rhetoric! The text teaches structures necessary for building rhetorical skill in Arabic. It has you practice using structures (rather than "grammar" or "vocabulary") in exercises and essays. This is one skill in which I was lacking that I am now developing.Now maybe they'll write an advanced course for spoken Levantine Arabic. :)

Simply stated -- A MUST HAVE! If you're a budding intermediate level student of Arabic, you must have this. I use this as a self study course to reinforce my reading foundations, vocabulary and current idomatic useage. I waited MONTHS for the tapes, but they are essential now that they are universally available.This book is useful for self study, group study or with a (preferably) educated native instructor/tutor. There is also a fine teacher's supplement.Overall this is a tremendous value. The soft cover and the tapes together are less than 50.00 and there is a mountain of challenging material.Not to mention a good deal of pragmatic reading in geography, culture and social studies. Each chapter is broken down into the same exercises from reading to classical texts to listening. The classical texts are dealt with deliberately, not haphazardly. The whole thing is, in fact, deliberate and well thought out.Shouldn't disappoint...

i like the book but I would like to do the audio tests.Did not find a solution to accessCan somebody help

very informative

A huge detailed text book of MSA. If you have the stomach for the studying required this book will definitely get the job done.

This is most certainly a great book. But it is really for an ADVANCED student. I would dare to say it is for Advanced ++ level of MSA. You shouldn't purchase it util absolutely certain of you level of Arabic. Also, it is 60 USD it just a bit too steep!I would also recommend the authors for their incoming "revised and updated" edition:1. Do include COLUMNS and essays in ARABIC. Do explain the style and the grammar in those Essays.2. Avoid if possible any Political issues/commentaries - they do not belong here.

This book is exactly the kind of book I have been wanting for a long time! As an advanced course, I feel it would be excellent for someone who has completed 3 years of university study, or for someone who has finished or is near the end of the course at the Defense Language Institute.This book presents authentic Arabic texts from a variety of sources and on topics about the Middle East. This gives the double advantage of not only learning the Arabic, but also teaching important information about the history, culture, and society of the Middle East. Along with the Arabic texts, pertinent grammar lessons are presented with thorough explanations in English, followed by several examples usage in Arabic. There are also many questions and exercises, presented in both Arabic and English to assist in comprehension.I have not yet recieved the accompanying cassette, but several of the listening selections come from a series by the BBC called "Pick of the Month". I already have the BBC cassettes and I'm very pleased that the authors chose these as their listening exercises.Most students of Arabic are aware of the famous "EMSA" Elementary Modern Standard Arabic texts from the 1960's, as these are the standard texts used in many universities. This book is by far the best Arabic text to be published since EMSA/IMSA!For motivated students, I highly recommend this book as a tool for self-study and maximizing your capabilities in Classical Arabic.For professors, both at Universities and DLI, I stongly suggest that you consider this book for incorporation into your courses. For DLI, this book covers important grammar that I didn't get, and for the Universities, this offers excellent authentic material to augment the more intensive grammar.Thank you Dr Dickson and Dr. Watson. This is the book I wish I could have written!

The most clear definciency of this book, in my opinion, is the lack of a vocubulary list with their meanings and possibly their pronouciations. Finding words in arabic dictionary is a big chore, and I believe any educational book on arabic must have a vocubulary list to alleviate this issue. Beside this, this is a decent book, and it gives you a lot of information about the middle east and Arabic culture. I also bought the beginner and intermediate analog of this book and I liked it much more.

I have been learning Arabic for a very long time and this book is by far one of the best coursebooks for advanced learners. The chapters cover different topics including Gender in the Middle East, Islamic Spain, Religion etc with texts from a variety of sources so that you know what you are reading was written for an Arabic speaking audience and not "dumbed down" for a student book. It contains plenty of exercises such as translations, precis writing and comprehensions in each chapter so that you can apply what you have learnt. The book does not contain any vocabulary lists and I personally think that this is a good thing because you have to look up the words yourself which makes remembering them easier. It's hard work but totally worth it.It is worth mentioning that in order to do the listening exercises, you will need to purchase the CD/cassette which always comes separately rather than with the book unlike many other language courses.

I found this book helpful and definitely recommend others to buy. I would've given a 5* but still find it slightly difficult to navigate myself around this book with ease. I have other arabic morphology books which are really user friendly and are easy to pull out arabic verbs just like the arabic handweir dictionary. Anyways , great book and would recommend all arabic enthusiasts to add this to their arabic learning library collection :)

An excellent book both for class use and private study. The print is clear (not always the case with Arabic text books) and the explanations informative.

入門書を終えてひととおり初等文法はおさえた、だから簡単な文章なら読める、でも、本や新聞の文章を読めるようになりたい、それに語彙も増やしたい、そう思っている人におすすめです。収録されている文章は、地理・歴史・政治・文化などに関するもので、アラビア語を勉強する者としては是非とも知っておきたいことばかり。イエメンの地理、クルド人問題など、興味深い話を読みすすめていきます。全部で２０のテーマがあり、各テーマに三つ、四つほどの文章が収められています。これらの文章の配置が理想的で、少しずつ難易度が上げられていくので、効果的に単語を覚えられます。各文章の後に、クイズ、文法解説などがついており、理解を深められます。この文法解説が秀逸で、例文をあげながら分かりやすく丁寧に説明しています。全６００ページ近い分厚い本に、読み応えのある文章が多数ちりばめられています。独習者にもおすすめです。最後に注意点として、文章に母音符号はついていません。したがって、単語を辞書で調べて文脈をとりながら、母音を自分でつけられるレベルの人に向いています。