More vocab less grammar?
Interesting article...
Knowing What You're Up Against
Learning any language encompasses two main facets:
The grammar is the scheme according to which the language works. Any good textbook will perform two tasks: teaching you the grammar and a decent amount of vocabulary. The most important criterion for judging any textbook is its ability to help you understand the grammar of the language. Once you know how the language works and become comfortable with the constructions it uses, you will be able to unlock the door to understanding the language. With regards to vocabulary, it is important to note that no amount of textbooks can ever give you a sufficient amount of vocabulary to be proficient in the Arabic language. No matter what textbook you use, odds are that you will probably not learn more than 1,000 or 2,000 words. When you consider that the native speaker who reads Arabic books proficiently has spent a lifetime amassing a running vocabulary of anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 words if not more, you must understand that merely studying a textbook on Arabic for a few hours every week or every month is not a substitute for a lifetime of immersion.
Hence, learning the basic grammar that you will need to be a proficient reader of Arabic books is easy, and many I know have learned it in as little as three, four months. Once you have finished the basic textbook that you have studied, you will have to continue with working on amassing vocabulary. There is no specific book one can read for this. The only way to attain this objective is to simply start reading simple books with a dictionary always in hand and looking up the words you do not know, finally working up to more difficult books. At times, this will be difficult, but as long as you are diligent, you will find the effort pays off.
Pitfalls To Avoid
Unfortunately, many brothers find that they hit a brick wall in terms of learning Arabic in spite of having made some effort to learn. Often, this is more a matter of how they tried to learn than of how hard they tried to learn. Many brothers will try and study some of the standard Arabic texts for learning grammar such as al-Ajrumiyyah . While al-Ajrumiyyah is a beneficial book without a doubt, studying and mastering al-Ajrumiyyah and other texts like it is not enough to be able to understand the Arabic language.
Remember, all you really need to get started is an understanding of the basic workings of Arabic grammar. Much more important is gaining the vocabulary. We must keep in mind that those who usually study these grammar texts are Arabs. They have spoken Arabic their whole lives. They are already capable of reading and understanding books in Arabic.Once, I ran into a brother who was asking me for advice on learning Arabic. He had some understanding, but was unable to read books. When I asked him where exactly he was in terms of his Arabic, he began to explain to me how he had studied al-Ajrumiyyah twice with his "Shaykh." And now he was going to be studying some other grammar text with him, yet he could not even read books. Initially, when I tried to advise him that he should work on his vocabulary and not really worry anymore about grammar, he remonstrated, "No, you see, I'm studying it with my Shaykh." I kept telling him, "Yes, but without having ever studied it at all, I was able to begin reading and understanding the Qur'aan, the books of Hadeeth, the books of the scholars such as Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim," but he would only respond with, "No, you see, I am studying it with a Shaykh." Finally, after a lengthy exchange filled with the refrain "but I am studying it with a Shaykh," he finally began to realise that his real deficiency was in vocabulary. This is a dilemma that many brothers fall into. They will study different grammar texts in their quest to improve their Arabic, yet they can hardly pick up a book and read.
Remember, beyond a rudimentary understanding of the grammar, what you really need is to develop vocabulary. Read basic books with the assistance of the Hans Wehr dictionary and in time you will find that you have made tremendous progress, if Allaah wills. After that, you can study more grammar. This may seem a tedious way to learn the language; that is because it is. However, it is also the only way.
I've taken out excerpts, full article can be found here: http://talk.islamicnetwork.com/showthread.php?t=10495&page=2
Knowing What You're Up Against
Learning any language encompasses two main facets:
- Understanding the grammar
- Gaining Vocabulary
The grammar is the scheme according to which the language works. Any good textbook will perform two tasks: teaching you the grammar and a decent amount of vocabulary. The most important criterion for judging any textbook is its ability to help you understand the grammar of the language. Once you know how the language works and become comfortable with the constructions it uses, you will be able to unlock the door to understanding the language. With regards to vocabulary, it is important to note that no amount of textbooks can ever give you a sufficient amount of vocabulary to be proficient in the Arabic language. No matter what textbook you use, odds are that you will probably not learn more than 1,000 or 2,000 words. When you consider that the native speaker who reads Arabic books proficiently has spent a lifetime amassing a running vocabulary of anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 words if not more, you must understand that merely studying a textbook on Arabic for a few hours every week or every month is not a substitute for a lifetime of immersion.
Hence, learning the basic grammar that you will need to be a proficient reader of Arabic books is easy, and many I know have learned it in as little as three, four months. Once you have finished the basic textbook that you have studied, you will have to continue with working on amassing vocabulary. There is no specific book one can read for this. The only way to attain this objective is to simply start reading simple books with a dictionary always in hand and looking up the words you do not know, finally working up to more difficult books. At times, this will be difficult, but as long as you are diligent, you will find the effort pays off.
Pitfalls To Avoid
Unfortunately, many brothers find that they hit a brick wall in terms of learning Arabic in spite of having made some effort to learn. Often, this is more a matter of how they tried to learn than of how hard they tried to learn. Many brothers will try and study some of the standard Arabic texts for learning grammar such as al-Ajrumiyyah . While al-Ajrumiyyah is a beneficial book without a doubt, studying and mastering al-Ajrumiyyah and other texts like it is not enough to be able to understand the Arabic language.
Remember, all you really need to get started is an understanding of the basic workings of Arabic grammar. Much more important is gaining the vocabulary. We must keep in mind that those who usually study these grammar texts are Arabs. They have spoken Arabic their whole lives. They are already capable of reading and understanding books in Arabic.Once, I ran into a brother who was asking me for advice on learning Arabic. He had some understanding, but was unable to read books. When I asked him where exactly he was in terms of his Arabic, he began to explain to me how he had studied al-Ajrumiyyah twice with his "Shaykh." And now he was going to be studying some other grammar text with him, yet he could not even read books. Initially, when I tried to advise him that he should work on his vocabulary and not really worry anymore about grammar, he remonstrated, "No, you see, I'm studying it with my Shaykh." I kept telling him, "Yes, but without having ever studied it at all, I was able to begin reading and understanding the Qur'aan, the books of Hadeeth, the books of the scholars such as Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim," but he would only respond with, "No, you see, I am studying it with a Shaykh." Finally, after a lengthy exchange filled with the refrain "but I am studying it with a Shaykh," he finally began to realise that his real deficiency was in vocabulary. This is a dilemma that many brothers fall into. They will study different grammar texts in their quest to improve their Arabic, yet they can hardly pick up a book and read.
Remember, beyond a rudimentary understanding of the grammar, what you really need is to develop vocabulary. Read basic books with the assistance of the Hans Wehr dictionary and in time you will find that you have made tremendous progress, if Allaah wills. After that, you can study more grammar. This may seem a tedious way to learn the language; that is because it is. However, it is also the only way.
I've taken out excerpts, full article can be found here: http://talk.islamicnetwork.com/showthread.php?t=10495&page=2
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