There are few differences between classical and modern grammar - anyone who is familiar with classical should have no problems at all with modern...the vice versa is not as true, but the problems should not be that large nevertheless. Some of the main differences are in: i) Syntax - (The way that words are arranged in sentences). The syntax of English is fairly fixed according to meaning- the difference between 'The boy hit the dog' and 'The dog hit the boy' is huge. This is because the syntax in an English verbal sentence is subject-verb-object. In Arabic however, I have the liberty and license to say both:ضرب الولدُ الكلبَ daraba al-waladu al-kalba, and ضرب الكلبَ الولدُ daraba al-kalba al-waladu. BOTH of these sentences would mean 'The boy hit the dog', even though I have swapped the words around. This is because the syntax of Arabic is extremely relaxed, due to the grammatical function of a word being dependant on its case ending (notice how 'wa...
Some Arabic links: 1) This is a wonderful animation of the story of the Prophet Adam (as). The prophet's face is not shown. This cartoon is in Arabic but with English subtitles. Wonderful way for children Insomniac: or us) to learn Arabic as the story is so interesting. http://www.islamicvideos.net/component/option,com_mtree/task,viewlink/link_id,311/Itemid,30/ * Other similar cartoons (arabic with english subtitles): http://www.islamicvideos.net/component/option,com_mtree/task,listcats/cat_id,136/Itemid,30/
So I've memorised Surah Kahf over the last few months. Initially I wanted to just practice tajweed through it but my teacher (a young Qari from Al-Azhar) said to start memorising. A few learning points: It's always better with a teacher. When I knew I had to read to him, it automatically brought me to a focus. Having said that it's also been very difficult with my changing shift patterns and booking locum work at weekends to keep regular appointments with him. The Arabic during Hifz helps immensely. I can't stress this enough. When you know what you are memorising (even if its a very superficial, basic vocabulary level) it makes a huge difference. It makes memorising easier. It makes retaining easier, When you are thinking 'what is the next verse?' when you think of the meaning it often comes back to your memory what the following verse is. Admittedly some verses appear not to flow from one to the other (to the layman like me anway) but for 90% of ...
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