Its not that difficult, its like any other language, ask anyone at church who is willing to teach you, if you can find any childrens books in arabic to help you learn and just keep practicing. The fact you can speak it already gives you an advantage.
the way I learned coptic was to get a piece of coptic that I already knew how to pronounce and then as I read try to match the letters with the sounds... I don't know if that works with arabic, but you can give it a try! btw, arabic is a beautiful language and it would be also beneficial to know it as there's a richness of religious resources that can be found in this language! Good luck!
My best opinion would be permanent private teachers. Like these:
Rapidly Learn Egyptian Arabic in 10 Days with Pimsleur® https://www.pimsleurapproach.com/learn-arabic-egyptian.asp An audio instructor tells you how to understand and reply in gradual dialog build ups. More oriented towards spoken language. Very effective if you're serious about it.
RosettaStone Arabic Level 1, 2 & 3 (the best, ideal one to have) http://www.rosettastone.com/learn-arabic Deeper course yet very easy interactive language learning system at your own pace. You can listen, read, speak, repeat, take easy exercises and learn how to write too. Covers both spoken and literary language. You should use it at least 3-4 hours per week. You can easily revise any lesson at your comfort.
They are both expensive, esp. RosettaStone but they are worth the buy.
i got a phrase book (cheap) and copied out the letters on a large piece of paper. i looked at it every day for a month and after that i could read! (at the level of a 5yr old!) after a year, i could read the words more fluently and 4 years later i can finally read whole sentances at a time. hopefully if you already speak the language it will be a lot quicker! it's a beautifully written language and i recommend it highly.
a good (and cheap) way to to learn a language is to get a private tutor from craigslist - usually it'll be some grad student who's a native speaker and wants to make some extra money (I think I paid like $25 an hour). I think this would be an especially good option for you since you already speak Arabic so the tutor can cater the lesson to what you know/don't know . g'luck
Thanks so much guys. I now read arabic at the level of a 4 year old, lol. I just read the Liturgy Book, everyday i get faster and faster. It's a beautiful language. Thanks so much for your help.
Comments
I am in the same case and will take Arabic classes in college next semester, and thinking about minoring in it :)
btw, arabic is a beautiful language and it would be also beneficial to know it as there's a richness of religious resources that can be found in this language! Good luck!
Rapidly Learn Egyptian Arabic in 10 Days with Pimsleur®
https://www.pimsleurapproach.com/learn-arabic-egyptian.asp
An audio instructor tells you how to understand and reply in gradual dialog build ups.
More oriented towards spoken language.
Very effective if you're serious about it.
RosettaStone Arabic Level 1, 2 & 3 (the best, ideal one to have)
http://www.rosettastone.com/learn-arabic
Deeper course yet very easy interactive language learning system at your own pace.
You can listen, read, speak, repeat, take easy exercises and learn how to write too.
Covers both spoken and literary language.
You should use it at least 3-4 hours per week.
You can easily revise any lesson at your comfort.
They are both expensive, esp. RosettaStone but they are worth the buy.
RS. in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgZ2qbEoG-c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uZJe2wj58g&feature=related
Good luck!
GBU
You guys have been a huge help.
GBU
http://www.funwitharabic.com/alphabet.html
hopefully if you already speak the language it will be a lot quicker! it's a beautifully written language and i recommend it highly.
That would be extremely helpful.