The Arabic Pages

Wehr Wednesdays #8

A new word or phrase from the Hans Wehr dictionary, every Wednesday.

Small but Useful Arabic Phrases That You Need To Know

مُفيد

root: ف-ي-د / adjective / definition: useful, beneficial

As much as most of us, as Arabic students, love to learn all sorts of complex and specific vocabulary, knowing the small, simple stuff that fills up sentences is really important too.

So, below, I’ve made a fairly compact list of small but useful Arabic phrases that you’ll find to be really common:

Wehr Wednesdays #7

A new word or phrase from the Hans Wehr dictionary, every Wednesday.

The Best Arabic Podcast I’ve Found So Far

اِستِماع

root: س-م-ع / verbal noun of form VIII / definition: listening

Listening skills are essential to build when you’re learning a language. But for many students, it can be hard to find listening resources that are: (a) at the right level and (b) interesting enough to maintain your focus.

Wehr Wednesdays #6

A new word or phrase from the Hans Wehr dictionary, every Wednesday.

The Dialect Dilemma

مُعْضِلة

root: ع-ض-ل / noun / plural: مُعضلات or مَعاضِل / definition: dilemma

Imagine studying a language for years in a classroom. You can give presentations and write essays in that language (with moderate reliance on the dictionary), and you can read newspaper articles and understand the news (with, realistically, slightly more reliance on said dictionary).

Wehr Wednesdays #5

A new word or phrase from the Hans Wehr dictionary, every Wednesday.

The Importance of Getting Things Wrong

خَطَأ

root: خ-ط-ء / noun / plural: أخطاء / definition: mistake, error

It’s happening again. A wave of fear crashes down mercilessly upon the trembling students. Eyes dart desperately, frantically, around the room. One student scrambles out of class, mumbling something about needing the bathroom. The sky darkens. Another pretends to drop their pen as an excuse to seek refuge under the desk. A lifeless pigeon falls past the window. Everyone has suddenly developed an obsessive interest in the colour of the margins on their paper—

Wehr Wednesdays #4

A new word or phrase from the Hans Wehr dictionary, every Wednesday.

Treasures in Translation

تَرجَمة

root: ت-ر-ج-م / noun / plural: تَراجِم / definition: translation

Last week, a friend and I visited this charming little coffee shop in Central London. Maybe it was the dimly-lit, cosy atmosphere or maybe it was the ludicrously overpriced hot chocolate that elicited some serious life contemplation, but either way: as Arabic graduates, our conversation (like always) naturally drifted back to the language.

Wehr Wednesdays #3

A new word or phrase from the Hans Wehr dictionary, every Wednesday.

How to Use (and Love) the Hans Wehr Dictionary

قاموس

root: ق-م-س / noun / plural: قَواميس / definition: dictionary

If I had started this blog for the purpose of sharing only a single post, it would be this one.

You would only have to be studying Arabic for a short while before you’d hear the name “Hans Wehr” flying at you from all angles, and perhaps you’d wonder whether Professor Wehr is an elusive lecturer you have so far failed to bump into in the university corridors.

Wehr Wednesdays #2

A new word or phrase from the Hans Wehr dictionary, every Wednesday.

The Hardest Advice to Give… And Take

نَصيحة

root: ن-ص-ح / noun / plural: نَصائِح / definition: (piece of) advice

The hardest advice to give is probably the one that you have to give yourself—which is why I have (…reluctantly) forced myself to write this out and confront the truth eyes-to-screen.

Wehr Wednesdays #1

A new word or phrase from the Hans Wehr dictionary, every Wednesday.

Four Simple Tips to Improve Your Essay Writing Skills in Arabic

مَقالة

root: ق-و-ل / noun / plural: مَقالات /definition: essay, article

So, you’ve studied Arabic for a while now. Simple sentences are old news (i.e. you’re silently pleading for your teacher not to go over jumlah ismiyyah yet again) and you’ve got a decent collection of relevant words all memorised. So you’re all set when your teacher asks you to write an essay about the topic in Arabic…right?

Far From Fluency

طَلاقة

root: ط-ل-ق / noun / definition: fluency

Having hiked over formidable dunes of vocabulary and marched on through harsh storms of grammatical rules, I think, finally—right there, in front of me—I see… fluency?

How Should I Begin?

بِداية

root: ب-د-ء / noun / plural: بدايات / definition: beginning, start

Starting is always the most difficult part, really: whether writing a blog or learning a language.

Thankfully, the days of using flashcards to learn the Arabic alphabet (and practising pronouncing ع and ح until my throat ached) are tucked away around five-years-deep in my vocab-cluttered memory.