Colloquial Arabic of Egypt

Rating:
Summary: A Good Tool -- Book AND Cassette
Review: Filled with proverbs, truly useful phrases and easy to follow grammatical break-downs, this book/tape is a refreshing change in a field dominated by works on "Al-Fusha" (Classical Arabic). The Routledge Levantine Colloquial Arabic is also excellent

Rating:
Summary: Good only if you're interested in advanced conjugation
Review: I am travelling to Egypt and wanted to learn some Arabic. I bought this product because "colloquial" sounded good. But I find it completely useless. The words on the tape are read much too quickly, and I find myself flipping frantically through the book trying to find the lessons that are being read. It focuses on very advanced grammar and a lot of weird idioms. There is virtually nothing useful to me on it.

Rating:
Summary: Simple and easy
Review: I have read reviews of people saying that they only bought the book or a tape. Now, I bought both at the same time and have been using them together. I have found the methods used very helpful, and the only drawback to the set is that a large part of the vocabulary is not on tape, so after you get used to the sounds that letters make you will have to guess what the words not said on tape sound like, although because the transliterations are fairly easy, it is not a difficult task. Overall, a great way to learn the language.

Rating:
Summary: Good starter book
Review: I was completely new to the arabic language when i bought this book. It is divided into sixteen lessons, with pronounciation exercises, grammar and reading practise. I think it is a good starter book, but be sure to get the accompanying tape. One drawback for me was that only a small amount of the words are repeated on the tape.

Rating:
Summary: Good starter book
Review: I was completely new to the arabic language when i bought this book. It is divided into sixteen lessons, with pronounciation exercises, grammar and reading practise. I think it is a good starter book, but be sure to get the accompanying tape. One drawback for me was that only a small amount of the words are repeated on the tape.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Tool -- Book AND Cassette
Review: I've used this series in Egyptian and other dialects to brush up before visiting various places. It is excellent to get conversational/survival skills up to speed in a short time. It is also good to get an ear for certain dialects and see their quirks.

I already had experience with Arabic before using this. Regardless, I would warn that it is ESSENTIAL that you acquire BOTH the book and the cassette. I can't see either as useful separately. The marketing for this, especially on the web, is fairly vague since they are available as a set and as casette and book separately.

There is no reason why this wouldn't be a good gateway for a person to learn aural arabic skills. The book is done entirely in transliterated latin text -- no Arabic script. And it works fairly well, especially if all you want to do is get around in Egyptian.

I recommend this set. If you have a limited budget, this set and a Lonely Plant or Rough Guide Egyptian phase book would get you pretty far. ...