Rating: 
Summary: Physical attributes of the book
Review: In addition to the previous reviews, I would like to add that the physical presence of the book is dry. If you're like me, an attractive, lively looking book gets you motivated to read it even if you've been reading already. This one looks dry, the paper is like that cheap workbook paper from when you were in elementary school. This was true of all the Arabic books on the shelf at the bookstore, so the choices were all dull. The font of the English text is like that of a typewriter. No funny looking pictures, no colors... Everything about this book's physical appearance was antequated. kind of reminds me of one my physics professors (you know who you are).
Rating:
Summary: Physical attributes of the book
Review: In addition to the previous reviews, I would like to add that the physical presence of the book is dry. If you're like me, an attractive, lively looking book gets you motivated to read it even if you've been reading already. This one looks dry, the paper is like that cheap workbook paper from when you were in elementary school. This was true of all the Arabic books on the shelf at the bookstore, so the choices were all dull. The font of the English text is like that of a typewriter. No funny looking pictures, no colors... Everything about this book's physical appearance was antequated. kind of reminds me of one my physics professors (you know who you are).
Rating: 
Summary: This Book More Intermediate than Elementary
Review: This book is the required text for a course in Arabic I am currently taking, and I must confess that I have been completely lost with it. I definitely would not recommend it for the student who has never had any introduction to Arabic. For example, the entire alphabet is covered in literally one page. Furthermore, you're never instructed on how to write the letters! There's supposed to be a tape with the book, but neither I nor any of the other students received a tape with their books, and so it's pure guesswork as to how the letters and words are supposed to be pronounced. I feel I will be much better served by a more elementary text, one that examines each letter or vowel individually and then builds from there. In retrospect, I wish I had purchased the series published by the State Department, where you get both tapes and a text in a comprehensive format; the only problem is that it's about {money}! Others have told me that the book, MASTERING ARABIC, is a very good starter book. As for this text, I wish you good luck...because you're going to need it!
Rating:
Summary: This Book More Intermediate than Elementary
Review: This book is the required text for a course in Arabic I am currently taking, and I must confess that I have been completely lost with it. I definitely would not recommend it for the student who has never had any introduction to Arabic. For example, the entire alphabet is covered in literally one page. Furthermore, you're never instructed on how to write the letters! There's supposed to be a tape with the book, but neither I nor any of the other students received a tape with their books, and so it's pure guesswork as to how the letters and words are supposed to be pronounced. I feel I will be much better served by a more elementary text, one that examines each letter or vowel individually and then builds from there. In retrospect, I wish I had purchased the series published by the State Department, where you get both tapes and a text in a comprehensive format; the only problem is that it's about {money}! Others have told me that the book, MASTERING ARABIC, is a very good starter book. As for this text, I wish you good luck...because you're going to need it!
Rating:
Summary: A lot of information, not very user-friendly
Review: This works great as a reference manual - there's a whole lot of information covered, and for the price it's hard to beat for a foreign language textbook. If you can manage getting through the lessons, you'll be doing pretty well with Arabic. However, if you follow the book you'll have 50-100 words to memorize per lesson, and it is in general for a typical English speaker harder to memorize Arabic than, say, French or German (at least from personal experience). My advice is: get a seperate book on learning the alphabet as this book doesn't spend a lot of time on it (The Arabic Alphabet: How to Read & Write It by Awde is pretty good), and if you are really serious and disciplined, try this book. It's a decent amount of material for the cost, if nothing else.
Rating:
Summary: A lot of information, not very user-friendly
Review: This works great as a reference manual - there's a whole lot of information covered, and for the price it's hard to beat for a foreign language textbook. If you can manage getting through the lessons, you'll be doing pretty well with Arabic. However, if you follow the book you'll have 50-100 words to memorize per lesson, and it is in general for a typical English speaker harder to memorize Arabic than, say, French or German (at least from personal experience). My advice is: get a seperate book on learning the alphabet as this book doesn't spend a lot of time on it (The Arabic Alphabet: How to Read & Write It by Awde is pretty good), and if you are really serious and disciplined, try this book. It's a decent amount of material for the cost, if nothing else.
Rating: 
Summary: What Jason Eatchel said
Review: Well, I found this book to be particularly useful. I used it for learning arabic grammar (obviously), and it seemed to simplify some of the confusing grammar concepts of the Arabic language. Quite often was the time when I found myself kicking back in a computer lab, sipping on a milkshake (you know, like that song) and reading over this book. I would skip over a lot of the reading in it, though, because sometimes the monotony of it would be enough to make my hair fall out, and I don't want to be going bald! I also found that after reading some of the repititious material that I had an inclination to speak like Gollum... and eventually I found my level of boredom deteriorating to where I found myself speaking like a robot... I guess that ultimately, the question you ask yourself when considering learning arabic is: Are you ready?
Rating:
Summary: What Jason Eatchel said
Review: Well, I found this book to be particularly useful. I used it for learning arabic grammar (obviously), and it seemed to simplify some of the confusing grammar concepts of the Arabic language. Quite often was the time when I found myself kicking back in a computer lab, sipping on a milkshake (you know, like that song) and reading over this book. I would skip over a lot of the reading in it, though, because sometimes the monotony of it would be enough to make my hair fall out, and I don't want to be going bald! I also found that after reading some of the repititious material that I had an inclination to speak like Gollum... and eventually I found my level of boredom deteriorating to where I found myself speaking like a robot... I guess that ultimately, the question you ask yourself when considering learning arabic is: Are you ready?
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