What do you think about Rocket Arabic?
How has it helped you to achieve conversational fluency in Arabic?
Is there anything you would like us to go into more detail on?
What can we improve?
Let us know :)
what do you think?
Amira-Zaki
July 16, 2009
gloonie
October 21, 2009
Hi Amira,
I am enjoying the course very much, even looking for and discovering some misspellings and the like! (It gives me a chance to practice reading).
I think the quizzes are a little too simple. I find I can do the quizzes very quickly and get them right, but then can't remember the dialog!
Also, at some point shouldn't the quizzes shift to having the choices for Arabic words in Arabic, rather than transliteration? It may be too soon at the point I'm at now (Lesson 3.3), but eventually...
I am about to attend a group class, so I will be able to report how helpful the Rocket course has been in a few months!
Best Regards,
Glenn
Amira-Zaki
November 5, 2009
Hi Glenn,
that is great that you really make an effort to learn Arabic. It is a very beautiful language, I might be biased though ;)
It sounds as though you are already getting a good grasp on how Arabic works, so for you it might be easy to read Arabic fluently very soon.
I don't want to overwhelm anyone who is a complete beginner and I think not being able to understand the quizzes might be off putting. It's great that you are doing so well with the quizzes, they are supposed to reinforce what you have just learned, so they shouldn't be too hard. That way the new words and phrases are more likely to stay in your long term memory.
All the best and let us know how you get on.
Amira
zainab-ansari
January 19, 2011
Hi
sorry for intruding, but I was just wondering why are you just teaching them the Egyptian accent? the only country where that is used is, well, Egypt! the rest of the Arab countries don't use it, and frankly we don't understand it very much either even though it's "Arabic" :P
so it might not be very helpful for foreigners wanting to visit another Arabic speaking country like in the Gulf o.o
Amira-Zaki
May 4, 2011
Ahlan Zainab
Rocket Arabic teaches Egyptian Arabic as it is understood in most Arabic speaking places due to the influence of the Egyptian media. It's the most widely spoken variety of Arabic and there is hardly one version of Arabic these days!
I know the dialect is quite different from "standard" Arabic but given the nature of dialects, there are also a lot of similarities at the same time.
I hope that helps!
- Amira
Carol-R2
May 27, 2011
Ahlan,
What would be a few examples of the similarities? (between Standard & Egyption)
Shokrun
Amira-Zaki
May 31, 2011
Ahlan Carol
There are too many similarities! It's kind of like the difference between English spoken in the UK and America - if a student learns American English, he would be perfectly fine in the UK but he might have trouble understanding the UK accent.
In the same way, Egyptian Arabic words for numbers, colours etc will be the same but the pronunciation would differ. They might also use different words for some things (for example in English 'boot' of the car vs 'trunk' of the car).
As an example, the pronunciation in Standard Arabic for "جيد " is "jayyid" but in Egyptian Arabic it would be "gayyid" because the letter "ج" is pronounced 'g' in Egypt but 'j' in Standard Arabic - sort of like how the letter 'R' is rolled in America but not in the UK.
I hope this helps!
- Amira
Jan-D
June 14, 2011
HI Amira, I have just started using Rocket Arabic as I am going to Egypt for a few months sabbatical in September, I love it, it's easy to understand and after struggling to learn French and German for years, in just a few weeks, I am confident with the pronuniciations and few phrases I have picked up from the first few lessons. However, I am slightly confused that you and Hany pronounce the same words different at times, so don't know which is correct, is this just the way you speak? It is not about gender specifics.
Also, I have been learning to write the Arabic script and can now confidently recognise the letters, some of the Arabic script translations don't seem to read as I would expect them to, this is quite possibly my lack of understanding, though I have downloaded an Arabic keyboard, and in writing out the same phrases, there still appear to be differences, is this just me? which is highly likely :)
thanks for the great course
Jan
Amira-Zaki
June 20, 2011
Ahlan Jan!
I'm glad to hear you are enjoying the language so far. The course is designed to give you the confidence to start speaking Arabic in just a few lessons so it's great that you have started to use your Arabic knowledge already :)
Would you be able to give me a few examples of the differences you found? It could be that there are dialect differences.
- Amira
Jan-D
June 23, 2011
Ahlan Amira
Without going over the lessons again I can't give you specific references at this precise moment, though I did think about dialects, My own children pronounce many English words differently to the way I do as they grew up in England and not Wales where I grew up.
I love the course, and I love the language, I can't believe how easy it is to pick up, though I struggle with some of the pronunications still, I have also been learning to write the arabic script, which I had convinced myself was impossible on the basis that I can't draw and gave up on shorthand decades ago, but it is quite easy to do, and using the Arabic words that are written with English letters in the course to practice from is a bonus.
Thanks again.
Jan
Amira-Zaki
August 4, 2011
Ahlan Jan
I'm glad to hear you're enjoying the course so much :D
Please let me know if you have any more questions & all the best for your Arabic!
- Amira
(deleted)
August 5, 2011
Amira , Ahlan vshaln!
I have a question...
is there any diffrence between Israeli arabic and egyptian arabic ?
(I want to learn israely arabics...)
thx
raanan
Kntlne
August 6, 2011
Amira,
I am also wondering about differences between Egyptian and Israeli Arabic. Is "marhaba" the Israeli word for "hi" or do they use "ahlan"?
Amira-Zaki
August 9, 2011
Ahlan Rannan and Kntlne!
The language spoken in Israel is mainly Hebrew but there are Arabs living there who would speak the Palestinian dialect.
Palestinian Arabic can be quite different, especially the pronunciation but Palestinians would normally understand the Egyptian dialect - similar to how American English is understood by other English speakers :)
So the greetings "Ahlan" or "Marhaba" are understood by all Arabic speakers & you can use them when speaking to Palestinians.
I hope that helps!
- Amira
Christian-R
August 26, 2011
Aug 26
Ahlan Amira
I agree with JAN; from time to time your pronunciation is different from that of Hany. For example in lesson "GETTING AROUND" you pronounce "be ida" while he pronouces "be3da"(unless I should write "be7da";I'm lost with the translitteration. Generally speaking I think Hany has a much more guttural pronounciation than yours with "Ha" "rhi" etc...(difficult to explain better my mother language is not english). Are you and Hany from a different native place or is it that we are a little bit too maniac?
Amira-Zaki
October 15, 2011
Ahlan Christian,
Sorry for the late reply!
In lesson 2.1 Getting Around, Hany and I are pronouncing the same word "be3da". The letter ع (represented as 3) is a guttural sound which Hany pronounces a bit more gutturally than myself.
You could say that I just have a 'softer' pronunciation in general :)
- Amira
Keyatta--12
October 21, 2011
Hello, I am going to learn Arabic in a few more days and I was wondering...Do you people in Saudi Arabia speak this language also? Because i have an Arab friend I would like to speak to her in Arabic.
(deleted)
October 22, 2011
From the language Arabic that we learn up here, is it the same as they speak in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates????
Angel--1
October 26, 2011
My best friend is from Jordan. I am learing to speak Arabic to speak with her and her family. Will this help me communicate with her family who speak very little English?
Thanks,
Angel
Amira-Zaki
November 7, 2011
Ahlan Keyatta & Angel!
Our apologies for the late reply.
Rocket Arabic teaches Egyptian Arabic. Egyptian Arabic is understood in most Arabic speaking places due to the influence of the Egyptian media. It's the most widely spoken variety of Arabic.
However, there are still differences between the Arabic spoken in different countries. You might find that people from Saudi Arabia or UAE find it easy to understand you, but you might come across expressions and words that are unfamiliar to you.
We do offer a 60 day guarantee, so you have up to 60 days to test the course to see if it is right for you.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
- Amira
The-Noorani-Girls
February 26, 2012
as salaam 'alaikum. Ahlaan wa sahlaan. Ana Ayesha min Amreeka. I like this program, and have a few observations, please.
With the interactive audio lessons, under practice, I wish the extra vocabulary include the Arabic script for those of who are familiar with it. I really wish the tashkeel were included with the Arabic script which makes the dialect pronunciations easier to understand (although I am aware that tashkeel are usually not written except to distinguish between possible meanings).
I also noticed a few mistakes under a segment I was quickly going through and will post it when I actually come across it again.
Shukraan jazeelan!
Maa'a Salaamah.
Amira-Zaki
March 15, 2012
Wa'alaykum salam Ayesha
I'm glad to hear you are enjoying the program so far :)
We are planning to update the Extra Vocabulary in the coming months with audio and the Arabic script as well. We probably won't include the tashkeel since it is colloquial Arabic but that's where the audio should help you out!
With regards to the mistakes, please let know if you come across any errors. You can click on the feedback button at the top of any page to send an email to us.
I hope this helps!
Ma'assalama
Amira
(deleted)
April 17, 2012
i am glad to follow the course and is very profitable.thank you.
brittney--
May 14, 2012
i cant even find things i need to know
Amira-Zaki
May 17, 2012
Hi Brittney - if you are having trouble with your course please contact the support team using the Help & Support link at the top of the page. Good luck!
- Amira
(deleted)
December 14, 2012
Alan-R-G
June 13, 2013
Your language program in Arabic is the best program around. I tried your competitor and it was unusable. It was so confusing that I gave up. Kudos to Rocket Languages!!
Amira-Zaki
June 18, 2013
Hi Alan,
It's great to hear you're enjoying the course so far! Mabrook on your learning so far :)
Vicky-P8
October 22, 2014
Salam,
I'm wondering if there will ever be an intermediate course available? just wondering for when I'm done the beginner, I see it in other languages but not for arabic :/ and this is the only software I know of that has Egyptian Arabic
khaduj
October 22, 2014
After six years of studying Modern Standard Arabic, I find studying Egyptian 3ameeya a lot of fun. It sounds so much more natural to speak it, verses MSA which seems stiffer to use for chatting. I really think this course is the absolute best. It has such variety of activities and is a pleasure to work with. I look forward with great anticipation to a higher level to be offered in the future. You can count me on to join the higher level, so I hope you will offer it soon! 1000 thanks to the originators of this program!