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salam alaikum , i have one question , does mata sayati arad ,literally mean , when will we hear from you or is it when will you send us the answer, shukran usman,

ps i trying to learn crash course(goin to ksa soon inshallah) so im listning to your dialogues all the time mashallah very helpful

Mata sayati alrad literally means when will the reply come?

مثى – Mata – When
سيأتي – Sayati – Will it come
الرد – Alrad – The reply

Keep it up and the lessons will sure help you when you go to KSA

Marhaba, your lessons and podcasts are hands down the most enjoyable way I have been learning arabic. I like how you use MSA and colloquial and give cultural tidbits. I have viewed some of the videos and was wondering if a video lesson on common gestures (body, hands, etc) in the Middle East would be something possible for the future? Thanks from Arizona for your fantastic instruction in this beautiful language. Purchasing the premium membership is WELL worth it!

Marhaba,

Thanks rustysteele, it’s your support that makes ArabicPod what it is. Interesting idea for a video podcast, we’ll try to arrange one as it’s not a bad idea either :)

Usmdrive's question is interesting. The sentence transcribed as "mata saya2ty alrad insha2Allah" merits close attention. The translation suggested by Ehab and Mohamed is very good. They have left "insha2Allah" untranslated since this kind of religious phrase would sound distinctly odd in English. More importantly, they have completely recast the sentence in order to avoid "When will the reply come?" This interrogative sentence is not in itself incorrect or unidiomatic, but it would sound rather strange in the kind of situation that is presented in the Arabic dialogue under discussion. Just as "rad" collocates with "ataa" in Arabic, so "reply" collocates with "come" in English, but "reply + come" is only possible in certain types of situation and in a limited number of syntactic environments. It tends to occur with adverbial phrases, e.g. "The reply came in a form they did not expect."

We encounter a similar problem in the lesson entitled "The weather",which contains the sentence "hal sayati thalj?" Again, Eheb and Mohamed have completely recast the sentence in order to produce an acceptable English translation. "Is it going to snow?" is exactly what a native speaker of English would say in this situation. *"Will snow come?" would be comprehensible, but it wouldn't be English. Does this mean that "snow" cannot collocate with "come" in English? The answer is "no". "Snow" and "come" do frequently co-occur in English, but their co-occurence is subject to certain restraints. The word combination "snow + come" tends to crop up in sentences where "come" is modified by an adverb, e.g. "The snow came late". Has anyone else noticed the parallel between the two sentences I've just analysed? And are there any other word combinations that might be assigned to the same category as "thalj + ataa" and "rad + ataa"?

Salaam alaykum

I have just discovered this site and find it a breath of fresh air. I am a 50 year old Australian who has never really had to learn another language. I now, however, find myself working in the Gulf in an organisation where English is very definitely (and quite correctly) a second language after Arabic. Over the past two years I have made several attempts to learn written and spoken Arabic with very limited success. My question is - do you think it is possible for a 50 year old who has never learnt another language to learn arabic? It would be nice to know from some experts if I am just banging my head against a brick wall.

Dear dasmacintosh2,

It's never too late to learn a foreign language, and most learners make rapid progress when they have to work in a foreign country. The language learning process is like a voyage of intellectual discovery which, if properly conducted, has in store thrills and delights not to be found elsewhere.

It's relatively easy to learn a foreign language if one has a good command of one's mother tongue and something more than a nodding acquaintance with linguistics. One needs to be very observant, and one shouldn't worry too much about making mistakes in the initial phase of the language learning process.

It is true that children can learn languages much faster than adults, but age doesn't matter as long as the learner is mentally alert and willing to adapt to unfamilar modes of thought.

Like you, I'm a native speaker of English, but I'm very adaptable and I have no national identity. One of my friends, who is himself a brilliant linguist, has described me as a linguistic chameleon that can change colours as required. I've spent most of my life outside my home country and have to speak, read and write three languages every day. I also have to read and listen to several other languages for professional reasons.

I only started to learn Arabic a few months ago, but I'm finding the language less difficult than I expected. I don't really need to learn Arabic, but I find the language fascinating, and Arabicpod has brought the language to life and made the learning process more enjoyable. Ehab and Mohamed and really nice people, and they do their best to communicate their enthusiasm to others.

Many thanks Desmond for this complement. We are pleased that you like and enjoy ArabicPod.
As for dasmacintosh2, Wa 3alaykum assalaam, and ahlan wa sahlan (welcome) to ArabicPod. We get feedback from our listeners from all over the world regardless to their age, and they all agree that learning languages can be fun and has no limits as far as you have the power to learn.
We hope you will be one of those people who benefit and get the most of ArabicPod.

Ghulam Hussain Kayani
Hello gents i am a new student at 70 years old i just read a letter of 50 years old young man Why cannot u learn an other language. I am comfortable in learning Arabic
kayani

salam
i am kiran n today i wnt to get admission at arabic school ,i hav bin only three months in bahrain n dont know even a single sentence of arabic
they took a small interview in arbi n i got failed
plz help me any suggestions how to be familier with gulf arabic
i am a pakistani

Ahlan (Welcome) Kiran,

You just start by downloading the topics that you like in our Beginner lessons. Listen to them more than once to get used to the style. Try to remember some of those essential simple sentences that one might need like how to say name, directions, age... You can always search in the Lessons page for these words.
In the Activities page, go to Arabic Pronunciation Guide, under (ArabicPod's/page 2) there you can see, hear and practice the Alphabet, which I believe should not be a big problem for you, but it is nice to emphasise it.

We welcome you in ArabicPod and wish you the best in learning Arabic.

Ehab

Ahalan Wasahlan everyone,
I've discovered this podcast a few moths ago an have been listening in while commuting to work every day since. Thanks for lighting the traffic jams!
I do have a question regarding سنراسلك; is it connected in any way to the verb أرسل (to send)? they sound similar, and have a close meaning, but the translation was different - so I'm not sure.
Actually, what I have been missing in your lessons is reference to past lessons, where the words were mentioned but in another context - that could actually enlighten the excat usage of the words, and would fit naturally in the last section of the lesson.
Thanks guys for the great job.
Eran