Learning a language with a different writing system

[Azdusha]

Hello all, I'm attempting to learn a language with a different writing system (Arabic, actually) but I'm having a little difficulty reading the script. I feel like it takes me forever to read one word even after a good amount of practice (maybe it's just because I'm such a fast reader in English and French that even an alright pace feels slow). So I'm looking for help; what advice might you give?

[Åge Kruger]

Hello all, I'm attempting to learn a language with a different writing system (Arabic, actually) but I'm having a little difficulty reading the script. I feel like it takes me forever to read one word even after a good amount of practice (maybe it's just because I'm such a fast reader in English and French that even an alright pace feels slow). So I'm looking for help; what advice might you give?

SRS + mnemonics = arabic script pwnage.

More detailed: learn only five or six letter-forms a day, and associate the forms with a vibrant image and word. Practice these forms at optimal intervals.

[MisterBernie]

When I tried to study Sanskrit, I managed to get to a pure reading level with Devanagari by practicing writing the different letters over and over and over again (conjuncts are unpleasant), ad nauseam - I could read (though not understand) languages written in Devanagari for quite a while even after I'd stopped my studies, although today I'm only at a recognize-some-shapes level.

That was doable for an abugida, don't know how helpful it is for a cursive abjad like Arabic, though. But since I guess you want to be able to write, too, I guess it couldn't hurt to write the different letter shapes over and over again, anyways.

[Viktor77]

I had the same problem learning Bulgarian. I knew the Cyrillic script like the back of my hand but I couldn't get any fluency reading it. I often read letters like H and P as their Latin equivalents script-wise and not their phonemic qualities. I would miss letters because they would blur in my head. I just stuck with it and continued reading. I still have trouble. You just have to practice.

I recommend the same as Age for learning a new alphabet. When I learned Teeline shorthand (of which I still try to practice as much as possible, though have been lazy as of late), it was impossible to learn all the forms at once. I did some letters each day, learning their shortcuts and connections. It took a lot of work and this is Teeline which is easy compared to Gregg or Pitman. I still can't write with fluency. I can't push 100 words a minute or anything fantastic, but I'm practicing (or should be anyway) and that's what counts. Practice. Practice. Practice.

[masako]

IME, the best thing to do with Arabic, is learn the history of the abjad:



When you learn the correlation between the Latin and Arabic scripts, it increases your ability to read Arabic exponentially.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of ... c_alphabet

http://www.ancientscripts.com/arabic.html

http://www.sakkal.com/ArtArabicCalligraphy.html

http://www.islamicity.com/mosque/ihame/Ref3.htm

http://29letters.wordpress.com/2007/05/ ... e-history/

http://www.alhewar.com/habeeb_salloum_a ... nguage.htm

[Astraios]

Just keep at it, and be patient. Eventually you'll recognize words just from their shape and you won't have to spell everything out letter by letter. It took me about a year of self-study to get fluent in reading Hebrew, but it can be done more quickly if you study harder.

[Viktor77]

Just keep at it, and be patient. Eventually you'll recognize words just from their shape and you won't have to spell everything out letter by letter. It took me about a year of self-study to get fluent in reading Hebrew, but it can be done more quickly if you study harder.

But also remember that fast isn't always best. Sometimes it's good to take time. Allow each letter to soak in with lots of practice. I know it destroys are patience and our want-it-now attitude, but it's best to practice each letter separately as opposed to practicing the entire alphabet at once. It's ok to be a master of the first part of the alphabet and a novice at the rest. With time you will be a master at both parts and less likely to forget what you learned.

[masako]

What!?

Learn only one letter at a time?

What is s/he, special ed?

Every day, look at a table/chart of the script (yes, the whole thing) and recite the order and the name of the letters, and in no time you will both recognize and be able to read/recite the alphabet.

After, of course, you learn some of the history of the script.

[Viktor77]

What!?

Learn only one letter at a time?

What is s/he, special ed?

Every day, look at a table/chart of the script (yes, the whole thing) and recite the order and the name of the letters, and in no time you will both recognize and be able to read/recite the alphabet.

After, of course, you learn some of the history of the script.

I agree that that's a good strategy. But I believe you must first learn each letter and proceed down the alphabet only after confidence is gained with the previous letters. Then take the whole thing and practice recitation in order, etc.

[masako]

But I believe you must first learn each letter and proceed down the alphabet only after confidence is gained with the previous letters.

That's stupid. Very.

[finlay]

One thing that confuses me a lot about Arabic is that letter (which represents /ħ/ apparently) which looks exactly like the Tengwar letter /l/....

[candrodor]

I find it's something that comes with a lot of writing practice, but not just writing texts you don't know, but writing words and sentences that you're also comfortable using in speech. That way you can associate the written form with how the word sounds in your head. So more than anything, patience and focus on speaking and listening initially would be my advice. Then you have a context to learn the writing in.

[Xephyr]

But I believe you must first learn each letter and proceed down the alphabet only after confidence is gained with the previous letters.

That's stupid. Very.

This argument is stupid. Either way you go at it, you will have learned the whole thing by the end of a week tops, and then you won't care how you did it.

[Nannalu]

I can read Cyrillics quickly now but at first after I memorised all the letters I still felt it hard to place them together.

[Drydic]

[TaylorS]

I bought a Hindi textbook recently and am currently trying to learn the Devanagari script. I'm a bit of a kinesthetic learner, so one thing I do is actually write the characters.

[tezcatlip0ca]

Learn them five at a time, practicing words as you go along. That's what I did, and I can now read the Greek, Cyrillic and Arabic alphabets as fast as the Latin, and Devanagari at only a slightly slower speed, and write in them fluently (even though I know none of the languages that use them).

[communistplot]

Get a bunch of words together and start randomly writing them out, that's how I learned kana. Or, the way I learned the Cyrillic & Greek scripts, you could just stare at it long enough for them to quake in fear and divulge their secrets. =]

[Mr. Z]

Indeed, you can either learn letters one at a time or all at once, and both will work. I learned the Arabic script one letter at a time and the Hiragana 5+ letters at a time, and my fluency in them is now pretty much the same. The Arabic script has the convenient feature of "twin letters", which are only differentiated by diacritics. This means you have to learn only a few distinct letterforms, and helps very much in studying the script. Also, are you reading with vowel markings? Those are very important to get a grip of the script. Once you know the word by learning it with vowel markings, you can move on to recognizing it.
My advice to you: read a lot. Constantly read in Arabic. NEVER use transcriptions. You'll eventually learn to recognize word forms that way, and become used to reading the script. I have never used transcription for Arabic, and I read this script more fluently than any other foreign script I have ever learned (including Greek, Cyrillic and Hiragana, for which I use transcriptions or just don't put much effort to, but not including Hebrew and Latin, in which I am completely fluent).
Good luck!

[masako]

The Arabic script has the convenient feature of "twin letters", which are only differentiated by diacritics.

Those aren't really diacritics as much as they are consonant points.

This means you have to learn only a few distinct letter forms...

19 or 20 depending on which resource you use.

Constantly read in Arabic. NEVER use transcriptions.

That's really not a great idea when starting out...maybe after a few weeks though.

[Mr. Z]

The Arabic script has the convenient feature of "twin letters", which are only differentiated by diacritics.

Those aren't really diacritics as much as they are consonant points.

Does the specific term really matter? I'm used to calling them diacritics, because that's what my teacher calls them in Hebrew.

This means you have to learn only a few distinct letter forms...

19 or 20 depending on which resource you use.

No, it's less than that, unless you count different forms of the same letter. And if you count those, too, it becomes even more than 20. Anyway, it's only a few letter forms compared to many other scripts.

Constantly read in Arabic. NEVER use transcriptions.

That's really not a great idea when starting out...maybe after a few weeks though.

I'm just saying what worked for me. My teacher insists on not writing inscriptions. I always did it, and it worked perfect for me.

[Mecislau]

The Arabic script has the convenient feature of "twin letters", which are only differentiated by diacritics.

Those aren't really diacritics as much as they are consonant points.

Does the specific term really matter? I'm used to calling them diacritics, because that's what my teacher calls them in Hebrew.

That's because they are diacritics in Hebrew. All niqudot in Hebrew are optional, while in Arabic the ones distinguishing different consonants are not.

[Jetboy]

What I did to help familiarize myself with Arabic was just transliterate English words and names, mostly in the margins of my notes, roughly approximating the vowels (I did the same with Greek). It works pretty well– while you still have to teach yourself some of the letters for non-English sounds, you learn the rest, and have fewer to memorize.

[Bristel]

When learning Japanese, I learned hiragana and katakana through some mnemonics, songs, visual aids (flash cards especially), and lots of practice writing.

[masako]

Does the specific term really matter?

Re Mecislau, yes.

No, it's less than that, unless you count different forms of the same letter

Really?

I'm just saying what worked for me.

Awesome...but not everyone is as wonderfully intelligent as you, or already fluent in another Semitic lang.