Arabic Vocabulary

Assuming you have a solid command of the Arabic alphabet, you are now ready to study some basic vocabulary. But first, you must spend some time thinking about how you will overcome two common problems students have with learning Arabic vocabulary. The first problem is how you will organize the large amount of words. The second problem is what methods and tricks you can personally use to memorize and retain the vocabulary.

If you are someone who learns better from organized material, then vocabulary lists by subject matter will benefit you. But how fun is it to stare at list after list of unfamiliar words? Not only do you risk losing interest in the language because of the boredom of repetition, but repeatedly looking over lists of words with no logical structure can double the amount of time you really need to learn the material. You should think about what types of activities facilitate your learning and try to incorporate those into your learning routine.

Perhaps watching Arabic movies with subtitles, or listening to Arabic songs with the lyrics in front of you, will help you pick up the material much quicker than word lists. The Egyptian Arabic Dialect Course is an online course designed as a first introduction to the language using examples and vocabulary from the lyrics of popular songs. The songs are a good way to hear and learn pronunciation and basic grammar structures without being bogged down by too much vocabulary. The repetition of the song will also help you retain the material better. The site has 15 lessons that you can study at your own pace and return to at your leisure.

The Egyptian Arabic Course blog also has a word list compiled by the blog owner that includes months of the year, common verbs, family members, colors, and much more here.

The English-Arabic Vocabulary Quizzes are a good way to check how much you’ve learned and retained from you studies. The quizzes test basic vocabulary, including adjectives describing people, time adverbs, animals, parts of the body, colors, days of the week, fruits, months, and numbers. There are also quizzes covering greetings, school-related words, and more. All the quizzes are written by volunteers, but are very comprehensive and accurate.

This Gulf Arabic website has basic vocabulary and definitions, but there are no audio files to help you with pronunciation.