How to Learn a Language

As salaamu 'alaykum noble readers,

This is a highly requested subject matter that I deemed necessary to write about. As Muslims Arabic is our language. No matter where you’re from if you’re a Muslim your primary language is Arabic. Why? Our holy book (the Quraan) is in Arabic. Our religion was revealed in Arabic and without it, we are deprived of certain parts of our religion. If not translated into English without Arabic you’ll never learn certain parts of Islaam. How scary is that?! Plus if all Muslims knew Arabic, we’d be able to unite and communicate better no matter what our ethnicities.

So for these reasons and many more, the Muslim strives to learn Arabic. However for some reason why has learning Arabic been made to seem so unattainable as if there’s not thousands of people around the world that learn new languages every day? As a matter of fact, outside of America it is very common that a person usually knows more than one language. Sometimes this is intentional from pursuing the language or sometimes from being raised where more than one language is spoken.

Some westerners have an entitled mentality feeling like “the world speaks English anyway so why bother.” But this is a complacent mentality that can hinder a person from broadening their view of the rest of the world. Well I’m here to inform you that learning Arabic is easy. Yes I said easy! Allaah has made it easy for us to learn. And with these tips listed below you can not only learn Arabic but ANY language. Anyway once you learn Arabic you can conquer everything that follows In shaa Allaah.

1) Get a teacher or tutor.

You need guidance or you will waste time and learn incorrectly. I’m aware that we are living in a self taught society however, when learning anything of substance you must have a teacher or at least a tutor to help direct and correct your understanding about the language.

2) A lot of Vocabulary

You can learn all the grammar you want, you won’t get too far with learning a lot of rules and little vocabulary. Let me give a few examples. Children. When they learn to speak, they learn words that express their needs. They’ll say “bathroom or “food”. Now they didn’t make a complete sentence to say they need to use the bathroom or they want to eat, but in reality it wasn’t necessary. You understood what they needed by the words they knew not the grammar.

Another example is you’re out somewhere and the people around only speak Arabic. You need help. At that moment the grammar rules don’t come to your head rather the vocabulary that you know comes to mind.

Even if you don’t know how to conjugate or properly formulate a sentence, you can know a few words to express what you’re trying to say and the natives will understand what you’re intending to express. Of course the objective isn’t to stay at that level but I’m making a point that in real life it’ll be the vocabulary that gets you what you need.

This isn’t to say grammar is not important. Grammar has an important place in language learning. But don’t focus so much on this in the early stages when you don’t even have the vocabulary to practice it with.

3) Listening and watching

You’ll never know how these words, phrases, and grammatical rules are used if you never hear how they’re applied. Its crucial to watch media in your target language as often as possible I recommend daily. Watching movies, news, documentaries, tv shows, lectures, and podcasts just to name a few will take your language to a higher level of fluency. You also learn the traditions, figure of speech, customs, humor, and style of the culture by watching and listening.

4) The fear factor

After being diligent with the textual process of language learning, at some point you’ll have to get past your own fears and use it with native speakers. Through my own experience and speaking with many other language learners, we’ve shared in the same fear. The fear of making mistakes. The fear that you’ll get stuck and unable to express yourself so you don’t even want to be put in the hot seat 😂. We learn from our mistakes and they make us stronger. Have fun with language learning and don’t be so rigid. Embrace your errors and expect that you will sound strange sometimes and thats ok! It’s expected but it strengthens your fluency when you use it. Don’t let fear prevent your growth. Some people have studied language for years but cannot even speak with actual people. How can this be? Allowing fear of error to take charge of your journey. Don’t let it happen and do the next step.

5) Speak with natives often

Years ago it wasn’t as easy to speak with natives to various languages but now we have so much access due to the internet. So there’s no excuse. There are many apps that can be used for this purpose. Meeting people from all over the world and practicing your language skills with them. In essence its actually a language exchange because they need you to help them with practicing their English too. So it's an even trade. And the bonus is that since they are natives they will give you the pure way of how the language is spoken and in return they will be put in the same position as you help them in practicing their English. Also it will FORCE you to use your language skills because they may not know enough English to help you out.

There’s a few apps for this purpose and the two I highly recommend are

Hellotalk and italkie. Hellotalk is my preference. However both apps operate similar wherein you can meet native speakers internationally and become language partners. On italkie you can also find teachers and tutors for minimal prices to help with language learning. As with any online service use it responsibly and with proper Islaamic manners. Refraining from intermingling and no inappropriate speech etc.

6) Immersion

This is a category in language that used to be an option only through traveling to the country in which the language is spoken. Fast forward to now this is not the case. Immersion can be done right from your home and in any country. Immersion is to simply surround yourself with the language so much that it’s all around you everyday.

What you listen to, what you watch, who you speak with, readings, writings, classes, and hobbies all of which are done only in your target language of study. You’re around the language so much that when you sleep, your dreams are in that language. This is when you know you’ve immersed yourself.

Then by the time you travel to a country that speaks the language, you’ll enjoy yourself even more because you’re already on your way to being fluent In shaa Allaah. You can enjoy the people and country a lot better since you can communicate to some level with them.

7) Avoid thinking English

Each language has their own style of speaking. To really get into a language is to step outside of English. We should not try to translate every word or phrase into English. Often times it will not be the intended meaning from the other language or you won’t get the real core of what was expressed while trying to transfer it into English.

Learning a language is learning how they speak and learning their culture. As you learn these things, you’ll begin to understand the quotes, sayings, sarcasm, proverbs, humor and other ways in which that language expresses common statements that are unlike the English language.

The more you try to force another language to make sense from English, the more rigid the process will become. Let yourself go and become one with the ways your new language is naturally supposed to be utilized.

8) Read out loud

Reading is fundamental….the end. Just joking ☺️but really, reading is the heart of learning. So getting children books or what’s called “readers” will really help fluency. Reading aloud however adds to the strength of reading. When reading aloud it allows you to hear yourself and make any necessary improvements. This is also good practice for communicating with others. Read as often as possible in your target language even if you don’t know what all the words mean its ok. The point is to practice your accent and look up words you may not know yet therefore increasing your vocabulary. Reading often helps you sound more like a native as well.

9) Record yourself

Record yourself either reading aloud, saying some common phrases, or pretending to have a conversation. As mentioned above in the reading portion, hearing yourself brings benefits and strength to your language journey. You’ll also be able to hear how much better you’ve gotten over time because since its recorded, you can go back and listen to your older recordings. This will give you confidence to hear how far you’ve come therefore motivating you to learn even more.

10) Write

Writing helps solidify what you’re learning. Our memory is tied to the pen. You may not have time to write everything you learn but try writing those issues of language that may be a bit more intense. It’ll help you get through it quicker and even memorize it. Texting is also considered a form of writing. So texting counts toward increasing your fluency strength and memory.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it’s important to realize that nothing gets accomplished without effort. There is no short cut to learning something that you want to be long lasting. So put in the work and be diligent. Learning Arabic or any other subject you want to learn will not be difficult as long as you seek the help of Allaah and put your mind to it.

Do not allow naysayers to put in your mind that Arabic is too difficult and unattainable. This is false and has been a belief that has prevented many Muslims from excelling. On the contrary, with the correct intentions and efforts, Allaah makes this path even easier for us.

Stay motivated and be around like- minded individuals who inspire you to keep going. Maintain self discipline because motivation will come in spurts however it’s the discipline that aids in consistency and consistency is key.

There are guidelines that help in maximizing your time and effort. A few are what has been listed here and much more can be said but this is a brief benefit to get you on track In shaa Allaah.

I pray that Allaah accept this effort and that this be of assistance and value to those who desire to learn the Arabic language specifically, but also those who are seekers of learning Aameen 🤲🏼