I posted yesterday about being a newcomer and am really excited about this site. I hope to explore it more later but I am feeling a bit sad at this point. I dropped my hubby off @ the airport for his annual visit to Morocco and while I do get sad, I know that he is visiting family/friends etc. and that once a year, it is what he must do. I like to get a lot of things done while he is away that I am unable to do while he’s here so that does free up my schedule somewhat. Anyway, before he left I was showing him this website and he thought it was good. The only thing is he said, “Celina, darija is very hard to learn, I don’t think you can do it, it is a very hard language.” He even suggested I concentrate on learning MSA. In the past, I did contemplate taking standard arabic classes (they offer them at the community learning campus) but I figured I should focus more on Darija since it is the spoken language of my family.
So, my questions is this:
!. Would it help me to learn MSA and focus all my energy there? The benefit is that I would be in a classroom with an instructor who could spend time with us and teach us.
Should I continue to attempt to learn Darija on my own, with (inconsistent) help from my family?
And, will learning MSA make it easier or more difficult when/while learning darija.
P.S. I don’t know if any of you watch LOST (the TV show) but while my husband was talking to me about the difficulty in learning darija, I wanted to say “Don’t tell me what I can’t Do!!!” (Like Locke always says on LOST.)
i think you can learn darija if you want, as any tongue. You can buy darija methods for exemple. you are not native, so i think it is important to communicate with natives, for intonation, accents…
you can’t learn darija quickly, it will takes a long time probably but you can try .
Perhaps, there are darija instructors in your country, have you tought some information about that?
Celina,
I am surprised your husband tells you what you can’t do, as you stated. This makes me even more eager than you are to make you speak Darija! Although the timing is a bit inconvenient for me, but I would like to adopt you, darijacally speaking. There are time challenges, the fact that I will not be able to help you as a instructor would do if you were in a class with the person, but I am willing to try. If you are dedicated enough and want to try too, let me know. We can probably work something out together, and prove your husband wrong.
[small]PS: Of course, darijacally is not a word.[/small]
Yes! PLEASE adopt me! :mdr:
I am SO eager to learn how so speak darija! Actually, at this point, i will be happy to just understand at this point. I know that it will be a challenge but I am up for it. I know to truly embrace and understand a language, it is of benefit to be immersed; however, that is not an option available. Short of packing up and moving to Morocco I must accept the help in way I can…so the answer is YES! Please…I make an excellent student, a very eager learner!!!
Celine, the first step to learning any language is to be “ready and willing” which you seem to be. In other words learning Dariji would be easier if you have the correct environment meaning people around you speak and encourage you to speak, by this you will learn much faster. Where as MSA is concerned, With MSA you will have the ability to speak Simple- Basic arabic to communicate with other arabs. Basically Nothing in life is impossible so if you want to learn Dariji > jump over the hurdle and prove your husband wrong.
If you want e- books all in PDF format for learning MSA i can pass it on.
Thank you all for ur advice. I had a nice lesson today and hope to post what I took from that lesson in a bit. I am simply trying to absorb as much as possible. I know I can learn this, I am very eager and willing. It will come slowly but I know I can do it! Thank you all for your support…
Maybe you should go with him next year on his annual visit, its so great to visit Maroc, I’ve been there 4 times with my ex husband but I really like the country very much and I still do, really if I get a chance I really would live there, Inshallah.
