A Teacher on the Mistake Most Arabic Learners Make.
Intermediate (B2) · Conversations · 18 min · Free
Rachel is an Arabic teacher from Lebanon. She lives there, she teaches Modern Standard Arabic and Lebanese Arabic, and in this conversation she tells me how she got here and what she sees in her students.
She has loved Arabic since she was a child, the sound of it and the way the letters are pronounced, and that's why she chose to teach it. Like most people in Lebanon she learned English and some French at school, because Lebanese schools teach three languages at the same time. She studied primary school Arabic teaching at the Lebanese University, then did a master's in educational administration. She used to teach at a school and now gives private lessons, Modern Standard Arabic to children and Lebanese to children and adults.
I asked her why people come to her. Some need Arabic for work, some have Lebanese roots and want to talk to their relatives, some want to read the Qur'an. And very often the reason is a partner who is Lebanese.
Her advice is to watch Lebanese series and listen to Lebanese songs, a lot, because you have to hear a language before you can speak it. The mistake she sees most is stopping and starting, two weeks on and two weeks off. The other is not knowing what you want, starting with Modern Standard Arabic, switching to Lebanese halfway, and then getting lost because the same letters sound different. And on the days you feel like stopping, she says keep listening anyway.
You can find Rachel on Instagram, her page is Lahjati (@lahja_ti).
