The best way to learn Arabic is a mix: mostly Arabic you can understand, plus review and real conversation, with the balance set by your goal. Arabic you can mostly understand is called comprehensible input. Below, you'll see what each way of learning builds and the mix that suits six common goals.
Which Ways of Learning Arabic Work Best?
Reading and listening to Arabic at your level works best, and each other method adds one skill on top of it.
| Method | What it builds | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Reading and listening at your level | Words, grammar and listening | Most of your time |
| A structured course | An order for the basics | Your first months |
| A tutor or conversation partner | Speaking and quick replies | Using what you know |
| Flashcards or other review | Words that stay with you | A few minutes each session |
| Films and shows | Spoken Arabic, often in a dialect | Fun, once you follow most of it |
| Grammar study | Why a sentence works | Patterns that confuse you |
Input is the base of the mix: a 2016 review of 49 studies in Reading in a Foreign Language, a University of Hawaii journal, found that reading a lot of easy material improves reading in a new language.
What Is the Best Way to Learn Arabic for Your Goal?
For every goal, the best way is the same base of reading and listening, with the rest of your time on the skill and the kind of Arabic that goal needs.
- Talk With Family or FriendsLearn the dialect they speak, hear lots of everyday conversations in it, and spend the rest of your time talking with them or a tutor.
- Travel to Egypt or MoroccoSpend most of your time on short dialogues in that country's Arabic about ordering food and getting around, and say each one out loud.
- Watch Egyptian FilmsPut most of your time into listening to Egyptian Arabic, starting with lessons and moving on to films and shows with subtitles.
- Read the NewsLearn Modern Standard Arabic, and read graded news made for learners before you move on to the real news.
- Read the Qur'anLearn the letters with their vowel marks, which the Qur'an shows, and study Qur'anic Arabic with a tutor who teaches it.
- Work in ArabicRead and hear Modern Standard Arabic about your field most of the time, and practice formal speech with a tutor.
To see how many hours each stage takes, read how long it takes to learn Arabic.
What Are the Best Resources for Each Part?
Each part of the mix has a good free option, such as the Madinah Arabic books for grammar or Anki for review, and an app or service for when you want more. Bubblegum, which appears in a few rows, is a language app where Poppy, an AI tutor, writes Arabic lessons at your level about things you like.
| Part | Free option | App or service |
|---|---|---|
| Learning the Arabic alphabet | Bubblegum's Arabic Alphabet course | AlifBee, whose first level teaches the letters |
| Reading and listening at your level | Bubblegum's Egyptian Arabic and Moroccan Arabic lessons on this site | Bubblegum, in Modern Standard, Egyptian or Moroccan Arabic, or Arabic All The Time |
| News, stories and shows | Al Jazeera Learning Arabic for graded articles, Language Reactor for shows | LingQ for articles, books and videos you choose |
| Review | Anki, free on computers and Android | Bubblegum's Regenerative Review™, which brings saved words back in new lessons |
| Conversation | A language exchange on HelloTalk | A tutor on italki or Preply |
| Grammar | The free Madinah Arabic books on the Internet Archive | The Al-Kitaab textbooks or LingoDeer |
What Should You Avoid?
Avoid anything that keeps you from reading real Arabic sentences you can follow.
- Arabic in English LettersArabic letters spell sounds that English letters can't, such as ع and ح, so read every Arabic word in Arabic script from the start.
- Lists With No SentencesSave words from lines you have read, so each one comes with an example of how it is used.
- Shows You Can't Follow YetSave films and shows for when you can follow a scene with subtitles on, and read lessons in the same kind of Arabic before that.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it better to learn Arabic with an app or a teacher?
Use an app for the hours of reading and listening, and a teacher for speaking and corrections. Lessons with a tutor on italki or Preply are paid, so spend that time talking, and pick a tutor whose profile names the kind of Arabic you want.
Should I learn Modern Standard Arabic or a dialect first?
Start with the one your goal needs. Modern Standard Arabic is the Arabic of books, news and formal speech, and a dialect is what people speak at home in one country. Our pages on Egyptian Arabic and Moroccan Arabic list resources for each dialect.
Should I learn Arabic grammar first?
No. Learn the alphabet first, then learn grammar from the Arabic you read and hear, and look a pattern up when it confuses you. A rule is easier to learn once you have seen it a few times: after أريد أن آكل (I want to eat) and أريد أن أشرب (I want to drink), the pattern for "I want to" is easy to spot.
Which Arabic app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Arabic, start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. Our Arabic app comparison covers courses, tutors and speaking apps too.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
The Arabic Alphabet course and the Arabic lessons on this site are also free and need no account.
Sources
- Jeon and Day (2016), The effectiveness of ER on reading proficiency: A meta-analysis, Reading in a Foreign Language 28(2), University of Hawaii
- Al Jazeera Learning Arabic (free graded lessons and articles)
- Madinah Arabic Books (Internet Archive)
- Preply, Arabic tutors for adults (Modern Standard Arabic, dialects and Qur'anic Arabic)
- Anki, official downloads (free computer version and AnkiDroid)
- HelloTalk, learn Arabic (free language exchange)
