Arabic learning resources
Arabic language learning links
Here are some links to websites with free information on Arabic, and also media sources with free content that can help you practice Arabic. Please feel free to email me with other useful links (as long as they are free and contain a decent amount of content, not just one page with a few words/phrases):
General
WordReference Arabic Resources page - includes many useful linksFree FSI courses
Links to numerous Arabic learning documents from the US Department of Education
NMELRC Arabic Learner's Handbook - general information and tips on the learning process
Learning the Arabic script, from Stanford
V-Arabic - Virtual Arabic blog with digitized language realia resources for Arabic learners & teachers
Al-Kitaab Podcasts
Arabic Free Downloads - PDF files with information on various aspects of the Arabic language
Arabic Corpus - a searchable Arabic corpus; great for seeing the contexts in which words are commonly used
Yamli - type and do searches in transliterated Arabic, and the site will "translate" back into Arabic script
MEMRI TV - news video clips with English translations
The Arabic Student blog - contains Arabic videos with some transcripts, etc.
ArabicPod - over 100 beginner-level Arabic podcasts available for free (with registration); however, for access to higher-level podcasts, a subscription is required.
Learn Arabic Language blog - offers lots of Arabic textbooks and learning materials for download
Standard Arabic
BabelMadinah
Arabic grammar
Master Arabic
A Hundred and One Grammar Rules by Mohammed Jiyad
Arabic alphabet tutorial
Basic vocabulary lists
Arabic grammar resources - a categorized database of grammar information
Arabic learning book - also available in languages other than English here
Levantine Arabic
CultureTalk Arab Levant - video clips of interviews and discussions with Lebanese, Palestinians, Syrians, and Jordanians. Most of the clips are in colloquial Arabic, some are in English. Translations are given for all non-English video clips.Colloquial Levantine audio and video collection - audio, video, and sample syllabi for learning everyday Arabic as spoken by Jordanians, Lebanese, Palestinians, and Syrians.
Syrian Arabic
Syrian Arabic - free Syrian Arabic course (PDF download) with mp3sArabic idioms - a nice collection of over a thousand idioms used in Syrian Arabic
Jordanian Arabic
LangMedia: Arabic in JordanMoroccan Arabic
Speak MoroccanRevised Peace Corps Moroccan Arabic book, available for download as a PDF file
Peace Corps Moroccan Arabic mp3 files
Moroccan Arabic Vocab
Algerian Arabic
The Algerian Dardja DictionaryAlgerian Darjda-English dictionary
Grammar of Algerian Darja
Mauritanian Arabic
Mauritanian Arabic: Culture and Communication, PDF fileMauritanian Arabic: Grammar, PDF file
Mauritanian Arabic: Literacy, PDF file
Peace Corps: Mauritanian Arabic course, mp3s and PDF lessons
Iraqi Arabic
Iraqi Headstart - a downloadable program that gives an introduction to Iraqi Arabic, with a focus on military usesIraqi Tutor - a really nice collection of eight introductory lessons on the Iraqi dialect, featuring short video clips from a popular Iraqi TV show and audio clips of dialogue and vocabulary.
Gulf Arabic
Gulf Arabic.com (free registration required)Egyptian Arabic
BYU Arabic course materials - Online vocabulary, exercises, and videos for both Egyptian and standard Arabic (beginner level).An Arabist's Guide to Egyptian Colloquial by Daniel Pipes (PDF, 8mb) - Written for Arabic students with a background in standard Arabic, this is a good introduction to the Egyptian dialect.
Egyptian Arabic Primer by W.A. Betts, available to browse or as a free PDF download from Google Books. Note that it was published in 1902, so some of the content (vocabulary like "wabuur/babuur" for train; "Hakiim" for doctor; "mara" for woman; and so on) is outdated, but overall it's not bad considering that it's available for free online!
An Arabic-English Vocabulary of the Colloquial Arabic of Egypt by Socrates Spiro, from Google Books. This book is old too (pub. 1895), but is nonetheless pretty decent for a free online resource.
Online dictionaries
Sakhr - Arabic-English, English-ArabicWordReference - English-Arabic
Ectaco - English-Arabic
Arabic media online
Arabic Webcasts - the news in simplified Arabic, including accompanying exercises. Updated every two weeks.Aswaat Arabiyya - an excellent archive of videos, sorted by level of difficulty.
BBC Arabic - includes streaming video and radio news
Archive of phone conversations in Egyptian, Levantine, and Iraqi Arabic - a great learning resource! You can sort by dialect and level of difficulty.
Television news
- Al Jazeera (website | online stream | YouTube channel)- Al Arabiya (website | online stream - not available in the US)
- France24 - Click on the banner reading حاليا على فرانس 24: النشرة to watch their live stream.
- wwiTV
Newspapers
- Sahafa Online| Egypt | Lebanon |
| - Al Ahram | - An Nahar |
| - Al Akhbar | |
| - Al Gomhuria | Syria |
| - Al Masry Al Youm | - Tishreen |
| - Al Mesryoon | |
| - Al Wafd | Iraq |
| - Nahdet Misr | - Al Sabah |
| - Az Zaman | |
| Jordan | - Al Itijah Al Ahkar |
| - Al Rai | |
| - Ad Dustour | Saudi Arabia |
| - Al Watan | |
| Israel | |
| - Assennara | United Arab Emirates |
| - Al Bayan | |
| Palestine | - Al Ittihad |
| - Al Quds | - Dar Al Khaleej |
Music
- Mazikana- Panet.co.il
- Farfesh
- Jawzah
- Mazakony forum
- Eftekasat forum (free registration required)
- Tarab.com - streaming Arabic music (RealPlayer required)
- La7oon lyrics (registration required) - Arabic lyrics site
- Arabic Song Lyrics & Translation - translations and lyrics to more than 600 Arabic songs.
- Arabic Lyrics Translation forum - features a large archive of song translations, and you can request (or post your own) translations of Arabic songs.
- Shira.net Song Translations - a bellydance website featuring lyrics in both transliterated and translated form.
- OrientalDancer.net Song Lyrics - more translated/transliterated lyrics from another bellydance site.
- Asra Bellydance song translations; Linda Grondahl's collecion of song translations
Movies
- AHQT Arabic Movies Library - an amazing archive of movies (mostly Egyptian) available for download. Updated almost every day.- Arab Friendz
- Foraten.net
- Sotwesoora.tv
- 3arabtv.com
- Arabic movies on Google Video (sometimes this site goes down, but the Google cache and videos themselves will still work)
- Al Mumiyaa' (The Mummy/The Night of Counting the Years) - a famous 1969 film with dialogue entirely in fuSHa. Subtitled version here.
Television & video
- MBC - streaming video of full episodes of shows like Bab al-Hara- Live Arabic TV.net
- FilFil.net
- Ikbis (an Arabic version of YouTube)
Radio & other audio
- Archive of episodes from ساعة لقلبك - a famous Egyptian comedy radio show from the '50s and '60s.- France24 - Monte Carlo Doualiya - Click on the banner reading استمع إلى إذاعة مونت كارلو الدولية to listen to their radio stream.
- Nogoom FM Egyptian radio stream
- Banat wa Bass radio station for Egyptian women
- Arabic Audio Books - an Arabic speaker's recordings of books by Tawfiq el Hakim, Ihsan Abdel Quddous, Taha Hussein, and more (including The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown)