Archive for 'Pronunciation'
5 Ways to Say Happy Eid! Posted by jesa on Jun 20, 2017
Marhaba! As you have learned from the post on Top 10 Facts About Ramadan, this holy month ends with the celebration of Eid al-Fitr (عيد الفطر). Eid (عيد), which means generally holiday in Arabic and which is used to abbreviate the name of the holiday, is a joyous occasion and is celebrated with prayer, family…
Sing With Asmahan: Come My Darling Posted by jesa on Jun 17, 2017
Marhaba! Today I want to introduce you to a legendary Arabic singer and actress who lived during the early 20th century, Asmahan (اسمهان)! Born in Syria as Amal al-Atrash, she lived and performed mostly in Egypt and Lebanon under her stage name Asmahan between the 1920s and the 1940s. Today we are going to listen…
Top 5 TV Shows During Ramadan! Posted by jesa on Jun 13, 2017
Marhaba! Apart from the prayer, fasting, and self-reflection that this holy month brings, Ramadan is also known in Muslim-majority countries and specifically the Arab world as the month of top-rated television shows (برامج تلفزيونية)! As families and friends gather for the evening Iftar (إفطار), they huddle in front of their television sets to follow the…
Learn 10 Facts About Ramadan Posted by jesa on Jun 10, 2017
Marhaba! The holy month of Ramadan is finally upon us. As Muslims around the world take the time to fast, pray, and celebrate this blessed time of the year, I wanted to share with you 10 facts about Ramadan. You might know some of these facts, while some information might be new to you. I…
Vowels in Arabic: Function and Form Posted by Ibnulyemen اِبْنُ اليَمَن on May 5, 2017
Does Arabic have vowels? Certainly! But very few compared to English. Is there an Arabic word without a vowel? Hmm! Probably not. The vowel is the center of the word and/or syllable. Put differently, vowels are the crutches of consonants. So, what is the story of vowels in Arabic and how do they crutch consonants?…
Arabic ع and غ: Intelligibility vs. Sounding Native-like Posted by Ibnulyemen اِبْنُ اليَمَن on Apr 27, 2017
In speaking a foreign language, do we have to sound native-like? No, certainly not! Being intelligible, in my book, is more important. Intelligibility affects communicating your ideas. Among the difficulties that we encounter when learning a new language is the articulation of certain speech sounds. More specifically, the speech sounds that exist in the new…
[ت] , [ــة] , or [ــه]: How to Differentiate Between Them? Posted by Ibnulyemen اِبْنُ اليَمَن on Apr 24, 2017
For learners of Arabic, as is the case for native speakers, it is normally difficult to distinguish between [ت], [ــة], and [ــه] when they occur at the end of words. [ت] is called taa maftuHah تَاء مَفْتُوحَة, [ــة] is called taa marbuTah تَاء مَرْبُوطَة , and [ــه] is called haa or haa marbuTah هَاء /…