Jeremy Palmer over at his blog, Learning and Teaching Arabic, posted a rather neat link to Defense Language Institute's free online Basics of Iraqi Arabic course.
The course is set up in a phrase book style, complete with the Arabic writing, the audio, and the transliteration of the word/phrase in question (in Iraqi dialect where applicable).
When you view this please keep in mind that it was written for use by the US Military; although, there is plenty that can be used in a non-military sense. However, being designed for use by the US Military gives it a slightly Orwellian overtone sometimes.
The most hilarious phrase I found was: “We are here as liberators not as occupiers. And we must cooperate with each other.” The most hilarious section on the site is the Conciliatory Sentences section which provides handy gems such as:
“We are American.”
“We are your friends.
“We are not your enemies.”
Also of interest on the site is a free The Online Learning Sustainment and Enhancement Language Course for Arabic. It’s a bit confusing and is geared towards slightly more advanced students but still well worth a look for those who have had about a year of Arabic study.
The site also contains a Countries in Perspective series that is “under development” and currently has modules for both Syria and Iraq (Iran too). These are very well done for those people interested in learning more about a specific country. These are very detailed profiles that can also be downloaded in PDF format. I personally feel that the country profiles are the jewel of the site and highly recommend them for those curious about the countries behind the Arabic language. I like it so much that I’ve added the specific link for Syria, Iraq and Iran to my Miscellaneous links section.
No comments:
Post a Comment