Arabic in a Flash Kit Ebook Volume 2. Yousef Alreemawi

velar fricativekh (does not exist)ghvoiced velar fricativegh (does not exist)ypalatal glidey (as in ‘yellow’)wbilabial approximantw (as in ‘wall’)

      Vowels: there are three basic short vowels in Arabic and three long ones. These are

Vowel	Phonetic description	English equivalent
a	short low back vowel	as in 'Amestrdam'
aa	long low back vowel	as in'far'
i	short high front vowel	as in 'inside'
ii	long high front vowel	as in 'clean'
u	short high back vowel	as in 'to go'
uu	long high back vowel	as in 'noon'

      What’s on the Flash Cards?

      The front of each card contains the Arabic word and four related derivations. The four derived words are listed in Arabic script with no Romanization or translations provided.

      On the back of the card we list the main word and its four derived items but with English translated phonetic Romanization. The numbering of the words is consistent with the front of the card.

      In addition, a sample sentence is given to provide context and to illustrate how the main word (and in some case some of its derivatives) can be used in meaningful communication.

      Using Arabic Flash Cards

      These flash cards contain the basic list of Arabic words that will be indispensable in introducing you (users/learners) to the language and its rich derivational system. The cards are designed and ordered in such a way that you can use them either in a sequential order or as the functional and interest need arises.

      From a pedagogic perspective, it would helpful if you are able to set yourself learning objectives on a weekly basis by aiming for a minimum number of words as a concrete target. Individual learners have their unique learning styles, but as far as the flash cards are concerned it would be essential to practice the acquired words and to test this in writing or by way of a tape recorder. Learning a foreign language is an incremental process, and as such the pace of learning should increase as time goes on.

      To this end, and once the key words are acquired, you should proceed to acquire the related items listed under each of the main words. In many cases, these will be easily recognizable as they are linguistically derived from the main word. Mastery of these derived items will help facilitate the learning even further.

      As a learner, make sure that as you acquire new words you are still revising and practicing the ones already covered. A good test for actual learning is medium- to long-term memory. As you learn new words, you want to make sure that you do not forget the ones already practiced, and the best way to avoid this is by ongoing practice.

      Key to Abbreviations

      The following abbreviations are used to provide key grammatical information within the translations cells:

      v. = verb

       n. = noun

       adj. = adjective

       sing. = singular

       pl. = plural

       masc. = masculine

       fem. = feminine

      Alphabetical Indexes

      The words listed in the following indexes are all in the verbal form, unless otherwise indicated by means of asterisks (in which case it is either a noun, an expression, a question word or a pronoun).

      English-Arabic Index:

      Romanized Index:

      Arabic-English Index: