Salamaat! Learning Arabic with Ease: Learn the Building Blocks of Modern Standard Arabic (Includes Free Online Audio) Paperback – Illustrated, September 25, 2018

I have been learning Arabic for a while now and have tried most of the books for it. In my Arabic classes in college we use the infamous Al-Kitaab series both part one and part two. I have also used Living Arabic, Living Language Arabic, Teach Yourself Arabic, Ahalan wa Sahlan etc. I was very excited when tuttle was releasing an Arabic textbook because I have used other tuttle books (for Hindi, Farsi, and Japanese) and really liked them! The Arabic one is fantastic especially for beginners and self learners. The book is very user friendly and goes at a comfortable pace. It starts with teaching the alphabet and not only does it teach the alphabet but also teaches the handwriting with marked lines to make sure the letters are sized correctly! I really liked this aspect of the book. It also has dialogues, grammar explanations, cultural explanations and proverbs. The grammar explanations are clear and concise and never overwhelming. The grammar it teaches is comparable to Al-Kitaab. This book teaches idafa, adjectives, plurals, ordinal numbers, roots, wazan, non-human plurals, how to form conditionals, tenses, cases, nominal sentences and verbal sentences. There is probably some other things I am missing. But the grammar explanations in this book were very clear and easy to understand. I also loved the fact that after each new grammar point there were a lot of exercises in the book. This another thing I loved about this book is the exercises, they are fun and challenging but there a lot of them and I loved the practice. I highly recommend this book for self-learners or for Arabic students in college that may be struggling with Al-Kitaab.

This textbook for learning Arabic is definitely a great one for learning from an absolutely beginning stage. The progression of words and vocabulary along with the included listening definitely provides you with a solid foundation of the language. I was able to learn many of the vocabulary in the conversational dialogues just through context without using any form of translations.This book also teaches you how to write the letters and has numerous practices for writing.It also includes cultural notes so you can better understand the Arab world while learning the language.Definitely 100% recommend for those starting out in the journey of learning Arabic.

"Salamaat" is a very good self-study textbook, with a few provisions (see below). The text is built around a series of dialogues of very manageable length in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), has an excellent CD which is clear (no "real life" background sounds that distract you from the Arabic, just a clear reading of the text) and spoken at a moderate speed. The alphabet is taught, too. However, the dialogues from the very beginning are written in Arabic with only marginal English translation and phonetics for those still not proficient in written Arabic. This seems to suggest the need for a tutor, but since the accompanying CD has all the recordings, it's not a big problem. You could move considerably faster through this book if you took the time to learn the Arabic alphabet before beginning "Salamaat" (something I highly recommend no matter what text you're using; there are many good books for this available from Amazon). Depending on how into details you are, you might not be completely satisfied with the alphabetic sequence of instruction, but that's mostly a matter of preference. The biggest issue I had with the book (and why I deducted a star) is that, while there is an index, there is no glossary. If you forget a word, you need to look for it in the text. You could buy a simple Arabic dictionary (like Awde & Smith's "Arabic Practical Dictionary"), but if you're new to Arabic, using a dictionary can be complicated. I took the time to make my own glossary on MS Word, inserting and re-alphabetizing as I acquired new words. This has helped in learning the Arabic alphabet as well as teaching me some basic Arabic word-processing skills. Obviously, you can hand-write a glossary once you learn the script.The Arabic is completely vocalized, as any good text should be, so once you've mastered the alphabet, you can read and pronounce words correctly. Another fine feature is the cultural content and the Islamic expressions which pepper this beautiful language (e.g., الحمد للة "alhamdu lillah") in ordinary speech. Grammar is presented in modest doses in an intuitive manner, and the focus is on real, everyday communication (even though this is MSA and not colloquial dialect).A final word to those trying to decide whether to start with MSA or some dialect. Unless you want to be illiterate, you'll need to learn MSA eventually. Since MSA is somewhat (not greatly) more difficult than colloquial Arabic, once you've learned MSA, the transition to dialect is much easier. Conversely, if you go from dialect to MSA, it seems to me to be significantly more complex. Better to get the harder stuff over with first, and it's not that much of a chore. It is true that most interpersonal communication will be in dialect, but to say that MSA is largely useless in oral communication is too simplistic and reduces the importance of knowing MSA. You may be told that you sound like you're quoting the Qur'an, but there are worse things in this world. The truth is that every serious Arabic student must learn both MSA and at least one dialect. Bite the bullet and start with MSA. When you become proficient and move on to colloquial Arabic, you won't be sorry.

This book starts from the very beginning for students with no experience, and makes Arabic a lot less intimidating. The first part the book introduces the alphabet letter by letter, really focusing on good handwriting. The book has audio files on a CD for dialogues and vocabulary lists which is great for independent learners. The dialogues are focused on the vocabulary from the previous page with many different exercises for practice, and the grammatical lessons are clear and concise with examples for anyone without an instructor. Definitely recommend working through the book in order, as previous lessons are incorporated into later units. There are also many proverbs and examples of calligraphy sprinkled throughout the book which is a lovely addition! I used this book for intensive study and while studying abroad and out of the four books I've used it is by far the best.

This textbook is brilliant. I used it for a college level beginning Arabic class. The text incorporates reading, writing, listening, and culture all into one great package. Each unit has several passages to read/listen too, vocabulary with drills, and other activities. The beginning of the book covers how to write Arabic and the end covers grammar and verbs. Overall, I would highly recommend this to anyone looking to learn Arabic.

I ordered this book new and it wasn't. The description also says that it comes with an audio CD but it was missing. This book relies heavily on the audio CD to get through the exercises. Without it this book is useless to me. I will be asking for a refund.