May be you're right Loki, if you "understand" before you can "speak", i can only say, that is very good. I suppose it gets also easier if you already speak several other languages.
For most people it's the opposite, for a very simple reason, and i go back to my example for the Spanish language:
- what you learn it in a classroom, or from tapes or CDs, you get the pure language that is probably only spoken in Spain. But when you travel to Latin America or South America... the way in which they speak it and pronounce it, is a lot different. It is always easy to ask for "directions"... but understanding and getting there in one piece is another story... LOL
It is similar for the Arabic language, as you know there is ONE "written" language and SEVERAL "spoken" languages or (local) dialects which vary greatly from one Arabic country to another.
If your purpose is to master conversation, then you have to concentrate on the dialect of a given country. For full immersion, get married with a local... LOL
If your purpose is to read the printed news and catch the evening news on TV, then an academic approach to learning the "written" language becomes a must.
May be you're right Loki, if you "understand" before you can "speak", i can only say, that is very good. I suppose it gets also easier if you already speak several other languages.
For most people it's the opposite, for a very simple reason, and i go back to my example for the Spanish language:
- what you learn it in a classroom, or from tapes or CDs, you get the pure language that is probably only spoken in Spain. But when you travel to Latin America or South America... the way in which they speak it and pronounce it, is a lot different. It is always easy to ask for "directions"... but understanding and getting there in one piece is another story... LOL
It is similar for the Arabic language, as you know there is ONE "written" language and SEVERAL "spoken" languages or (local) dialects which vary greatly from one Arabic country to another.
If your purpose is to master conversation, then you have to concentrate on the dialect of a given country. For full immersion, get married with a local... LOL
If your purpose is to read the printed news and catch the evening news on TV, then an academic approach to learning the "written" language becomes a must.