Learning Arabic: One Month In

Starting Out

It’s been about a month and a half since I decided I wanted to learn Arabic. I had been using Duolingo for a while (not included in the month). I made some progress learning how to read the letters, but not much else. There was also no one I’d be able to talk to because it’s in MSA. All Arabs speak dialects.

It became clear that I would need someone to teach me. At that point, I was torn between Levantine and Moroccan. Levantine was clearly the more reasonable choice, considering I live in the Levant, but I have a certain love for Morocco that comes from my exposure to family and friends who are Moroccan Jews.

I chose the Preply platform. However, it soon became apparent that most Levantine tutors are not comfortable teaching a Jewish person. As I am not comfortable hiding this fact simply to get Arabic lessons, much of the choice was made for me.

NOTE: One teacher from Jordan was willing to teach me, he didn’t speak a word of English, but I was going with it - because I thought it would force me to talk more Arabic, but then he missed the second lesson. I would’ve even put up with that - but then handled it very unprofessionally, so I dropped him. He got upset that I informed the platform that he didn’t show up and got a refund and we had this wierd back and forth in Arabic.

So, Moroccan Arabic it was.

Tools and Methods

I booked a tutor, started with one lesson a week, and quickly bumped it up to two. I started using Anki, a spaced repetition flashcard app, to keep track of new words and phrases. I also found that Lingualism sells pre-made Anki decks for different Arabic dialects, including Moroccan, which saved me time building my own from scratch. That said, I still make my own Anki cards in addition to the pre-made ones. I’ve found that the process of making them helps me remember the words better than just reviewing pre-made decks. I’ve also found keeping a notebook and handwriting in Arabic & transliterating really helps for retention.

I also switched my passive listening to Moroccan Arabic. Before, I had been listening to a mix of MSA and Levantine Arabic podcasts, but they weren’t doing much for me. MSA wasn’t useful for conversation, and the Levantine content felt too stiff and formal. Passive listening—just having the language on in the background while I do other things—isn’t about actively studying; it’s about getting used to the sounds, rhythm, and flow of the language. I started putting on Moroccan radio instead, which felt more natural.

Ramadan Radio: A Lesson in Kvetching

It turns out most Moroccan radio is either music, long religious lectures, or political talk. The best material has been casual radio shows where people call in, argue, tease each other, and talk over one another—real, unscripted speech.

Unfortunately, listening to any Arabic radio during Ramadan means signing up for constant kvetching and the odd angry cleric ranting about morality. There’s something about fasting that makes people really want to call in and complain about how hard their day is. Even the commercials get in on it—ads for yogurt and soup that somehow turn into sermons about hunger and patience.

Tandem: In Theory vs. Reality

I also tried Tandem, a language exchange app where you can chat with native speakers. In theory, it’s a great tool. In practice, it’s mostly just texting, which isn’t all that useful. Anyone can sound fluent in a language when they have time to type and edit. That doesn’t mean they can actually speak it. Calls are rare—most people either don’t answer or cancel last minute.

That said, I did meet some cool people. I also ran into a lot of nonsense—“Are you a Zionist?” messages, tired antisemitic tropes, par for the course in the Arab world, I’m told. Not everyone, but enough that it got old fast. I quickly was able to notice cultural differences among different Arabic societies. Even the Levantine speakers who were more graceful weren’t particularly engaging. A lot of one-word answers, no real back-and-forth. The North African Arabic speakers, on the other hand, were noticeably more fun to talk to. I don’t know if that’s cultural or if Levantines just hate Israelis more. Either way, the result was the same — some actual conversations in Darija, dead-end chats in Levantine. There were some notable acceptions both ways - I’m talking in generalities.

Also, Ramadan kvetching is much more tolerable when you’re talking to someone who is actually fasting and it is not their job to entertain you. I find myself even sympathizing with them.

So, if you are willing to put up with some bad apples and a few boring people, Tandem is a great way to text in another language and meet some interesting people, but I would hedge my expectations about rapid progress.

The Only Thing That Really Works

So my speaking practice mostly comes down to my tutoring sessions. I don’t reject structure entirely, but I push as hard as I can for conversation. I want to speak, even if it’s ugly, even if I’m fumbling for words. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s fluency.

One of the unexpected fun parts of this process has been noticing how many words are similar between Arabic and Aramaic. Sometimes I’ll hear a word and instantly recognize it from the Talmud. Other times, I’ll realize after the fact that a phrase I struggled to understand would have made perfect sense if I’d thought of it in Aramaic first. It’s like a puzzle that keeps unfolding as I go.

Score Board

• Preply gets an A-. The platform is good but some level of pushing and upselling for subscriptions. The tutors are totally unvetted as far as I can tell. You need to find a good one. I had to try out a few tutors until I found a great Moroccan one. I didn’t find a great Levantine one that was willing to teach me. By the way, if you choose to take a lesson with Preply, use the referral link from this site to get a significant discount.
• Tandem gets a B/B-. It’s nice to meet people without exchanging personal information, and meeting people from different cultures, but I have found it not to be such a game changer as far as language aquistion. That said, perhaps I just haven’t been agressive enough(?)
• Anki gets an A+. It seems to really be helpful in remembering words. This is especially true when the cards have audio (I left another app - AnkiPro - because it didn’t have good support for audio).
• A good ol’ fashioned notebook really helps!
• Lingualism - I’m not ready to give a grade yet - I just found out about them this Tuesday. I’ve been using the cards, many of which are entirely new words - and I will report back as to whether I’ve gotten a boom in vocabulary.

What’s Next?

I don’t overanalyze. I don’t get stuck trying to perfectly understand every word before moving forward. If I miss something, I keep the conversation going and figure it out later.

I’m making some progress. The question now is: how far can I take this?