So I live in the US and due to that I had to prioritize English over Arabic and thus I don’t really know how to read or write it. I’m trying to incorporate more Arabic in my spoken vocabulary and my family has been helping with that. I’m currently using duo lingo to help with learning written Arabic. They have a feature where your just learning the alphabet and that has helped.
But what I’m trying to get at here is do you have any resources to help me learn reading and writing Arabic? I seen courses available but they are out price range and so I wanted to see if you could point me to anything that could help me.
unfortunately, since i was born and raised in the middle east and speak arabic as my first language i don’t have any resources for someone trying to learn as a beginner but!! i can point you towards some users/posts who provide resources that could be helpful to you
my mutual @ayin-me-yesh has many resources for learning arabic under the #arabic and #alif baa tags on their blog. here are some posts compiling resources and you can look through the rest [1], [2], [3]
in general though, i would recommend you learn msa to an intermediate level so you can have a good understanding of standard arabic syntax and grammar and then move on to learning dialect to be able to actually communicate with people. the best way to learn dialect imo is by consuming media in that dialect and practicing with someone and it’s good that your family is willing to help you with that. i saw in your bio that you’re palestinian-american so maybe look into palestinian films and music specifically and levantine media more broadly.
second of all, there’s a German linguist on here that put together this awesome mega drive of language textbooks. for Arabic, go to Asia -> West and Central Asia -> Arabic. there’s MSA and lots of colloquial options, although MSA has way more resources than anything else. and there’s a script section where you can grab Mastering Arabic Script: A Guide to Handwriting (also available on libgen, which is what’s linked here).
additionally, you can use Arabic: An Essential Grammar from the Internet Archive to improve your grammar skills.
you can also get practice using the University of Cambridge’s Arabic Essentials programme.
and Al-Jazeera also has a programme for practicing reading MSA.
now, if you’re interested in Classical (aka Quranic) Arabic, you can get started with Madinah Arabic’s free courses, which includes lessons on the script. then the Internet Archive has all the Madinah Arabic books with audio!
next, if you want to learn Palestinian Spoken Arabic, I have options for you!
unfortunately, the mega drive’s Levantine section is pretty sparse. but I have a couple textbook options myself!
I love Klimt’s paintings and I also love Mei and painting her. I have also wanted to do something with Reiner and Mei for some time! I finally got around to it <3
Be present & active on social media and uplift Palestinian voices
Draw, write, sing, create art for Palestine
Repost & boost Palestine related content on social media
Educate yourself about the issue
We have been asked to strike during these days by the lovely & hardworking journalist Bisan from Gaza. Let’s all try our best for a people being tested with the harshest conditions imaginable. The occupation must be held accountable.
Entirely for @hellmandraws‘ amusement, and to defend America from the charge of being “weakass babies” I’m going to liveblog eating licorice candy.
okay first of all, the packaging. there’s a cartoon monkey ecstatically making love to a candy monkey. Perhaps an indicator of the orgasmic bliss I’m about to experience. 12/10. my hopes, like the people who designed this bag, are obviously very high
the candy looks like rocks and not jaunty little monkeys. huge disappointment. I had to recreate stonehenge to rally my flagging spirits. 2/10
First taste: wow this is salty! I think I actually like this. I love anise so I’m pretty sure this is going to be a trip to flavortown. 8/10 me rn:
OMG THE SALT WORE OFF IT’S SO MUCH WORSE THAN I EVER IMAGINED.
IT’S LIKE EATING A SHOE.
IS THIS CANDY?
IS THIS WHAT MAKES SCANDINAVIANS SO POWERFUL?
I’m chewing and it won’t go away
it’s stuck to my teeth, I’ll be tasting this forever. shards of this will be discovered in my teeth when my body is excavated from an archeological dig tens of thousands of years in the future. somehow the smell has traveled up through my nasal cavity and all I can sense, hear, or experience is licorice. the world is an empty vessel filled with remorse and the cloying smell of decay. I’m at the nadir of my existence. -100/12
somehow, here, standing at the edge of eternity, the darkness that consumed me birthed me anew. I’m not only ready for another candy, I’m eager. I can, nay I must, immediately eat another
oh wow it’s salty! 8/10
this time I’m ready for the salt to wear off.
I WAS NOT READY
the flavor this time was different, and somehow so much worse. instead of the leather of a shoe, it was like eating an entire shoe factory. the industrial rubber of the forklift tires, a hint of diesel as secretive as a volkswagen scandal, a soupçon of hot tin roof, the sweat of non-unionized labor, and a pervasive sense that while we’re all in this together, some of us are more all in this than others. 1/10 throw off your shackles, taste buds
I can’t believe it but I’m into this. I like this. shocked and disgusted with myself, I shove 2 more into my mouth concurrently.
conclusion: I’ve become addicted to licorice candy. what is in this. how do I get more. I hate this? I hate this. I willingly admit I’m a weakass baby. 100/10 will cycle through destruction and rebirth willingly and with open eyes, albeit it with teeth that will never again be clean.
I am not letting this get lost in the tags @bitsypookums. I am so happy to represent all Swedes as “the Swede” ™ haha. Also djungelvrål is one of my absolute favorites, no joke 😂😂
I’ve spent some time this year making gifts for my DnD players. It has consisted of mugs, totebags, tea tins and stickers. These are all different references to stuff that has happened in game <3.
