Say It Right in Arabic (Review)

This resource review is submitted by Nada Shaath as a service to the Arabic Language Learning Community. The instructional value of the resource for each unique learning environment must be determined by the instructor. Note: Content reviewed here may or may not be freely available or openly licensed, so please carefully check the licensing statement for more information about the terms of use of this resource.

Resources

Title: Say It Right in Arabic (Review)
Author:
Institution: McGraw-Hill
Licensing: All Rights Reserved

Instructional Context

Arabic Language Learning / Teaching

Keywords: pronunciation, vocabulary, vocab lists, phrases, expressions, sentences, travel, arabic language learning, world languages, almasdar

Intended User: Student

Material Type: Other, Resource Review

Educational Use: Other

Educational Level: High School, Community College - Lower Division, College - Upper Division

Proficiency Level: Beginner

Description

Based on the Easy Pronounced Language Systems (EPLS), this book teaches correct pronunciation for hundreds of Arabic words and phrases. Made for the very beginner, this book uses no Arabic script but rather phonetic transliteration in order to make learning correct pronunciation easy. Their 'Phrasemakers' tool allows users to create sentences easily.  

Review

I purchased Say It Right in Arabic book from one of the internet companies. The book explains how the Arabic language is pronounced and could be suitable for beginner students. Users of the book need to read the introduction thoroughly prior to being able to use the book.

The book design is attractive and allows students to use it with ease. There are plenty of samples provided to readers to correct their pronunciation. Users can learn more than 500 essential Arabic words and phrases via this book. The book relies on phonetic transliteration, which could be considered as a weakness. Furthermore, it does not provide interpretive or interpersonal activities for students to interact with the content. Users must read the introduction prior to using the book and must fully understand the Easy Pronounced Language Systems (EPLS) and its correlations to properly pronounce the words. For example, the letter 'Ayn is one letter that has a constricted sound and could be challenging to emulate if not heard prior to reading the book.

Nada Shaath, Arabic Teacher, Department Chair
Bell High School, Los Angeles Unified School District