Hi Everyone,

Well, my Moroccan husband has been in the States for 5 months with me and we just had our 3 month wedding anniversary! Our AOS appointment is next Wednesday. Wish us luck!

I'd really like to try to learn Moroccan Arabic. It's frustrating not to be able to speak to his family. Of course, I could learn French but they all speak Arabic to each other and it would be nice to understand a little of what is going on when I visit them... or even when he's talking to them on the phone. His mom called me on my cell the other day and all we said 1 million times to each other was "Labas, labas aleek, kolchi mazziane, beher, beslama etc." Ridiculous!

I wish there was a Moroccan Arabic class I could take here in Los Angeles but I don't think there is. If you know of any in LA or online, please let me know. I researched some books on Amazon including:


1. Travel Talk Moroccan Arabic - Audio CD (Arabic Edition)

2. Moroccan Arabic: Shnoo the Hell is Going On Hnaa? A Practical Guide to Learning Moroccan Darija - the Arabic Dialect of Morocco by Aaron Sakulich (2009)

3. A Basic Course in Moroccan Arabic With Mp3 Files (Georgetown Classics in Arabic Language and Linguistics) by Richard S. Harrell (Author), et al.

Has anyone read any of these books or do you have any good recommendations for me?

Thanks so much! Chokrane!
Jayme

I just bought #1 and #3 from Amazon but haven't gotten very far yet. I've been working with the audio from the first lesson of #1 in the car to and from work, and I like it so far. The audio from #3 was recorded a few decades ago, so the quality isn't great, but it's usable. The textbook looks good. I haven't asked my husband to look over either one yet though.

Haven't heard of #2 -- looks interesting!

The Peace Corps textbook is also available for free download at the Friends of Morocco site.

Good luck at the AOS interview!

To all those interested in learing Darija, you can download a free copy of the Peace Corps textbook at this website:

http://friendsofmorocco.org/learnarabic.htm

If anybody learning in Minnesota is interested in starting a Darija conversation group, I'd be happy to organize something!

-Jenny

Those are the three books that I know of in Darija. I have used the peace corp book and the Georgetown Univ. book. They are both good but some of the vocabulary in the Georgetown book is outdated.

Thanks to all for your recommendations! I will look into them. The Peace Corps book seems good but a little overwhelming to learn by myself. I wish they had a hard copy I could buy but I guess I need to print out the 200 pages on my printer!

Thanks again,
Jayme

I have been planning on getting Arabic for dummies...they have beginner, intermediate and advanced

it also got Hubby's approval...he is not much interested in helping me learn Arabic so I have to take matters into my own hands.

did you check Craig's List of your region? you can find a Moroccan tutor for darija. (take a native speaker, not a person from the Arab world. The dialects are quite different)
Good luck

I have #3- The Georgetown book, and have been told by a Moroccan friend who heard it that the darija taught in it has a northern regional dialect, I believe the native speakers they used in the MP3s were from Fes... just something you might want to know..

My husband had said the same thing. My Moroccan friends have all said that the northern accents are considered "better" than the southern - my husband is from the south and they always tease him about his accent.

I got the Arabic for Dummies book and was not impressed. It has a lot of information for sure, but it isn't making learning arabic any easier for me. I found it really difficult to even audibly recognize many of the sounds and so books just aren't helping. Now I did order it from Barnes and Noble as an eBook so there was no CD and that may help. So, if you do get it, I would recommend getting the physical copy.

My husband and I went scouring through Internet options on one of our chat dates and he found what, for me, was the most amazing resource. If you've been over in Morocco you probably saw this guy on TV. He's an American and Islam convert and I saw him a lot on the Moroccan TV talking about his story. But, since he has the same background as all other Americans trying to learn Arabic he has found a really creative way to make arabic accessible. His program is called "Arabic in English" www.arabicinenglish.com and you can find a lot of the segments on YouTube (just search the name) but you can also go to his website and order the DVDs and they cost about the same as one of the books.

I just had a really tough time even learning the alphabet. I tried to learn the kids' songs on the 'Net and couldn't understand but within 15 minutes of watching the segments on YouTube with my husband (on the computer even) and with us doing some reptitions together, I learned the first 8 letters of the alphabet, sounds, and I can even do some arabic writing.

I just realized I sound like a commercial. LOL! I don't usually get this excited about resources but the guy is a great teacher and it made something that had been SOOO frustrating to me become a lot easier.

Thanks for asking the question and thanks for the other recommendations...I will check them out because, like the original poster, I'd like to be able to do more than say a few words here or there too when I visit my Moroccan in-laws!

Good to know! My husband's from Meknes, so maybe it will be similar, although he tells me people can distinguish a Fesi accent from a Meknesi one.

LoL that's like my ex from Rabat telling me that my fiance is "ghetto" because he's from Casablanca.. It reminds me of the way people from here in Baltimore talk about people from Washington DC.. so silly..