Assalamualaikum
May u be in the best of health, iman and taqwa always.
I've always been fascinated by Arabic languages. I wanted to understand the Quran and connect deeply with the words of Allah swt. Also to communicate with the locals and truly understand life through their perspectives so I can at least imagined what the Prophet pbuh had gone through.
The more I learnt Arabic, the more I realised I dont know anything. To learn a language is to practice and listening is very crucial.
For years, I've learnt Fusha, the standard Arabic. But never truly grasp or remembered them. I didn't do an immersion like watching Saudi TV or listen to its radio nor get a tutor.
So when I traveled to Middle Eastern countries, some words popped out of my head n I tried conversing.
But to my dismayed, no one speak Fusha. They spoke Amiyah-myriad dialects depending on the location one resided.
And Mecca is one mixed up group of local and international streams of peeps. Thus the language is also colorful but peeps understood each other.
So after, I went to Jerusalem last year, I felt such a dissappointment arose within me when the locals especially elders wanted to communicate with me in Arabic and I was communicating like a child- inserting some words and some self created body languages.
(It was Ramadan. There were alot of food sharing and eating in the Dome of the rock mosque (women were praying there while the men prayed below, at the Aqsa mosque actually the whole area is Aqsa, consist of 6 Mosques. The below main mosque is called Qibli or some called Umar mosque because its a mixed of sort after the earthquake))
I remembered, I wanted to ask what meat fillings in the local version of "pizza" in a bakery and I remembered Sura Al-Baqarah (The Cow) and I point to it n say - Baqarah?
The man looked half amused and half vague, misunderstood what I was saying. I ended up buying all types of different meat fillings.
Anyway, I'm learning the Amiyya with a tutor at italki. It was fun to converse "like rojak" (mixture of English, Malay and Arabic).
But I chanced upon this fascinating way of learning the Classical Arabic. The teacher has extensive experience in teaching and learning Arabic and created for mass a new systematic way of learning and understanding Quranic Arab.
The first 10 days is free. It's truly extensive and mind boggling. His method of engaging made me remembered things easily. May Allah reward him and his team dunia and akhirat. Amiin.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLutdSTmJ7bAIApzbo3C9vu1eWsMh2ZyUj&si=l8bOqFD_ASFuE94X
Have fun, memorising and understanding the words of Allah. May Allah make ease for us to keep them in our hearts till our last breaths. And may we be blessed with Jannah. Amiin.