Why is it better to learn spoken dialects rather than MSA?
Most Arabic courses, books and websites teach Modern Standard Arabic as a spoken language.
Usually, these products are marketed to promote the idea that MSA will enable you to freely communicate anywhere in the Arab world. This is false.
Nobody anywhere speaks MSA as a native language.
Most Arabs will understand you if you speak MSA but you almost certainly will not understand them when they speak. Many students make the mistake of studying MSA for years, and then when they travel to the Middle East, they struggle to have even the most basic conversations with native speakers.
Why? Because they've learned a language that nobody speaks.
If you want to really connect with and understand people then you need to learn a spoken variety of Arabic.
Read more about MSA vs dialects here.
Usually, these products are marketed to promote the idea that MSA will enable you to freely communicate anywhere in the Arab world. This is false.
Nobody anywhere speaks MSA as a native language.
Most Arabs will understand you if you speak MSA but you almost certainly will not understand them when they speak. Many students make the mistake of studying MSA for years, and then when they travel to the Middle East, they struggle to have even the most basic conversations with native speakers.
Why? Because they've learned a language that nobody speaks.
If you want to really connect with and understand people then you need to learn a spoken variety of Arabic.
Read more about MSA vs dialects here.
Updated on: 12/06/2020
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