There are thousands of articles that claim how fast and easy it is to learn a new language. With their latest method endorsed by the best influencers, they promise you that you will be fluent in three months. Let me tell you one thing: these are all lies. You cannot cheat the system… But you can hack it. Of course, I do not have the ultimate recipe, but I will give you some tips that I have tried and tested over the last few years. They still work for me today and hopefully, they will benefit many of you too.
The need for hacking
Utter confusion was what I felt when I started learning Arabic a few years ago. I had to organise it outside of school and its associated structure, and I soon found out that I had to learn not one but two types of Arabic: classical Arabic to understand the news, and a dialect to communicate with people. With a busy working life taking place outside of Arabic-speaking countries, I needed to artificially increase my exposure to the language. I have had to look for different ways to hack my environment, my habits. I am using the term “hack” purposefully: hacking means exploiting a weakness in a system, cheating my own nature not to get distracted or discouraged along the way. Because human beings are weak. I am weak. And I am afraid to say, so are you.
The fundamental 3 Ds
To start this hackathon, you need what I have come to call the “fundamental 3 Ds”: Drive: this is the fire in you, stemming from passion. It often pushed me to make some rather asocial choices, such as dedicating my evening to a study session instead of a night out with friends.
Discipline: just like when learning to play an instrument, or training for a race, results and mastery come with daily practice. Without that, you are bound to remain an amateur for a very long time.
Direction: identifying and keeping in mind the reason(s) why you are learning a specific language will help you tailor how much you invest in it, time- or moneywise. It will also act as a wake-up call when laziness knocks on your door.
7 little hacks
Most of the following hacks will work for any other language you might be learning. Try them and use them as much as you like!
Hack 1: Learn online.
This was not my first choice, as I feared that a purely virtual environment would not be engaging enough. But a flexible learning schedule, no commuting time and personalised learning content ended up convincing me. I chose my private tutors and booked classes ahead of time, according to our common availabilities. And it turns out that if you connect with your teacher, the distance is no issue and you actually really look forward to your classes — and do the homework.
Hack 2: Listen anywhere, anytime.
I made a habit of listening to the news in the morning. Not only do I hear new words, but I actually end up learning something new as some content does not feature on European news. I also downloaded a few podcasts on my phone and made playlists of Arabic songs of all style so that I would always have something to listen to depending on my mood. And as was recommended to me, I try to listen to Fairuz in the morning and Sabah in the evening!
Hack 3: A silicon keyboard for laptops.
After trying individual stickers for each key of my laptop, then displaying an Arabic keyboard that would take a quarter of my screen, I came across this genius invention of a “layer” silicon keyboard that you can place on your keyboard and remove as needed. This way, you save time and there is no excuse not to type in Arabic.
الزراعة تسد الجوع، والصناعة توفر الاحتیاجات. لكن التعلم یزرع ویصنع وطنا." - جلال عامر" "Agriculture fills hunger and industry provides needs. But learning sows and makes a home." - Galal Amer
Hack 4: Read aloud.
Most Arabic words are built around consonants: in their writing form, they will miss at least one of what we call “vowels”. Unless you are fully familiar with its grammatical structure, you will need to know a particular word beforehand in order to pronounce it correctly. Reading a dialogue, a news article or even an ad aloud has a double effect: it improves your reading speed and helps you identify the words or sounds you still stumble upon. Bonus: you can even try accents!
Hack 5: Use and abuse of YouTube.
It is worth spending some time looking for and watching channels with quality content. You will find videos in both classical Arabic (the news or documentaries) and regional dialects (TV shows or vlogs). For some of them, you might even have the luxury of subtitles: TEDx conferences, for instance, are invaluable.
Hack 6: Hack your phone.
Knowing that would use it every day, I set the default language to Arabic. Numbers too. This sometimes proved painful, especially when I was still confusing number seven and eight, or when looking for a setting in a hurry. But overall, it has forced my brain to learn and remember the main functions. It also puzzled quite a few people around me, triggering interesting conversations.
Hack 7: Hack Instagram.
Following the above logic, I gradually customised it to my needs. I selected “display less of” some accounts and started following Arabic content: quotes, poems, funny captions, and my very own influencers. My curiosity pushes me to read their posts. And I am also tempted to ask: when will Instagram’s marketing team show ads in Arabic on my feed, making them useful at last?!
Final words
I hope these hacks will help you make progress in your learning curve while enjoying each step of the way. Learning a language is a beautiful journey that is worth embarking on. You know who you are when you start, but gradually, your mind opens to another culture, experiences another mindset and apprehends other ways to see the world. Languages evolve constantly, new literature emerges, new songs are written and this makes me wonder whether we will ever reach our destination. But do we actually want to?
Resources:
Online language learning platform with teachers: italki, Verbling, HelloTalk
Radio app on smartphone: TuneIn
YouTube channels: A funny TedX with Arabic subtitles, BBC Arabic live, AJ+
Podcasts: Dom Tak, Money Today, 2019 ranking
Instagram accounts and influencers: @arabicwords_0, @haltaalam, @bbcarabic, @royanews, @queenrania, @nadinelabaki, @reemnadar