Why You Should Study Levantine Arabic
When you hear people talk about “the Levant”, what they’re really talking about is the historically geographical area of the Middle East that includes the modern-day Arabic speaking countries of Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria. The main language spoken by the inhabitants of these countries is the dialect known as Levantine Arabic, the subject of today’s article where we will talk about the many reasons why studying the Levantine dialect of the Arabic might be the right choice for you.
More than a thousand years ago, the Levant region was one of the busiest areas for trade in the world. This brought people from places far and wide including Africa, Europe and the Far East to do business. With all of these people doing trade and mixing with the locals, a new Arab dialect known as Levantine Arabic began to emerge throughout the region. Over the next millennium, from the influence of this language rose great works of poetry and fiction which are still praised and admired by Arabic scholars today for the beautiful Arabic language they were written in.
With hugely impressive numbers of imports and exports being shipped in and shipped out of the region on a daily basis, the Eastern Mediterranean regioncontinues to be an important business hub to this day. This means if you’re a young business major or entrepreneur looking to do business in the region, wanting to learn Arabic language skills in Levantine Arabic should be high on the list languagesthat you should add to your toolbox of languages.
Doing business is not the only reason this most unique of theArabic dialects, however. The Middle East has been a hotbed of international controversy over the last couple of decades. With the recent international attention on Syria, diplomacy is another reason to learn Levantine Arabic. Throughout the region and around the world translators are badly needed to aid countries that are accepting Syrian refugees by helping them acclimate themselves to their new cultures.
A few of you might have already started to learn Modern Standard Arabic and that’s okay because most people find that Levantine Arabic is much easier to learn afterwards. This is due to two main reasons: First, because Levantine Arabic is mostly a spoken language, learning it after you’ve learned MSA is often simply a matter of adjusting your vocabulary and adopting the Levantine accent.
Second, after learning Arabic writing in MSA, learning to write in Levantine dialect will seem to be easy to learn because Levantine Arabic is written almost the same way as its MSA cousin. Furthermore, since most business and government transactions in the region are carried out in the written form of MSA but spoken in the dialect of Levantine Arabic, knowing how to write in MSA and speak in Levantine Arabic could be very practical.
Even for those who haven’t previously learned Arabic but are looking into studying the language,Levantine is clear and easy to use because of its clear diction and understandable grammar.So, if you’re planning on visiting, living and working in any of these countries, or just one of those who like to learn languages, this unique dialect that is both useful and beautiful is a great place to start or enhances your Arabic language learning skills.
Do you want to know the best way to learn Arabic in the Levantine dialect? Well, in the modern technological world, you can learn Arabic at the touch of your fingertips on your mobile phone with the Kaleela Arabic language learning app – the leader in Arabic language learning apps. Whether you want to learn Egyptian Arabic, Levantine Arabic, or Modern Standard Arabic, Kaleela teaches you all the Arabic you’ll ever need.Download it to your IOS or Android mobile device today from kaleela.com.
