Spoken Lebanese

Rating:
Summary: Spoken Lebanese
Review: Dr. Feghali's book is definitely not for one who knows nothing about the language. The lessons are poorly structured--they include dialogue in Lebanese with no translation and words that had not been taught in any previous lessons. I found the book difficult and frustrating. I know some Lebanese and I could not handle the book. I am also a teacher and I would never recommend this book as a teaching instrument.

Rating:
Summary: Almost There
Review: I am a Lebanese-American who did NOT grow up speaking Arabic. I was so pleased to find Spoken Lebanese because I really wanted to be able to say a few words to my Lebanese friends. The contents of this book are excellent. There are so many wonderful expression in Arabic that we don't have in English ie. what to say to someone when they return home from a trip, expressions of sympathy or congratulations. The only problem is that the tape contains NO ENGLISH and the dialogs in the book are not translated line for line in English. This makes it impossible to listen to the tapes in the car and know what you are saying. I also had a hard time figuring out what the dialogs in the book were saying. I hope that Dr. Feghali will go back to the drawing board and add the necessary English components to create a first class book. Until then, mine just sits on the shelf.

Rating:
Summary: Almost There
Review: I am a Lebanese-American who did NOT grow up speaking Arabic. I was so pleased to find Spoken Lebanese because I really wanted to be able to say a few words to my Lebanese friends. The contents of this book are excellent. There are so many wonderful expression in Arabic that we don't have in English ie. what to say to someone when they return home from a trip, expressions of sympathy or congratulations. The only problem is that the tape contains NO ENGLISH and the dialogs in the book are not translated line for line in English. This makes it impossible to listen to the tapes in the car and know what you are saying. I also had a hard time figuring out what the dialogs in the book were saying. I hope that Dr. Feghali will go back to the drawing board and add the necessary English components to create a first class book. Until then, mine just sits on the shelf.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: I used this in a UCLA class and found it very useful. The bad thing is that there is no alphabetical index of words, but if you learn everything in this book you will be able to speak a lot of Levantine arabic! It is all transliterated, there is no Arabic writing. The tape is also very helpful though they speak a bit too fast. I would still highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Spoken Lebanese
Review: This is an excellent book in that it is faithful to Lebanese phonology and syntax. It does not try to Arabize the Lebanese "dialect" in order to make it more acceptable to learners of "Arabic." However, I thought that an introduction to, and a use of LEBANESE script would have been more effective than using the various symbols the author has concocted.
The Lebanese language already has a script, which was developped in the 1950s by the Lebanese linguist and philosopher Said Akl. I think Dr. Feghali should have used it to facilitate the learners' aquisition of this beautiful and wonderfully athletic language (which, by the way, should NOT be referred to as an "Arabic dialect".
I don't know of any Frenchmen arguing that they speak a Latin dialect. Why should then the Lebanese, and the author of all people, denigrate their language and call it "Arabic".
I highly recommend this book, but I only wish it was written in Lebanese

Rating:
Summary: This is an excellent book in that it is faithful to Lebanese
Review: This is an excellent book in that it is faithful to Lebanese phonology and syntax. It does not try to Arabize the Lebanese "dialect" in order to make it more acceptable to learners of "Arabic." However, I thought that an introduction to, and a use of LEBANESE script would have been more effective than using the various symbols the author has concocted.
The Lebanese language already has a script, which was developped in the 1950s by the Lebanese linguist and philosopher Said Akl. I think Dr. Feghali should have used it to facilitate the learners' aquisition of this beautiful and wonderfully athletic language (which, by the way, should NOT be referred to as an "Arabic dialect".
I don't know of any Frenchmen arguing that they speak a Latin dialect. Why should then the Lebanese, and the author of all people, denigrate their language and call it "Arabic".
I highly recommend this book, but I only wish it was written in Lebanese