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Aymeric wrote:
Thanks for this very interesting lesson!

I would just like to point out 2 typos I found in the PDF transcript :
-2enahu yas2aluh 3an asraruh. (should be asrarih)
-An6’ur ela thalik al-9aby al-waqef amamah (should be Un6'ur, and this typo was repeated in the vocabulary list at the end of the lesson).

Another thing : I noticed you systematically omitted the translation of the personal pronoun ه
This could be pretty confusing for those who don't know what it stands for, so :
-Do you hear the sound of the waves? (should be ITS waves)
-And the sea is answering (should be answering HIM).

One last thing : I would humbly advise the authors to prepare their grammar explanations more before the recording so as to present them in a clear way to the students, because some parts were not very clear (like the explanation about "a'tasma3" which was very accurate but a little confusing).

I hope I'm not sounding too critical, you're doing an amazing job, I really love this website, and I wish it to be the best of all!

Hi Aymeric,

Thanks for pointing out the typos in the transcript. We have updated the transcript accordingly to reflect the correct pronunciation. Also, thanks for the constructive criticism; we love to hear our listener’s thoughts and opinions on the show.

Usually when we translate we use the idiomatic translation and not the literal translation.

Preparing the grammar explanations beforehand might be a good idea. We will try it out the next time we record a lesson. At the moment, we sit in front of the microphone and go through the transcript without any pre-discussion. It’s a go with the flow kind of thing because that’s what we wanted it to be, more of a discussion than a teacher to tutor lesson. Nevertheless preparing the grammar explanations beforehand will probably make the explanations much clearer in the lesson, so we’ll try it out.

Keep it up and hope to see you in the forums!

Tomes wrote:
Great idea to do a song, I've been looking forward to this for a long time. I agree with Aymeric, I would classify my self as an intermediate student, and more complicated grammar structures should not be shied away from. I realize as teachers though you need to try to simplify very complicated ideas for everyone to learn. But that should be where the intermediate and advanced classifications come along and thus warn students that some things will require more than just these lessons to understand but hours of personal study and reading of grammar books. But, I am thoroughly impressed with your efforts! If you would like to see a great example of teaching a foreign language via pod casts check out a beginner lesson of Japanesepod101, they do a tremendous job as well. They also have about 2 years experience and have vast improvements in their presentation, of course they also get paid, so we understand your limitations and constraints. Keep up the good work you're building a wonderful Arabic community!

Hi Tomes, Thanks for your input. I and Ehab will definitely sit down together before we record our next lesson and look at how we do the grammar explanations. It has been a bit hectic lately because we have both moved to London for work. I have heard of Japanesepod101, We’ll listen to some of their lessons and see if can get ideas from their podcasts to improve our own.

We have started this project with absolutely 0 experiences and overtime we improve by learning from our mistakes and gaining more experience. Your feedback is valuable in helping us to improve, so many thanks

Mubashir Anwar wrote:
Assalaam 3alykum guys,

I came across this podcast last night and haven\'t been able to stop listening to the lessons since then. I understand that it\'s not that easy to keep this up while you are students and/or working, and you guys are doing an excellent job! Keep it up.

-Mubashir

Henda wrote:
Marhaba Teachers,

I've been looking for this song on the forum, but didn't find it :o/

Can you help me ?

Thanks again for your work

Henda

Wa 3laikum alsalam Mubashir,
We’re glad you found us It’s not easy indeed to really work on arabicpod and keep it running when I’m working full time and ehab is currently working as well for his placement, but with all the good feedback we’re getting, we can’t let this site go. Thanks for your comment.

The song is in the forum now, Thanks Henda for reminding us

Henda;
My mistake,, I wanted to add it today but Mohamed did before me,, thanks Moshaya,, my apologies
Salam
Ehab

Ibrahim wrote:
Barakallahu feekum for the site!

Did the song "The Boy and the Sea" come from an album? If so, which one?
Do you guys know of any other songs that only have the duff\daf\tar in the background, and no other instruments.

THANKS!

Ibrahim

Salam Ibrahim;
Wa barak Allah feek,, and thanks for you wishes.
The album is called Al6eflo wal ba7ar (الطفل و البحر). About songs with duf only,, there are loaaaaads of them, see: www.islamway.com/?iw_s=Nasheed&iw_a=tapes (You need to know basic Arabic to browse that site)
Good luck a7\'i wassalam
Ehab

Great lesson!

I have some trouble however matching the transcript to what I'm hearing in the song.

Could it be that instead of 'hadha-l-baHru yamtad Hattaa..', they're actually saying 'hadha-l-baHru mumtaddu Hattaa..'? Sometimes I'm even hearing 'hadha-l-baHru-l-mumtaddu Hattaa..', which would seem to change the meaning even more...

It is really challenging to pick the lyrics of a song, so don't be disappointed. Many words are fused together, just you need to practice hearing the song more and more and you'll get used to it