Spoken Arabic vs Classical Arabic

If you have an interest in learning the Arabic language, it is important to educate yourself first and learn the difference between Spoken Arabic and other variations of Arabic. It’s paramount that you don’t end up learning something that is seldom used in the Middle East. This will discourage your learning and can cause you to give up the language, assuming that Arabic is impossible to learn.

The Classic Scenario for Learning Arabic

When a student wants to study Arabic, the classic scenario is that they google ” Arabic courses” and then sign up for a course unaware of the fact that they are going to study a language that is not practically used in the Middle East. They think that studying the Arabic language is the same as studying French, Spanish or Russian, it is not Habibi. That is why it is import for you to educate yourself about the different varieties of the Arabic language that exist.

Let’s get started

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We have following variations of the Arabic language
Classical Arabic, MSA, Media Arabic and Colloquial spoken Arabic.

Classical Arabic is only used in a written form, you see it in books, poetry and Quranic Studies.
MSA ( Modern Standard Arabic ) Mostly used in a written form e.g. in short stories, novels, magazines, newspapers and in formal situations. Let’s say you are a politician and you want to give a speech, then you do it in formal Arabic ( MSA)

Media Arabic is anything related to Newspapers, Policies, business and commercial events.
Mostly is used in a written form but it can be used in speaking when you want to talk about topics regards Politics, business, and social issues then you borrow the specialised vocabulary related the specific topic you want to talk about and you integrate into your conversation.

Colloquial spoken Arabic.

Colloquial spoken Arabic is the language we use to communicate with each other on a daily bases – we don’t use classical Arabic or MSA we to buy something from the grocery store. An analogy is trying to buy your groceries in Shakespearean English. While they are likely to understand you they will also find it incredibly funny and strange.
For conversations in the Middle East we only use Colloquial spoken Arabic to talk to our friends, to socialise with others and manage the day to a daily life situation.