Explain expressions & develop ideas

Go beyond a literal translation. Discuss cultural practices, explain proverbs in context and develop your own ideas through connected paragraphs and conditional sentences.

Connect a condition with its result.

إِنْ تَأَخَّرْتَ فَسَأَنْتَظِرُكَ.If you are late, I will wait for you.

This result begins with a future expression, so it is linked with fa-. You study how the two parts of a conditional sentence fit together.

A glimpse of what you’ll learn

What you’ll study.

Illustrative scene of four men talking around a shared meal

Compare customs and explain an experience

Discuss customs and cultural situations, and connect familiar social expressions with an appropriate occasion and response.
Read a personal account of learning Arabic and discuss motivations, difficulties and the influence of a teacher.
Explain selected lines of poetry in your own words, using vocabulary and context to understand the message.
Develop an essay from an outline, covering reasons to learn languages, examples, your own experience and advice for beginners.

Illustrative scene of three men reading and discussing a text

Understand what an expression means in context

Explore the difference between a proverb and a saying, including the story behind an expression and when it is used.
Match spoken situations to suitable proverbs, explain their meaning and compare them with expressions you know.
Use context to separate literal wording from the intended meaning, and discuss whether you agree with the idea expressed.
Write situations that illustrate proverbs and continue a dialogue with solutions, reactions and appropriate expressions.

صَرْفٌ

Ṣarf · word forms

Form nouns for times, places and instruments by recognizing their patterns.
Review verbal nouns and derived forms, distinguishing basic from augmented verbs.

نَحْوٌ

Naḥw · sentence structure

Expand descriptions using adjectives, phrases and clauses.
Use sentence complements to explain purpose, time, place or how an action is carried out.
Build conditional sentences and learn when to introduce the result with the linking fāʾ (fa-).

By the end of ARB 112,
you should be able to…

Speaking

Explain experiences and expressions in context

Discuss cultural situations and language-learning experiences with specific examples. Explain a familiar proverb, describe when it fits, compare it with an expression you know and give reasons for agreeing or disagreeing with its message.

Listening

Choose a response that fits the situation

Recognize familiar social expressions and connect them with an appropriate response. Match a spoken situation to a proverb, then explain which details in the situation make that expression suitable.

Reading

Understand personal accounts and figurative meaning

Follow an account of learning Arabic and identify the experiences that shaped it. Read about proverbs and sayings, distinguish an expression’s original story from its later use, and explain its meaning using the surrounding context.

Writing

Develop an explanation with examples

Paraphrase selected poetry and use an outline to write about language learning, supporting your ideas with reasons and experience. Write situations or a continued dialogue using proverbs, then review the connections, conditional forms and language.

← ARB 111Retell events & explain an issue ARB 113 →Present research & support a view

Your starting point and next step.

Before this level

Retell events, discuss a familiar issue with reasons, and organize several paragraphs using linking expressions.

Find your starting level

How your progress is reviewed

Your work across the level shows how well you can interpret a text, explain your view in discussion and develop an argument in writing.

Your sessions and level reviews

Your learning materials

Reading materials, audio and video, interactive exercises, and vocabulary flashcards.

Wondering where to start with Arabic?

Talk through your goals, your starting level and how live classes could fit into your week.

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