While I was home in the States, I would try to study Arabic here and there. I even bought the Medina University Arabic Textbooks in a futile attempt to teach myself Arabic, they caught dust on my bookshelf for a very long time. The only successful study of Arabic was actually through trying to memorize passages of the Quran where I would be forced to listen and break down the words to forge connections in my mind with the rhythm and meanings of the verses. Other than this, my time was never productive in trying to learn Arabic. In the back of my mind I felt that I wouldn’t ever acheive much by self-study or without proper books, teachers and most importantly focus.

Half of this is correct. I didn’t benefit because of lack of focus, however, vocabulary is something that I could have easily picked up. This isn’t regret, but rather if you find yourself in a similar circumstance, don’t wait until you are in an Arabic study program to learn simple vocabulary. Make flash cards or learn a couple new words each day. They will add up and it will give you alot of background. There will still be plenty of vocabulary waiting for you on the other side, but you’ll be ready for it because you’ve already built up some.

 Another thing that I’ve learned here is that bad study habits don’t magically turn into good study habits in another country. They stay bad study habits. So instead of hoping you’ll suddenly be a good student when you’re learning a very difficult new language, start by being a good student AND having good study habits in other subjects. Implement as many studying techniques as you can, and find out what are the most effective techniques for you. When you know these, you’ll be able to get down to study Arabic 3ala tool (right away).

Bad habit: blogging the night before an exam