Heritage speaker (Jordanian) fluent but completely illiterate. How do I learn to read without harakat?
Hey everyone,
I’m looking for some advice on how to get past a massive wall I’ve hit with my Arabic.
A bit of background: I was born in Jordan to Arab parents but have lived most of my life in Portugal (went to Portuguese schools, now in uni here). I speak Levantine Arabic with my parents and extended family every single day. I literally think in the language. But I never actually learned how to read or write it.
A couple of years ago, I tried learning via Duolingo. I managed to learn the alphabet and read/write a few basic words, but I hit two huge roadblocks:
No Harakat: Whenever I try to read anything outside of an app (the news, WhatsApp messages, books, Twitter), there are no vowels.
Fusha vs. Ammiya: The MSA (Fusha) taught in apps or used in the news feels like a totally different language compared to the Jordanian Arabic I speak daily. Because the vocabulary is different, I can’t rely on my spoken knowledge to guess the unvoweled words through context.
I currently have free access to Duolingo Super, and Gemini Pro in case they’re helpful.
My questions for you all and specially to anyone who was in a similar situation are:
How did you actually make the jump to reading without harakat? What was your step-by-step process?
And what suggestions do you have for me