Another site that I have found very useful is http://www.arabicmusictranslation.com/, which has lyrics to songs in Arabic, with translations to English.

Songs include different types of phrases, some that are used in day-to-day speech. Many of the songs are also sung in a dialect (often Egyptian colloquial). For example, the phrase ايه يعني (aaya ya’ni) which translates as “so what?” in English.

The person behind the Arabic lyrics site recently started a second web site, http://egyptianarabiccourse.blogspot.com/ where he focuses on the Egyptian colloquial dialect with examples from song and more detailed explanations of the lyrics. This looks very useful, since colloquial is the day-to-day spoken language and is essential to learn these types of phrases.

Along with learning Arabic grammar, it is very important to build one’s vocabulary. It helps to focus on learning words associated with particular topic areas and be able to converse or comprehend about that topic. It is not practical to learn so many topic areas at once, but focusing this way works. One tool to help me learn is a workbook called Build Your Arabic Vocabulary which is by Haroon Shirwani. The vocabulary words are broken down by topic area, starting from greetings. There is also a CD that might come with the book, depending on which edition you get. I now know most of the greetings and basic phrases. The next section is “House and home”, which I mostly know. I have also put time into learning the “food” vocabulary, which I think is crucial for being able to travel and order from menus.