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Keamien

So, I am studying Arabic right?

Ana Aheb Liluga Al Arabiya.

And I was wondering if any of you have any advice on this language, or any advice on learning languages in general. I am not worried about grammar as much as the job I will be using this for will be mainly speaking. I just want to expand my vocabulary as quickly as possible.

Dark Moon

The best way to increase your vocabulary in any language is to read books written in that language. Lots of books. This also has the handy effect of drastically improving your grammar, as the grammar in books tends to be technically very good, whereas the spoken version of a language (when not speaking to an instructor) will usually use more casual grammar.

But yes, to reiterate: read lots!

Nibble

I find grammar to be fairly important for speaking....

Will you have any opportunities to live in an Arabic-speaking community? Doing so (and actively conversing with the locals) will improve your speaking ability by leaps and bounds.

TaGuelle

Have you made a decision to learn a dialect yet or will you just be doing standard Arabic. They're similar but not that same so I would think about that. I would imagine you'd be doing standard though. Standard reply, listen to music, go to movie, read newspapers, children's books. When you learn a new word, attempt to take that word and form three new sentences with it on the spot. Change up its place in the sentence. Doing that accesses a different part of the brain than just straight memorization and will be more effectively remembered.

Keamien

As far as dialects go, I'm sticking with MSA, because that is what is tested by the government. Which subsequently will decide the kind of employment opportunities I have in the future. (I know, boo hiss, I work for the government. Boo hiss, let's move on.) The school I am going to is essentially an immersion into Arabic for 9 hours a day. After I am versed enough in MSA I'll focus on learning the other dialects. I was exposed to Iraqi for a year and learned a few phrases and imperatives, but when I got to this school, only the numbers carried over. Essentially all I learned was how to pronounce some of the more complicated sounds.

As far as grammar goes, I am somewhat (Somewhat!) obsessed with grammar in the first place, and if I dive into Arabic's grammar I feel like I will end up focusing less on actual vocabulary and speaking skills.

Also, does Arabic have any fun word play? Like alliteration, rhyming, "tom swifts," and things of that nature?

TaGuelle

Yeah, it has a lot of that. It has a lot of poetry, a lot of jokes, a lot of word play, and a lot of openness. It's a pretty cool language if you can pronounce it, get over the vso, and get into the 3 letter stem thing.