Showing posts with label you. Show all posts
Showing posts with label you. Show all posts
Saturday, February 28, 2015
Do You Want To Learn Arabic
- ArabicPod
- Madinah Arabic
- Learn Arabic (speak7)
- Babel - Arabic
- Arabic.org
Arabic is the mother tongue to over 225 million people in Africa and Asia, and there are as many as 246 million non-native speakers (source). Arabic is spoken throughout the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Mauritania, and Chad. In short, learning a bit of Arabic makes whole lot of sense, whether you are doing it for religious, social or business purposes.
LEARN ARABIC FOR FREE?
Here are five (5) learning spaces to get you started:
Whether you are 10 or 72 years-old, I suppose you might find one of these four learning opportunities a useful starting point to learn the basics in Arabic. I like the variety of approaches each initiative has taken to facilitate learning. Some people might want to learn through learning conversations (e.g. ArabicPod), while others might want to learn efficiently in a book-style format with audio support (e.g. Madinah Arabic). Either way, these five learning initiatives provides us with different approaches to satisfy different learning styles. Why not use all four to get us started?
Finally, click here if you want to learn Arabic in less than 9-minutes (video). WOW!
Do you have any better suggestions to learn Arabic online for free? I am still a beginner :)
LEARN ARABIC FOR FREE?
Here are five (5) learning spaces to get you started:
- ArabicPodThis website created by Mohamed Moshaya and Ehab Saleh is dedicated to providing innovative and effective methods for learning Arabic. They use web 2.0 technologies such as podcasts, videos, games, etc. to provide a rich learning experience. Although, they only launched recently (March 2008), their free online lessons have been downloaded more than a million times. You will really enjoy their podcasts, which involves two guys having an engaging chat while learning Arabic (Thumbs up!). I also like that one can rate and provide comments to each podcast, which again facilitates learning conversations and continuous improvement. All of their audio podcasts can be freely listened to and downloaded. For most of the other content, there is a subscription fee which is setup to cover the costs of running the website. I hope that some noble investor will come in soon to cover the costs, so that we all can enjoy the rest for free.
- Madinah Arabic
This free site has been designed to teach the Arabic language inspired by one of the most popular courses being used today - the Madinah Book Series by Dr. V. Abdur Rahim which is used by Madinah University to teach English speaking students the Arabic language. This course will eventually contain (under development) everything an individual needs to learn the Arabic Language (Classical and Modern Standard) from complete beginner to advanced level. If you prefer a straight-to-the-point kind of course (efficient learning!), you have found it right here. I dont mind that the audio provided is being chunked to phrases and words, but it would be wonderful if we could also download the full lesson in one MP3 file (conveniently access lessons on our IPods and Mp3 players). But, besides that it is a splendid and noble initiative.
- Babel - ArabicThis is an online course in Arabic. It teaches you basic sentences, how to write, how to count and introduces Arabic grammar. All with sounds! This course will teach you about 400 of the most common words in Arabic. All lessons are the product of cooperation between an Arab native and a non-Arab who have managed to learn the language.
- Learn Arabic (speak7)
Learn Arabic for free, their lessons are available to anyone who wants to speak Arabic, from grammar, vocabulary, expressions, phrases and more. - Arabic.org
Here you can learn the basics in Arabic language, and they also offer professional Arabic translation and calligraphy services. Interestingly, this Arabic owned small firm is located in New York City (of all places). They want to create an online site devoted to Arabic. It will be interesting to see how this evolves. They should also consider offering Arabic courses on ITunes (free and commercial versions).
Whether you are 10 or 72 years-old, I suppose you might find one of these four learning opportunities a useful starting point to learn the basics in Arabic. I like the variety of approaches each initiative has taken to facilitate learning. Some people might want to learn through learning conversations (e.g. ArabicPod), while others might want to learn efficiently in a book-style format with audio support (e.g. Madinah Arabic). Either way, these five learning initiatives provides us with different approaches to satisfy different learning styles. Why not use all four to get us started?
Finally, click here if you want to learn Arabic in less than 9-minutes (video). WOW!
Do you have any better suggestions to learn Arabic online for free? I am still a beginner :)
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
In case you missed it the epic 2011 Crossfit Games
A week ago, I listed 5 reasons why everyone should watch the Crossfit Games. I hope you listened, because what went down July 29 - 31 in Carson, CA was nothing short of spectacular. I was catching glimpses and recaps even while I was up all night at a hackday and watched all the final days events live. I dont watch sports much these days - a topic for another blog post - but this was one of the best sporting events Ive seen in a long time. If you missed it, here is a recap of some of my favorite moments.
Swimming, beach running
Crossfit is all about training for the "unknown and unknowable" and this year, they really meant it. Every kind of exercise was on the table. For the first time ever, we even got swimming. And not just any swimming, but ocean swimming in the very first workout. This Beach Workout also included running on soft sand, pull-ups, push-ups and squats. Not surprisingly, a Navy SEAL came in first on this event.
Softball, gymnastics
The first day continued with a skills test. This included an L sit hold for time, a handstand walk for distance and, my personal favorite, a softball throw for distance. In the past, Crossfit has taken flak for being too focused on pure work: how far can you run, how many reps can you crank out, how much weight can you lift. Testing these skill movements helps separate the true all-around athletes from the guys that are just workhorses.
Rope climbs, redemption
Day 1 concluded with a workout that included rope climbing and cleans. This is standard fare for Crossfit, but if you watched the Crossfit Games in 2010, you may remember Rich Froning Jr. losing his grip on 1st place when he couldnt climb the ropes in the final workout. After a full year to work on this weakness, he came back this year and absolutely crushed the rope climbs at the end of day 1 for some beautiful redemption.
Monkey bars, biking
The variety continued on day 2 with the Killer Kage workout. This combined front squats, riding a watt bike (another first for the games) and a 100 foot monkey bar course. You dont often get to see full grown men racing each other across monkey bars, but believe me, the ending of this video will have you on the edge of your seat.
Sled push, sled pull
The dog sled made a huge and unexpected presence in the final day of the Games. In the morning, the Dog-Sled workout required the athletes to push a ~450lb sled across the stadium. If seeing the Games smallest male competitor, 150lb Chris Spealler, take this beast on doesnt get you out of your seat, nothing will.
The final workout of the day concluded with the athletes picking up a rope and doing a sled pull. It provided a wonderfully visual way of knowing who was in the lead. Pat Barber got the whole stadium to its feet when he managed to find just the right technique for it.
2nd place 2010, 1st place 2011
There is something beautiful and poetic in the 2010 Crossfit Games runners up becoming the 2011 Crossfit Games champions. Congrats to Rich Froning Jr. and Annie Thorisdottir, the two fittest people on the planet.
Read more »
Swimming, beach running
Crossfit is all about training for the "unknown and unknowable" and this year, they really meant it. Every kind of exercise was on the table. For the first time ever, we even got swimming. And not just any swimming, but ocean swimming in the very first workout. This Beach Workout also included running on soft sand, pull-ups, push-ups and squats. Not surprisingly, a Navy SEAL came in first on this event.
Softball, gymnastics
The first day continued with a skills test. This included an L sit hold for time, a handstand walk for distance and, my personal favorite, a softball throw for distance. In the past, Crossfit has taken flak for being too focused on pure work: how far can you run, how many reps can you crank out, how much weight can you lift. Testing these skill movements helps separate the true all-around athletes from the guys that are just workhorses.
Rope climbs, redemption
Day 1 concluded with a workout that included rope climbing and cleans. This is standard fare for Crossfit, but if you watched the Crossfit Games in 2010, you may remember Rich Froning Jr. losing his grip on 1st place when he couldnt climb the ropes in the final workout. After a full year to work on this weakness, he came back this year and absolutely crushed the rope climbs at the end of day 1 for some beautiful redemption.
Monkey bars, biking
The variety continued on day 2 with the Killer Kage workout. This combined front squats, riding a watt bike (another first for the games) and a 100 foot monkey bar course. You dont often get to see full grown men racing each other across monkey bars, but believe me, the ending of this video will have you on the edge of your seat.
Sled push, sled pull
The dog sled made a huge and unexpected presence in the final day of the Games. In the morning, the Dog-Sled workout required the athletes to push a ~450lb sled across the stadium. If seeing the Games smallest male competitor, 150lb Chris Spealler, take this beast on doesnt get you out of your seat, nothing will.
The final workout of the day concluded with the athletes picking up a rope and doing a sled pull. It provided a wonderfully visual way of knowing who was in the lead. Pat Barber got the whole stadium to its feet when he managed to find just the right technique for it.
2nd place 2010, 1st place 2011
There is something beautiful and poetic in the 2010 Crossfit Games runners up becoming the 2011 Crossfit Games champions. Congrats to Rich Froning Jr. and Annie Thorisdottir, the two fittest people on the planet.
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