persian and arabic?

[midwest85]

Hello

Comments

[sollersuk]

In theory it shouldn't be more difficult than learning two very different languages that use the Roman alphabet (say, Polish and Welsh). In practice, unless the sounds are exactly the same, since you'll be using a completely different alphabet system you may have problems.

[qalanjo]

That's doable, I think putting an equal amount of effort and spending an equal amount of time on both will help you to not mix them up as much.

[wiped]

it is certainly doable, but can be confusing and more difficult than studying just one at a time. there is a large number of false friends between the two languages, such as هندسه ("engineering" in arabic, but "geometry" in persian) that can confuse you, and it can be hard for beginners to remember that many of the letters represent different sounds as well-- thus قاضی "judge" is pronounced roughly [qæ:dˤi] (qadhi) in standard arabic and [ɣɒzi] (ghaazi) in persian

thanks

[wiped]

thanks everyone for the advice/encouragement

Re: thanks

[wiped]

french is definitely important (and german can be helpful too) for MES. speaking or writing french is not at all necessary, you just need to be able to read, so if you can already do that, then you're set. my field is iranian literature, specifically the relationship between poetry and the state in the persianate world. but i'm personally also interested in contemporary history and politics of the region, so i've studied a few other relevant languages as well.