Formal Spoken Arabic: Basic Course

I completely agree with the other reviewers. Formal Spoken Arabic is one of the few books I go back to again and again, along with any book by Shukri B. Abed and Munther Younes (Cornell). If you can get your hands on the Second Edition (2005 - ISBN 978 1 58901 060 4), then do so. It contains a CD with MP3 files of the audio of all conversations and vocabulary. Many of the other and better known textbooks, particularly of Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), are enough to drive any budding language enthusiast crazy. Thankfully, Ryding's book is mostly in Arabic script, and this is exactly what you need as a student of the language. Don't buy books written in transliteration as they aren't what you need and you'll bin them in minutes. I couldn't recommend Formal Standard Arabic more highly. Now go buy it!

I agree with Michael Akard. This is one of the few books that contains dialogue and vocabulary that is useful to a student who wants to work in the Levant. Its combination of standard dippo language with practical vocab for use in ordinary life is miles ahead of other books. Having bought practically everything I can to enhance my Arabic skills, I picked this up and would envy any student who gets to work from this book (with a teacher) as opposed to the opaque linguistic didacticism of the orange MSA books. Assuming you are working with a teacher (and especially if one on one or small class) and you want to work in Jordan or Syria, etc, I would highly recommend this book. I am disappointed that this wasn't followed by intermediate and advanced texts - and that Ryding's later books use english phoneticization instead of arabic text. (For an intermediate student, English phonetics just slow you down and are a turn off). The other book that I would recommend is the State Department course on Saudi Urban Hijazi, for the same reasons: vocab you hear and can use (in KSA).

This rare volume presents conversational usage via Arabic orthography. It is very useful; in fact, it is the only book I've seen which uses primarily Arabic medium (rather than English) to give the reader easy, accessible, engaging subject material. Admittedly, the boring blue cover and complete absence of illustrations gives it a rather dry appearance, but it was a pleasure to use, and I heartily recommend it. Best with tapes.