Making Out in Arabic

As stated in other reviews, this is in Modern Standard Arabic, not colloquial. MSA is almost always formal, used mostly in writing or instances where native dialects aren't always intelligible (For instance Iraqis have a hard time understanding Moroccans). Colloquial Arabic varies a lot from region to region, so a book of idioms for say Saudi Arabia would be less than fully usefull in Algeria. Another point is that while this book tries to be as gender-neutral as possible (Using 'ma ismuk' instead of 'ma ismuka' or 'ma ismuki'), there are some sentences where it is unavoidable. While you can at times guess the gender from the context, the book makes no statement as to the gender the sentence applies to, nor how to change it. Overall however, I enjoyed the book. The transliteration isn't too bad, and it gives the sentences in the Arabic script as well. It even has notes on which phrases are more insulting in Arabic than their English equivalents. At the very least it's great for breaking the tension in Arabic classes, or joking with your friends.

This is a small phrasebook, but the phrases listed are very modern and practical. The book is broken down into sections (What's Up, Basic Phrases, Got A Minute, Hey There, Look At That, Coming & Going, Eat Drink & Be Merry, I Like It, Curses & Insults, Party Talk, Getting Serious, Lovers Language, The Other Side) and has the English phrase, the phrase in Arabic, and the pronunciation. Some knowledge of Arabic language & pronunciation would be helpful, but not totally necessary. Overall a great book for only $8

While very far from an instruction-type foreign language book, this slim volume provides a useful and entertaining selection of colloquial phrases in Arabic. Sections include greetings, parties, cursing, arguing, dating, and sex. Some of the latter are quite explicit. Some of the phrases come with helpful notes on cultural standards regarding their usage. My only criticisms might be that the pronunciation guide is not very complete, and the grammar notes at the beginning are too brief.