To the Student أçنا èسçنا إنé انجزء انثاوê هو سنسنة کانمتاب لê تظنه انظربêةŒ، You will notice that the structure and focus of Book Two differ from those of Book One in several respects: 1. The basic texts of Book Two come from printed rather than audiovisual media. This change in media will affect the way you approach each lesson. In particular, you need to pay greater attention to the relationship between the written and aural/oral aspects of language. In Part One, the story was presented orally, so you did not need to think about pronunciation other than to listen and imitate, and you could concentrate on comprehension. Now, you must not only read for comprehension, but also pay much more attention to the grammar, and drill yourself on pronunciation. The vocabulary and the basic text have been recorded for you on the audiotape and you should listen to them several times. In addition, practice reading the texts aloud on your own until you can read them smoothly. 2. Book Two focuses on reading skills. A great deal of each lesson consists of preparation for reading by building vocabulary and setting the context, as well as questions that revolve around the content and form of the reading itself. The questions are designed to guide you through various levels of comprehension, from very general meaning to the detailed. It is important that you complete the first reading without stopping and without looking up words either in the vocabulary list or in the dictionary. On the first reading we expect you to understand only the main ideas presented. Go back and review vocabulary before doing the second reading, but again, do not interrupt yourself once you have started. Your comprehension will improve with each reading even without looking up words, and you must develop this skill to become a fluent reader in Arabic. 3. A substantial amount of vocabulary is presented in each lesson. There are also more drills focused on vocabulary, and these precede the reading itself. The purpose of these drills is to help you learn the vocabulary before rather than during reading. Do not let the process of reading the text become one of flipping back and forth to the new vocabulary section. It is a natural part of the learning process to forget vocabulary and have to look it up again; however, do not stop your reading to look up words. Use the context of the text to help you remember, and look up words you have forgotten between readings. 4. You will notice that everything is longer in this book: the text, the sentences, the questions, the charts, and the drills. This length reflects your more advanced level of language proficiency and is designed to push you toward a new level of skill in reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Of course, these exercises demand more mental effort on your part than those in Book One; your reward for this increased effort will be increased proficiency in Arabic. Keep in mind that the intermediate level is perhaps the most tedious in learning any language. You must review constantly and pay more attention to detail, and things are not completely new and fresh like they were last year when you were seeing them for the first time. You can keep up your motivation by reading outside of class on your own, with and without a dictionary. You are ready to begin reading and listening to anything you like: explore your school's library or look for Arabic newspapers and magazines. Watch Arabic news broadcasts or listen to the radio where available. This exposure to زreal worldس Arabic will help you to maintain your interest and stay motivated, as well as reinforce what you learn in class. The following are a few strategies we believe will help you gain the most benefit from this textbook: 1. Before approaching the text and grammar of the lesson, study the vocabulary with the goal of knowing all of it before you begin reading. The cultural information, presented in Arabic as much as possible, will help you learn the vocabulary as well as prepare you for reading the texts. Personalize the vocabulary by using it to write on your own. Keep a journal, write stories, opinion pieces, or just sentences. Use as many verbs as you can and practice conjugating them in a context that is meaningful to you. 2. Read the texts at least two or three times. The exercises and questions on the main text of each lesson are designed to help you understand the text in detail and to review old grammar in new contexts. Your knowledge of Arabic grammar will improve if you go over the text after you have understood it with the help of these exercises. Make rereading the texts aloud part of your study; it will reinforce your speaking skills. You will want to make notes on the texts, but do not write English definitions on the text page, because if you do you will remember the English word and not the Arabic. 3. Pay attention to grammatical details, which are essential to both comprehension and production. The grammar presented in this book builds upon the grammar that was presented in Book One. Take time to review old grammar as necessary. The appendices in this book include a number of charts that summarize case endings, conjugations, and other reference charts that you may find useful. 4. Pay great attention to, and spend time practicing out loud, the أèزاو of both nouns and verbs. Identify the èزو of every new verb you learn. Practice using verbs of different أèزاو . Pair up verbs and nouns of the same èزو . This will help you to remember how to pronounce and spell words correctly, remember their meaning by associating it with form, and guess the meanings of new but related words thus increasing your passive vocabulary many times over. Last but not least, a substantial amount of the grammar presented in this book rests upon the foundation of انأèزاو ; the better you know them, the easier it will be to learn it. وتهوé نمه تجربة ههتظة èمن وجاح لê دراسة اننعة انظربêة، To the Teacher Nine chapters are included in this preliminary draft of Book Two of the series انمتاب لê تظنه انظربêة . The main structural departure of this book from Book One is an intensified focus on reading skills: whereas in Book One the texts were presented on video tape, in Book Two the basic texts are in print. These authentic texts come from journals, newspapers and books. The only substantial changes made in these texts has been to abbreviate longer texts to a manageable size. The guiding principles behind the structure of these materials are summarized in what follows. Goals The main goal we have set for the learner at this stage is to reach an advanced level of reading proficiency. In order to accomplish this goal, we have structured the materials to increase vocabulary, to refine and expand knowledge of sentence construction and the verb system in Arabic, including the relationship between انأèزاو , and to further develop reading skills such as guessing from context and utilizing textual and grammatical clues to get at meaning. These materials also aim to develop listening comprehension skills by strengthening the association between print and audio/video media, through listening exercises that demand comprehension and accuracy. The listening comprehension activities on the video tape are meant to be used for general comprehension and not for close listening: expect the students to answer the questions in the book, not to understand every word of these texts. Some of these listening passages may also form the basis for a cultural lesson or discussion. A third goal is to develop speaking skills in both formal and spoken Arabic. The intermediate level materials of this series consist of two parts: this FusHa-based reading-oriented book and a parallel متاب انهحادثة and accompanying video materials in spoken Egyptian Arabic which revolve around the Maha and Khalid story and include various scenes from the familyصs visit to Cairo. The workbook includes basic vocabulary, minimal explanations, and some oral drills based on common constructions or expressions. The two books are meant to parallel each other; however, either one may be used alone. The relationship of the two tracks is loosely based on topic: for example, Chapter One in each book revolves around travel, and Chapter Three around journalism and the print media. The colloquial materials are available for those who believe, as we do, that spoken Arabic is part and parcel of the Arabic language and has a place in the classroom, and that students benefit from exposure to spoken Arabic at all levels of proficiency. Structure The lessons are structured as follows: a list of vocabulary and structures that should be reviewed (in class or at home), new vocabulary and expressions (presented in three sections and followed by drills), cultural notes, the basic text and exercises based on it, grammatical explanations and drills, additional reading texts, review drills, listening comprehension texts, and suggested speaking and writing activities. Each chapter contains reading and listening texts that are meant to be digested completely, and others whose purpose is to make the students reach beyond their present level of ability. New active vocabulary is given in two sections: first, تذمرèا èناحطèا and second, هو انâاهèس. The first of these two presents new words related to vocabulary the student has already learned and is meant to provide a format through which the teacher can gradually introduce to students the relationships of various أèزاو to each other. Passive vocabulary, necessary for comprehension of the text but usually associated with a more advanced level of language, is given following the text in the section انâراءة انثاوêة and is not recycled throughout the book. We believe that vocabulary building is one of the most important activities of the intermediate level. Devote at least one class period per chapter to drilling and practicing new vocabulary. Each chapter contains a drill with open-ended questions that can be used to drill vocabulary orally in class. Suggest various contexts in which the vocabulary can be used. Above all, make sure the students have a grasp of the vocabulary before assigning them the basic texts to prepare, so that reading the text does not dissolve into a dictionary exercise. Take time to discuss cultural information and conceptsرin Arabic as much as possible. Make research a part of class activities by assigning students people or concepts to look up in reference works (e.g. Encyclopedia of Islam) and to report back to class. Introduce to the class excerpts from Classical texts, songs, and poetry. Encourage students to follow the reading steps as outlined in the book, and to read each text at least twice while preparing it. We believe that rereading is important for several reasons. First, comprehension always increases with a second and third reading. Second, in order for the student to develop good reading skills, she or he must learn to depend not on the dictionary, but rather on textual clues and other background information. The student may well remember a word while reading without looking it up, and, having had to think about the word, will remember it better than if she or he had passively been handed the meaning. Third, rereading forces the student to make connections between meaning and structure by focusing not only on what is said, but how it is said. The two steps are related but distinct, and it is the second step that activates knowledge and increases the studentصs ability both to comprehend and to express. Finally, rereading reinforces structure as well as vocabulary and represents a more palatable (to the student) exercise than memorization, while fulfilling the same function. Only after all of the comprehension exercises have been completed should the students be asked to read aloud (this exercise is more effective if done outside of class, and should, if done in class, be done not individually but in groups). Reading a new text out loud is counterproductive to both comprehension and accuracy, because it is not possible to read out loud and comprehend at the same time. We have also found that having students prepare certain passages from texts they have already studied for reading aloud after completing the lesson is a good way for them to practice انإظراب . We hope that the grammar explanations are clear enough for the students to read and digest on their own, and that you do not need to waste class time lecturing on them. Spend class time practicing. We find it useful to spend a few minutes each day having students conjugate new verbs in sentences. You will notice that the presentation of انألظان انهظتنة is widely scattered throughout the book. In our experience, even advanced level students do not know these forms well, perhaps because explanation is a poor substitute for practice. You can best prepare them to learn these patterns by drilling them on the common forms of new verbs in class. If you focus on the verbs they know, and drill them until they know them well, they will have little trouble with the rules for conjugating the so-called زweakس classes (انلظن انأجèل èانلظن انواâص , etc.) when they are presented in later chapters. The additional reading texts and video passages presented in each lesson are not meant to be digested word for word. They are designed to push students beyond their present level of ability towards a more advanced one. This زpushingس becomes counterproductive when it is made frustrating: these texts should not be turned into basic texts with vocabulary and grammar lessons. The literary texts, such as the excerpt from رحنة ابو ب×è×ة in Chapter One, have been included as much for cultural value as for reading. We suggest that these activities be done in class where the class can work as a whole or in small groups at understanding the main ideas in the text. Finally, we thank you for your willingness to take on the task of teaching these زraw materials,س and we will be grateful for any feedback you can provide. أنل شمر،