If you’re thinking about learning Arabic, you’re likely aware of the richness of the Arabic language. Indeed, there are many interesting things about Arabic language learning, but here are a few fun facts about Arabic that you might not know:


1. Arabic is the official language of 25 countries

One of the most interesting facts about Arabic language is that there are 466 million native speakers of Arabic. As the fifth largest language in the world, that means you’ll be able to easily find someone to practice with.


2. Arabic language history began on the shores of the Persian Gulf

Scholars believe that Arabic began in modern Yemen over 2000 years ago. As both trade and Islam started to spread across the region, so did the language. Eventually, varied versions of the language would reach as far away as Morocco.


3. You already know some Arabic

If you’re a native English speaker, another interesting Arabic fact is you already know some Arabic thanks to loanwords. For instance, those with a sweet-tooth might like that the word “sugar” is really the Arabic loan word sukkar. What’s more, English contains many Arabic loanwords such as algebra, candy, cotton, giraffe, guitar, jar, lemon, lilac, magazine, and talisman.


4. “All You Need is (about 14 words that describe) Love”

That’s right! Another awesome thing about Arabic language learning is there may be many words in Arabic for one word in English.  For instance, take the word “love”. In Arabic, there are many words to describe certain stages of falling in love. For instance, hawa describes the initial attraction towards someone.  What’s more, huyum is the losing of your mind that follows.  Oh, and let’s not forget about ishq or “blind lust”.


5. There are no capital letters in Arabic

Arabic uses quotation marks or parenthesis to show that a word is most likely a proper noun.


6. Stop! Hey! What’s that sound?

There are some words in Arabic that non-native speakers find hard to pronounce. This is because Arabic has a few more letters, and thus, a few more sounds than English (or other languages). For example, take the letter ʿayn ( ع) – a sound that is found only in Arabic.


7. Is right to left right or left to right right?

Words in Arabic are written and read from right to left. On the other hand, numbers are written and read from right to left, much like they are in other languages. By the way, we already told you how many words in Arabic language are also used in English. However, did you know that the numbers used in English are actually Arabic numbers? Arabs actually use Hindi numeric glyphs for their numbers.


8. The Arabic Answer to Shakespeare’s Question

 In Act 3, Scene 1 of Hamlet, the titular prince asks: “To be or not to be?” Indeed, when talking about the Arabic language, the Arabic answer is “not to be” – at least in the present perfect. In other words, Arabic does not use the verb “to be” in the present perfect tense. For example, instead of saying “I am Aya”, in Arabic it’s  انا آية (or directly translated “I Aya”). Look at it this way – at least that’s one more grammar rule you have to worry about remembering.


Would you like to learn more fun facts about Arabic? Or maybe you’d like to discover the beauty of Arabic language for yourself. Well, look no further than the Kaleela Arabic Learning App. Convenient and easy-to-use, it’s no wonder they call it the best way to learn Arabic. Download it from kaleela.com and start speaking Arabic today. And that’s a fact!

Kaleela – Learn Arabic the Right Way!

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