Ditch some features of MSA and make some tweaks such as replacing MSA words with their spoken counterparts and you’ll get Levantine Arabic.At the same time, I do think it is possible to reach an intermediate level in Levantine Arabic and beyond without any formal background in MSA but only with comprehensive dedicated resources as well as proper learning techniques.Resources in Levantine Arabic are indeed slowly growing in numbers and prominence but it is safe to say that they are still few and far in between (especially in comparison with resources in MSA).Until then, I would recommend starting your language journey with basic MSA knowledge to understand the workings of the language.Spoken Educated Arabic is a type of Arabic spoken most commonly amongst the educated where the Amiyya speech structure is retained but where some features of MSA are incorporated.This type of Arabic which is a mix of both literary and colloquial Arabic is typically used to discuss politics or other topics commonly found in the media but in a less formal register.Such topics may NOT be of interest to a learner at a beginner level but Spoken Educated Arabic can be useful as one seeks to increase his or her proficiency by tackling more complicated topics such as politics and the likes.It is much easier to resume MSA studies if a learner has a foundation to fall back upon.I understand that from a beginner’s standpoint, all that you are concerned with are the necessary steps needed and the resources available to take you from point A to point B in your language journey.Besides, it is hard to imagine being able to achieve conversational fluency in the years to come. When you hear people speak the local dialects, you can make links between what they’re saying in their accent and what you’ve learned in the formal MSA Arabic and then it all makes sense, it all comes together…”And his argument does make sense and is certainly valid.So that is basically the two sides of the infamous and classic MSA vs. Dialects debate in a nutshell.Meanwhile, if you’re thinking of learning both MSA and Levantine Arabic at the same time….just don’t.Such an approach is not recommended for beginners and you’re just setting yourself up for unnecessary stress and frustration. I’m talking about all the native speakers: they learn their parents’ dialect at home and only later, in the school, they are required to learn a “new language” — the MSAThat’s a good point, Boris. There were numerous dialects catalogued even during the era of the Quran's revelation which itself has traces of those dialects.Today's dialects arose during the waves of migration from the Arabian Peninsula, when the migrants' own Arabic dialects mixed with the already existing languages: Aramaic, Greek, Coptic, Berber. the dialect spoken in Western Syria, would I be perfectly intelligible for a speaker of NMA? Read on to find out more about what to expect before embarking on your new language journey.Levantine Arabic generally refers to the Arabic dialect (Amiyya) spoken in Jordan, Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.

Western Syrian is much easier dialect to both pronounce and understand, in my experience.And have a decent plan for self-care; your line of work will take a tremendous emotional toll. As a result, it is possible for students to lose motivation to pursue their endeavour to learn a dialect any further.In fact, there are many students who have chosen to learn MSA before tackling an Arabic dialect.And one of them is Mike Still, a British YouTuber who runs a YouTube channel called “Arabic Mike” since 2013.“…if you’ve learned MSA, if you’ve learned Fusha, everything else starts to fall into place. Soif I learned Levantine Arabic, i.e. Especially to the youth. And, believe me, you will find that everybody is eager to help you.Learn standard Arabic and all dialects will be much easier to learn. How about the contrary, would I be able to perfectly understand NMA if my dialect was Levantine?Does it even make sense to learn Iraqi Arabic (Southern Mesopotamian) instead of Levantine, in case I couldn't find enough material for Northern Mesopotamian Arabic?