Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Aramaic, Arabic and Hebrew - which languages are related and easy, especially for Arabic Speakers - and the Polyglot Page On Facebook

I find daily entertainment and enlightenment from the polyglots page in Facebook. Somebody asks which language is easiest for Arabic speakers. Suggestions are Hebrew, Maltese, Turkish, Farsi - and English because it is learned in school.

ARAMAIC
Somebody mentions Aramaic, the source of Hebrew and Arabic. Another reader asks, what is Aramaic?.

Aramaic was the spoken language at the time of Jesus; in the area where he lived according to the New Testament.

 Aramaic, spoken language at the time of Jesus (when I presume many were illiterate - could not read). Spoken Hebrew and Arabic came later.

Aramaic, according to the Wikipedia article, was the language in which Roman historian Josephus wrote, later translating his writing into Greek and Roman. Josephus was the defector who switched allegiance to the Romans.

ESPERANTO
Esperanto is the easiest language, especially if you already know English or one of the Romance languages such as Spanish or Italian. Like Aramaic, it is spoken by a relatively small number of people. (So is Hebrew, so is Maltese.)

VOCAB VERSUS STRUCTURE
Some comments point to vocabulary, others think grammar structure is more important. Others go for the ease of reading the written capital letters. Others go for understanding speech.

For me the language easiest to learn is the one on Duolingo the free language learning online website. Duolingo has easy Esperanto, as well as Arabic and Hebrew.

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_of_Jesus
www.duolingo.com

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share links to your favourite posts.




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