Negative Positive
Title: Lots of grammar
Review: Before criticizing the book its worth noting that Arabic poses several problems to the English speaker. Standard written Arabic is thicket of grammar that makes German look like a walk in the park. Spoken Arabic is a simpler affair but dialects vary from country to country. So teachers of Arabic have to decide whether to start with grammar (A&S;'s approach) or with conversation (Al Kitab's).I am using this book at NYU. I, along with my classmates and professor, complain about it's over emphasis on grammar, its typos and questionable organization. The strict grammar rules lend themselves to simple presentation in tables, but the authors generally fail to use this approach. Also note that you will need to buy the CDs. They are appallingly expensive given the poor production quality.If your goal is to read classic Arabic literature A&S; is probably your best bet. But if you want to be able to handle a basic conversation I recommend Al Kitab instead.
Is the review positive or negative? 