So you want to learn to speak Arabic, but it seems too complicated a language to master. That means you haven’t taken a look at www.arabicpod.net. Using podcasting, in which digital audio files are downloaded over the Internet, the site offers Arabic lessons for both beginners and more advanced students.

Arabic Pod is the brainchild of Saudi Mohamed Moshaya, a recent graduate in software engineering from the University of Brighton. Moshaya, who is currently gaining on the job experience at a London financial institution, began his podcasts in March 2007.

“I noticed that speakers of other languages are using the Internet to show the importance of their languages,” said Moshaya, who hails from Jeddah. “For example, look at how many sites there are aiming to teach Mandarin Chinese. We need to work harder to enable more people to learn Arabic and my site is just a small effort to do that.”

Moshaya is the host of the podcasts at Arabic Pod. He is joined in the lessons by Jordanian Ehab Saleh, who he describes as “the real expert in Arabic language,” and his mother Ruqaya Robins, an English teacher. Some podcasts are done in colloquial Arabic, others in classical Arabic and a few even use different Arabic dialects — this is mentioned at the start of each podcast.

The basic podcasts are free. A premium membership, which costs $60 annually offers lesson notes, exercises and games. Moshaya said that the membership fee for the premium product is simply to try to cover the costs of keeping the site up and running. Arabic Pod is gaining in popularity with about a dozen new students signing up daily.

“We have about 50 podcasts posted and the site is really getting good attention now,” said Moshaya. “We are responsive to comments from our users and I think people appreciate that. Arabic Pod has earned a reputation as a unique and fun route to learning Arabic. Most subscribers are students or individuals going to work in Arab countries. I would encourage everyone to come to the site and try a podcast. It’s just like having a personal tutor and makes learning Arabic really easy.”