But Arabic is a difficult language, and classes aren’t widely available. An alternative is Tell Me More Arabic, language-learning software from Auralog Inc. (www.auralog.com) of Phoenix. The suite consists of four Arabic learning programs of increasing difficulty (two levels per box) that work with just about any PC running Windows 2000 or XP.

The program is strikingly comprehensive. Instead of treating the Arabic language as a giant bucket, Tell Me More Arabic breaks the course into standard Arabic and regional dialects.

You can learn the standard Arabic used in newspapers and television broadcasts and among Arabic speakers of different nationalities, or break it down into Egyptian, Yemeni, Algerian or Moroccan dialects.

Arabic has 29 different phonemes, sounds that have meaning but are not actually letters. Using phonemes like Hamza, Baa’ and Waaw, which are taught in the program, can make you sound more like a native speaker.

The suite also uses the latest speech-recognition technology and comes with a headset. When learning how to speak, you can not only listen to what you are supposed to say, but 3-D animations show you how your mouth is supposed to move.

As you talk, the program tracks pronunciation errors and shows you proper inflection in a graph. A workbook for learning how to read Arabic is also included, and fits well with the electronic media.

There are more than 5,000 exercises in the suite, and many of them make learning fun, with games like crossword puzzles, word association and mystery-phrase guessing. And because language is also about people and cultures, the suite is packed with MPEG videos and cultural exercises, so users can learn how to act and get along in the Arabic world. Tell Me More Arabic costs $195 each for the beginning- and advanced-level suites, or $329 for the complete package.

Auralog also offers learning software for eight other languages, including Chinese and Japanese.