You state that you very much want to learn Arabic; that is a decision i guarantee you you will never regret. But please help us to help you.
I agree with the two previus posts, start learning by yourself, esp. the alphabet.
I for one think the most difficult part is the alphabet - this is encouraging/discouraging, depending on you. For example, if someone tells me to teach him/her Arabic, first i will ask him/her if he knows the alphabet, if he/she can read the Arabic script. If no, i'l inform him/her of teachers i know that teach from this stage.
Once you master the alphabet, you will more easily find others to help u. And it's not that difficult to learn (but it's difficult to teach :-( ), as most of the sounds are already found in the English/French alphabet; it is mostly a matter of relating, adapting between what u learned n what u already know. Moreover, this would be a kind of "certificate of eagerness" that u want to learn the language :-)
Now there are so many resources on the net. On another forum there is a series of posts called Arabic Resources, try this link
Arabic - WordReference Forums
(or look for it from there)
... and go to the Alphabet section.
As soon as you can read the script, on the same posts you will find another section about Online lessons, check most/all sites in the list and see which you like most, continue from there. Now why try different sites, and not limit yourself to one in the beginning? Some learn better through translation, others through listening, others through grammar (like me). Choose your style and start. After some time, start visiting different sites, with different styles.
The forum members will be more than willing to help/correct/assure u that u r on the right track. So drop by often.
I think that your learning of the script will be something like this:
- recognising sounds existing in English and learning the letters that represent them in Arabic
- learning new/slightly different sounds
- learning the vowels (only 3) of Arabic; they are not letters, but signs
- joining the letters of a word properly (the only somewhat difficult part)
No, its not absolutely necessary to find a (regular) teacher or hear the speech, though both are not useless. The "teachers" (in the online sense) you will find here when you need, the speech through many radio websites when u are ready.
About individual lessons, there are a number of sites out there for language exchange, with natives.
Remember, teaching the alphabet IS difficult, but learning it IS
NOT.
PS: written by a non-native of Arabic
I learned mostly from books (style: grammar); my favourites:
- Arabic made easy, by Abul Hashim [grammar oriented, beware :-) ]
- Arabic Course/Lessons, by Dr. V. A-Rahim [aka Madina book, highly recommended]