Dr. Fethi Mansouri lectures in Middle Eastern Language and Culture Studies at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. He has conducted numerous studies on the learning and teaching of Arabic as a second language, and has also pioneered research on the mental and psychological aspects of learning Arabic. He has published many books on foreign language pedagogy and multicultural education.

A handy guide to the Arabic language, Survival Arabic contains basic expressions and key words that are necessary for getting around. The pronunciation for each Arabic word in the book follows a precise and simple formula that will quickly become so familiar that conversing in Arabic phrases and sentences soon feels just as "normal" as speaking English. The material is divided into four parts: Common Expressions and Key Words; Essential Communication Tools; Travel Vocabularly and Useful Expressions; Pronunciation Guides for Key Names and Signs. Each part contains a range of relevant vocabulary, useful phrases, and the minimum of grammatical explanation needed to allow users to vary the basic sentence structures in order to convey exactly what they want to say. The book also contains an A-Z index containing more than 1,000 additional vocabulary and their pronunciation for quick reference.