Wa alaykum assalam Andrea! 1) Well, this question can be answered in many ways, for example: in terms of pronunciation, Tunisian arabic is the closest to MSA as it's the ONLY arabic dialect that uses the same sounds as Fus'ha without any changes; but when it comes to vocabulary, it's not, as it contains a lot of borrowed words (lot of french, turkish, italian, berber..etc). Actually, almost all arabic dialects contain borrowed words, like Golf dialects which 1)contains a lot of hindi words 2) have a complete different pronunciation than MSA which makes them ununderstandable (for other arab speakers). But in general, the closest to MSA is Shami dialect (Syria, Jordan, Palestine). 2) Practice practice practice, it's all you need to get rid of this. Actually, diacritics/short vowels (and even dots on some letters like baa and taa!!) were 'invented' many hundred years ago to 'protect' Arabic language (there were no grammar books yet) from mistakes and flaws made by new learners (who were newly converted to Islam and need the language) and make it easier for them. And now in Arab countries, you only find diacritics in Quraan, kids' books and linguistic books (and not all linguistic books, just where it's needed to clarify). So it's not a problem at all, just keep practicing and it will come along! 3) Letters no, but sounds yes! Letters are just those 28 'shapes' we use in writing. But sounds differs a lot from a dialect to another. For example, Moroccans pronounce ث as ت, and ظ as emphasized د, but just in oral use; and Egyptian pronounce ق as أ and ج as "g" (in good), and ذ/ظ as ز, but again, in oral use! And these are just FEW examples. 4) Hmm,it depends! Actually, I've never seen a newspaper that uses short vowels (unless when it's some Quraanic verses or poems), and in general, short vowels are not needed when writing foreign names: Andrea أندريا / Fabrizio فابريزيو / Stephany ستيفاني / Alberto ألبيرتو and so on, and it's totally clear. Best of luck Andrea! :)

I hope this video helps you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyldgH6pzmc

1- Golf Dialect 2- yes you can, if you know this word and saw it many time, It will be kept in your mind, and you can Pronounce it without short vowels. 3- Maybe :D 4- Some do and others don't do Best wishes with Arabic :)

1.Linguists say that Levantine dialect is the closest to MSA, it is considered less affected by foreign languages. 2. ???sorry 3.Yes, the letter خ is rare to find in other languages but it is found in Spanish and French. ض this letter is not found in any other language. 4.We depend on Harakat to state the pronounciation of the vowels in Arabic.