Course Tracks

Students studying abroad for all semesters or longer are strongly encouraged to enroll in Egyptian Arabic. Learning Egyptian Arabic is necessary for a smooth transition to life in Cairo, as many locals have difficulty understanding Modern Standard Arabic. Even those who are primarily interested in other forms of Arabic will find their experience in Cairo enriched by being able to communicate in colloquial ways. The level at which students are placed will be determined by their results on an oral exam. Outings with teachers during class time are sometimes used to give students more practice speaking the dialect in real situations. Where appropriate, the situations and materials used will come from the topics taught in the content courses.

Egyptian Arabic 100:

ECA 100 is for learners with no prior knowledge of Arabic. It presents an introduction to the Arabic sound system and script. The pronunciation and writing of every letter are given separately and in the context of words. These Arabic lessons are a prerequisite to all other levels.

Egyptian Arabic 101:

This level is for learners who know the Arabic alphabet and know nothing or very little about Egyptian Colloquial Arabic. It is also suitable for students who have a background in Modern Standard Arabic but have not studied colloquial Arabic lessons before. Students are introduced to words, expressions, and structures used frequently in everyday life. Students practice them in class before they are given assignments to carry out with native speakers in real situations.

Egyptian Arabic 102:

This level is for learners who have studied a semester of Egyptian Colloquial Arabic. It aims to develop students’ oral communication skills. It presents daily life situations that a foreigner living in Egypt is likely to encounter, such as taking a taxi, ordering food, and socializing. Students develop cultural skills through discussions of the situations and dialogues. Living in Cairo will provide daily opportunities for practice.

Egyptian Arabic 201:

This level is for intermediate learners who are able to speak with a fair degree of fluency on topics related to daily life. It presents diverse topics, including lunch invitations with the family, marriage habits, traveling, carelessness and road accidents, street conversations, housing problems, health, poverty and wealth, love affairs, and education. By the end of the course, you will be able to discuss social issues quite easily. You will also have a deep understanding of the social problems that contemporary Egyptians face in the different facets of life. Cultural skills are developed through discussions of certain situations and the advice to give in those instances.

Egyptian Arabic 202:

This level is for intermediate or high learners who are able to speak with a high degree of fluency on topics related to daily life and social issues. It presents diverse topics, including autobiographies, work life, crowded cities, shopping and negotiating, football and sports, summertime, married life, memories of the old days, and government.

Children are natural learners of foreign languages, and Arab Academy’s Arabic courses designed for young learners are offered on-site. These Arabic lessons are popular with expats who want their children to speak the language of the country in which they are living. Egyptians living abroad also sometimes send their children to Arab Academy during family visits to Egypt so that they can learn the language of their heritage. We offer courses for teenagers and younger children.

Teenagers

Middle/High School Arabic 0:

This course introduces students to the Arabic alphabet, both its writing and pronunciation.

Middle/High School Arabic 1:

This course introduces students to the grammar and vocabulary needed to describe and discuss personal, family, school, social, and community life.

Middle/High School Arabic 2:

This course introduces students to the grammar and vocabulary needed to describe and discuss leisure time, student and home life, as well as vacation and travel.

Middle/High School Arabic 3:

This course introduces students to the grammar and vocabulary needed to describe and discuss personal and family life at a higher level. The Arabic lessons also discuss teen culture, future plans and choices, current and historical events, and the environment.

Children

These courses are suitable for kindergarten through elementary school. Unless otherwise specified, they are to be taken sequentially.

Toutou

This course is designed for young children who do not know the Arabic script or sound system. Letters are introduced in sequential order. Each lesson presents three or four new letters (or is a review of previous letters). The Arabic lessons introduce words that are composed only of the letters that students have learned. Children are able to learn the letters, words, and basic sentence structures simultaneously.

Sameh

This course is designed for young children who have already learned the Arabic alphabet. It helps students review the Arabic alphabet while enriching their vocabulary with additional words that are relevant to their lives (at this age). Students get to see Loulou (the main character) at home, school, at the farm, in the garden, etc. Children learn to read and write words related to the world around them.

Let’s Play

This course is designed for young children who can read and write but need more reinforcement. It presents scenes with children playing, drawing, writing, reading, walking, visiting the zoo, going to a restaurant, and spending time at home. The course further develops students’ vocabulary, adding words related to situations they may encounter.

Numbers and Colors

These Arabic lessons, which consist of eight stories, enable students to describe things in terms of quantities and colors.

Guess: Fruits and Vegetables

This is the first in a series of courses based on guesswork. Students’ active involvement in the lesson greatly increases their retention. The texts in the main lessons describe different fruits or vegetables, and students have to guess what they are. Students learn the names and characteristics of the different types of fruits and vegetables, as well as how to ask questions about and describe them.

Stories: Fruits and Vegetables

This course can be completed in connection with or after Guess: Fruits and Vegetables. Because students have learned how to describe a fruit or vegetable, they are ready to hear a story about it. The stories reinforce vocabulary and introduce new words.

Guess: Animals

This is the second in a series of three courses based on guesswork. These Arabic lessons center on birds and animals. Children will be asked to guess the animal each lesson describes. They learn to describe birds and animals in terms of color, size, where they live, body parts, and whether they are tame or wild.

Stories: Animals

This course can be completed in connection with or after Guess: Animals. Because students have learned how to describe different animals, they are ready to hear a story about them. The stories reinforce vocabulary and introduce new words.

Guess: Jobs

This is the third in a series of courses that are based on guesswork. This time, children learn about the different professions. In these Arabic lessons, students learn what different people do and wear, the tools they use, and the places where they work.

Stories: Jobs

This course can be completed in connection with or after Guess: Jobs. Because students have learned about different professions and how to describe them, they are ready to hear stories about them. The stories reinforce vocabulary and introduce new words.

Characteristics of Young People

This course teaches children how to control and express their different feelings. This course accomplishes this through funny stories and interactive exercises. It presents eight engaging stories covering the following emotions: fear, boredom, aggression, pretending to know when you don’t, anxiety, being too quiet, liking to do the opposite of what people tell you, and being active versus being lazy. The children learn many useful vocabulary words related to expressing feelings.

Manners

This course is designed to teach children about the cause and effect of different actions. It presents 10 different stories, five of which show how negative actions lead to unwanted situations and five of which show how positive action brings about happiness. It contains many entertaining characters, and the children get to see what happens to the characters based on their actions. The positive characteristics addressed in this course are being helpful, clever, intelligent, loyal, and truthful (not lying). The negative characteristics addressed in this course are being foolish, obstinate, greedy, lazy, and showing off.

Adventures

This course is composed of eight short stories. Children are not only learning Arabic but also key life lessons (appropriate to their age level). They learn to be cautious while talking to strangers, to treat animals with kindness, to care about friends when they are sick, to take medicine when it is prescribed for them, to avoid eating dirty food, to use their brains to get out of a problem rather than their muscles, and to respect all creatures, even weak ones, to name a few.

Guess: At Home

This course is designed to teach children about the different rooms and furniture in the home. Each lesson comprises activities in which students are given a description of an item in the home and have to guess what it is. Students build vocabulary that is used in their daily lives.

Unpleasant Characteristics

This course is composed of 12 funny stories. The stories are about a duck and a rabbit. The duck always does the right things, and the rabbit always does the wrong things. The contrast between the two is what makes the stories engaging and fun. Children learn through the stories to distinguish between “good” actions and behavior and “bad” ones. They learn that doing good things brings happiness and success to all.

Animals in the Forest

This course is composed of ten stories. The stories promote values like the following: one should not be greedy, the work of everybody is necessary, one should not show off, honesty and fairness are beneficial, etc. The stories take place in the forest, and each story has a different animal as a hero.

Village of Peace

This is a short story that shows how people can live happily when they cooperate. It also indicates how difficult life can be when people live alone and don’t get help from neighbors or offer to help them.

Animals’ World

This course is based on ten short stories. Children view the world through the eyes of the animals and learn key concepts: if you help people, people will help you, it is beneficial to respect people and what they do, honesty makes people respect you, we should all do what we are responsible for, nobody will do your work for you, and we should not be greedy.

Safan and the Wise Sheikh

This is a single story about a poor, lazy man who seeks the advice of a wise sheikh to see how to attain his dreams of being happy and rich. On his way to the wise sheikh, he meets a fox, a fish, and a tree. They all ask him to seek the advice of the wise man to solve their problems. In solving the problems of others, the lazy man is able to solve his own problems. This story illustrates the necessity of hard work and highlights the drawbacks of being lazy.

Guess the Message

This course comprises 22 short stories. Children listen to and read the stories, and then they are asked to guess the moral of those stories. They should try to detect the piece of wisdom that we get out of each story. This course may be taken after completion of Animal’s World or Safan and the Wise Sheikh.

Serving Our Community

This is a series of eight long stories, each divided into sections. The stories all aim to reinforce the concept of community services. Every story rotates around diverse social topics, where students see the value of giving something of oneself to society. The more we give, the better life will be for all of us.