Why Should You Learn Arabic?

Arabic is the language of a large part of our planet. Whether you are interested in learning Arabic for business, educational or cultural reasons it is easier than you may think. It is the official language in 22 countries, spoken by more than 300 million people. It is one of the permanent languages in the United Nations.

Another reason is that Arabic is one of the oldest living languages in the world, and it is the origin of many languages. It has heavily influenced languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, Persian, Hindustani, Turkish, Malay, Urdu, Indonesian, Kurdish, Pashto, Swahili, Berber, Bengali and many others. Arguably, Arabic is one key origin of modern day languages. An indication of this is the fact that most Arabic native speakers are easily able to pronounce almost any sound in any language in the world. On the other hand many non-Arabic natives have a hard time pronouncing some Arabic letters and sounds which are not available in their native languages (for example the letter Dhad in Arabic is not used in any other language in the world, and the Arabic language is sometimes called the language of the Dhad).

For thousands of years minor changes were made to the Arabic language and it was appropriate for every era throughout the countless civilizations that used it as their native language. In fact, Arabic has a great influence in most of the languages in the present time. Maybe the most obvious contribution of Arabic is developing and passing on the “Arabic numerals” (0,1,2,3..) to humanity, not to mention the numerous words with Arabic origins which are used today in most languages (Algorithm, Algebra, Alcohol, Coffee, Zero, Sugar, and the list goes on). Arabic was the international language of science, mathematics, culture, and philosophy during the middle Ages. Its contribution to Western civilization as an infrastructure for development of science and medicine is enormous.

About Our Classes

Our lessons are delivered in person or via skype.com, which is a free internet conferencing program. Download Skype.

In your lessons you will study conversational skills, pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and work on exercises with qualified and experienced native-speaker teachers. Our lessons are highly individualized and customizable depending on the students’ needs. Whatever your language level is, let us help you improve your Arabic.

You are in the right place! With the help of our Arabic classes you will quickly learn conversational Arabic. Start learning Arabic today.

Learning a new language is always fun but learning Arabic is great fun!

Beginning Arabic

Are you planning to go to The Arab world for a holiday?
Do you have a significant other who is an Arab, and you’d like to be able to speak his/her language?
Do you just want to learn a new language but don’t know where to start?

 

Intermediate Arabic

Overcome difficulties in understanding conversations of native Arabic speakers.
Attempt word to word translation from English to Arabic in their heads before they even say a word in Arabic.

As an intermediate Arabic student, the issue is not that you don’t know enough. You probably have a good vocabulary with many sophisticated words, and have spent a lot of time studying grammar. Focusing only on vocabulary and studying more grammar do not improve your conversational fluency in Arabic.

Being fluent in Arabic requires lots of one-on-one practice with a native speaker. Our conversation classes are the perfect solution for both beginning and intermediate Arabic learners because they are well structured, highly individualized, affordable and more importantly, one- on-one with your own private Arabic tutor.

Advanced Arabic

Is your Arabic advanced, but you want to maintain and improve your abilities?

Do you want to master your language skills for:
• Professional development
• Academic research
• To pass a test
• To study in The Arab World

Our one-on-one lessons will help you to meet your goals!

Why It’s Smart to Be Bilingual

Bilingualism, of course, can be a leg up for college admission and a résumé burnisher. But a growing body of research now offers a further rationale: the regular, high-level use of more than one language may actually improve early brain development.

According to several different studies, command of two or more languages bolsters the ability to focus in the face of distraction, decide between competing alternatives, and disregard irrelevant information. These essential skills are grouped together, known in brain terms as “executive function.” The research suggests they develop ahead of time in bilingual children, and are already evident in kids as young as 3 or 4. While no one has yet identified the exact mechanism by which bilingualism boosts brain development, the advantage likely stems from the bilingual’s need to continually select the right language for a given situation. According to Ellen Bialystok, a professor at York University in Toronto and a leading researcher in the field, this constant selecting process is strenuous exercise for the brain and involves processes beyond those required for monolingual speech, resulting in an extra stash of mental acuity, or, in Bialystok’s terms, a “cognitive reserve.”

Bilingual education, commonplace in many countries, is a growing trend across the United States, with 440 elementary schools (up from virtually none in 1970) offering immersion study in Spanish, Mandarin, and French, in that order of popularity.

For parents whose toddlers can’t read Tolstoy in the original Russian, the research does offer some comfort: Tamar Gollan, a professor at University of California, San Diego, has found a vocabulary gap between children who speak only one language and those who grow up with more. On average, the more languages spoken, the smaller the vocabulary in each one. Gollan’s research suggests that while that gap narrows as children grow, it does not close completely.

The rule of thumb for improving in any language is simple practice. “The more you use it, the better off you are,” Gollan says. “Vocabulary tests, SATs, GREs—those are tests that probe the absolute limits of your ability, and that’s where we find that bilinguals have the disadvantage, where you know the word but you just can’t get it out.” Gollan believes this deficit can be compensated for with extra study. A more complicated question is how and whether bilingualism may interact with other cognitive issues that can appear in early childhood, specifically attention disorders, says Bialystok. Because attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is linked to compromised executive functioning, it is unclear what impact learning a second language—which calls upon exactly these executive skills—might have on children with this condition. Research on this question is underway.

Some of the most valuable mental perks of bilingualism can’t be measured at all, of course. To speak more than one language is to inherit a global consciousness that opens the mind to more than one culture or way of life. Bilinguals also appear to be better at learning new languages than monolinguals. London-based writer Clarisse Lehmann spent her early childhood in Switzerland speaking French. At 6, she learned English. Later she learned Spanish, German, and, during three years spent living in Tokyo, Japanese. “There’s a witty humor in English that has a different sensibility in French,” she says. “And in Japanese, there’s no sarcasm. When I tried, it would be ‘We don’t understand what you’re trying to say.’” With five languages under her belt—and a working familiarity with Latin and Greek as well—Lehmann finally considers herself sufficiently multilingual. “Enough, enough!” she says. “I don’t want to learn any more languages!”