Arabic: Beginners - Part 1



Overview

This 10-week course is for complete beginners in the language and those who have acquired some expressions informally through travel or socialising. It is pitched at level A1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), and completion of the course will help you meet some of the level requirements. To help develop your fluency in the language, the course will focus primarily on speaking and listening skills, but will also include practice in reading and writing. You will have plenty of opportunities to practise the target language through hands-on collaborative class activities such as conversations and role-plays.

Programme details

Course starts: 27 Sept 2023

Our public programme is open access, and most adult language classes are mixed ability. The weekly course schedule below is intended to give an overview of the main topics likely to be covered in each session. Please note that these may sometimes change according to the tutor’s discretion to reflect the interests of course participants.

Week 1: The Arabic alphabet; greetings, farewells & introductions

Week 2: Introducing oneself and others; reading and writing in Arabic (sounds and letters)

Week 3: The family; more about reading and writing in Arabic (sounds and letters)

Week 4: Jobs and occupations

Week 5: Describing things and people

Week 6: Classroom language

Week 7: Objects, places and locations; Sun and Moon letters

Week 8: Around the town: places and directions

Week 9: Countries, nationalities and people

Week 10: Revision/consolidation

During your course, you will develop your communicative language skills through consideration of the following: 

Key functions:

•          Introducing oneself and others

•          Talking about what you do

•          Asking and answering basic questions

•          Describing countries and cities

•          Making polite requests

Key grammar points:

•          Masculine and Feminine sound plurals

•          Possessive pronouns (attached pronouns)

•          Definite and indefinite nouns

•          Personal pronouns

•          Demonstrative pronouns

•          Question Words

•          Adjectives 

The above is an indication of content that may be covered over the duration of the course, but it could vary depending on the level and progress of students in the class.

Certification

Students who attend a minimum of 70% of classes will receive a Certificate of Attendance.

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £251.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Mr Tareef Howe

Tareef obtained a BA in International Business from Jordan and two Masters degrees. One in Muslims, Globalisation and the West from the University of Aberdeen, and a second in Risk Management (with Distinction) from Glasgow Caledonian University. He completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. 

Tareef is passionate about teaching Arabic as a foreign language and uses a communicative approach in the classroom. He has been teaching the Modern Standard Arabic and Levantine Arabic at various levels in different contexts, including media and business. 

Course aims

To enable participants to communicate at a very basic level with speakers of the target language in a limited range of practical, real-life settings.

Course objectives:

  • To help students develop the language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing for very basic routine communication in the target language.
  • To enable students to use a range of high frequency vocabulary and grammar structures for very basic routine interaction in the target language.
  • To equip students with an initial appreciation of the culture and civilisation of the country (or countries) in which the target language is spoken.

Teaching methods

You will learn through a communicative teaching approach with the emphasis on actively engaging in classroom activities in the target language. These are likely to include role-plays, pair- and small group-work, and conversational practice conducted in a supportive, friendly and informal learning environment.

The course has been structured to help you primarily to develop your speaking and listening skills and to gradually gain an insight into the culture and daily life of your target language. You will also learn and practise new grammatical structures in a communicative context and will be encouraged to develop your reading and writing skills in your own time.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

  • use very simple phrases and utterances to provide basic personal information, such as name, address, family members and nationality;
  • interact in a simple way using a very basic range of language in routine everyday contexts;
  • understand the gist of very short, simple written texts and audio/video excerpts containing the highest frequency vocabulary items and basic grammar structures;
  • produce simple phrases and very short texts using basic structures and vocabulary items.

Assessment methods

You will be set short, optional assignments to consolidate your learning and to allow you to progress at your own pace.

Application

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form (Word) or enrolment form (Pdf).

Level and demands

Find your language level

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support