Arabic is the official language of 25 countries. The literary language (Modern Standard Arabic or al-fuSHaa) is uniform across the Arabic speaking world: from Morocco in the west to the borders of Iran in the east, and from Lebanon in the north to the Sudan in the south. However, the spoken language changes from country to country, and even from city to city. At the Washington Academy of Languages, courses are designed to teach Modern Standard Arabic, which represents a blend of the major urban colloquial forms. Our classes teach reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
Wadi Rum, Jordan; photo courtesy of Emily Bernet
Schedule
Arabic classes are not offered in Fall 2023.
If you would like a notification when a new schedule becomes available, please enter your email here.
To sign up for classes other than LVL 1, please first complete our online placement test and let the office know upon completion. Placement tests are reviewed during registration period. If you don’t see a test for the language you are interested in studying, please reach out to wal at cityu.edu We will try to arrange a phone placement with our faculty.
All classes are 18.5 hours. Tuition is $400. Without payment of tuition, your registration is received but remains incomplete. Level 1 classes must have 4 complete registrations to run; level 2+ will run on a minimum of 3 complete registrations.
Click here for textbook information.
If you have any questions, please contact wal at cityu.edu
Levels
This Level 1 Arabic class is a 10-week Novice-Low (ACTFL) course on the language and culture of Arabic-speaking countries. It is intended for learners with little or no experience learning Arabic. The course emphasizes the development of the following linguistic skills: listening, understanding, speaking, reading and writing concurrently with the incorporation of Arabic culture. The topics at this level include: exchanging greetings, asking a person’s name and nationality, introducing family members, describing family relationships, being a guest, residence, and talking about belongings and possessions. Students will be exposed to the language structures necessary to advance to Level 2 Arabic.
Communicative Competence: Students will be able to greet each other and take leave of each other, introduce themselves and introduce others by name, nationality, use numbers from 0 to 10, and the days of the week. They will be able to initiate social interactions and ask about basic information. In addition to the vocabulary on basic personal information, objects, activities, preferences, and immediate needs; students will be able to respond to simple, direct questions or request information using basic grammatical expressions. By the end of the course, students will be able to carry on simple conversations in Arabic in situations such as introducing oneself, speaking about one’s family, asking for help, being a guest, and being in public in general.
Grammatical Competence: Students will learn to pronounce and distinguish all Arabic sounds. They will master the Arabic alphabet and write Arabic words accurately from dictation. They will become familiar with the differences between formal and spoken Arabic. Some regional and dialectical differences will be introduced. Although the emphasis will be on expression and comprehension, basic grammar – such as subject pronouns, noun-adjective agreement, forming questions, and the present tense verb – will be covered and will serve as a solid foundation for further study of Arabic. By the end of the course, students will be able to read and write basic literary Arabic. Cultural notes are introduced in each class as well, giving a general understanding of some aspects of Arab culture in everyday life.
Required Materials:
Brustad, K., & Batal, M. (2010). Alif baa: introduction to Arabic letters and sounds (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. (ISBN: 9781589016323)
Communicative Competence: By the end of the course, learners will be able to talk about themselves and their families, describe their homes and their contents, talk about their studies and future work plans, talk about their daily life activities, talk about leisure time and hobbies. Students will also be able to ask and answer questions about quantities and costs.
Grammatical competence: The students will be able to ask direct and indirect questions. They will learn nouns’ genders as well as regular and irregular plurals. They will also learn and be able to use the possessive pronouns correctly. In addition, they will learn vocabulary on houses and their contents, family relatives, and friends. They will learn to request information using the present indicative tense and describe activities. Students will be exposed to the language structures necessary to advance to Level 3.
Required Materials (Arabic 2-7):
Brustad, K., Batal, M., & Tūnisī, A. (2011). Al-Kitaab fii taʻallum al-ʻArabiyya = A textbook for beginning Arabic. (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. (ISBN: 9781589017368)
Cowan, J.M. The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (4th Edition, Arabic-English Dictionary). Spoken Language Services, Inc., Urbana, IL, 1994. (ISBN: 9780879500030)
This Level 3 Arabic class is a 10-week Novice-Mid (ACTFL) course on the language and culture of Arabic-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed Level 2 Arabic or who demonstrate equivalent proficiency. This course emphasizes the development of the following linguistic skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing concurrently with the incorporation of Arabic culture. The topics at this level include Arabic food and restaurants, ordering food, inviting people to have food and drinks; as well as the weather and seasons, outdoor activities, and travels and journeys.
Communicative Competence: By the end of the course, learners will be able to talk about the different types of weather and seasons, describe different foods and cuisines, and order food and drinks. They will be able to invite others to food or drinks and accept or deny invitations from others. They will be able to talk about trips and traveling, and talk about different means of transportation. They will also be able to express their preferences for types of weather, cities, and activities, in addition to expressing their likes and dislikes.
Grammatical competence: The students will be introduced to the measures of the Arabic verb. They will learn the object pronouns, demonstrative pronouns, and using adjectives and adverbs. They will also learn how to form nominal and verbal sentences. They will learn definite and indefinite noun structure. In addition, they will learn to work with the numbers 11 to 100. Students will be exposed to the language structures necessary to advance to Level 4.
Required Materials (Arabic 2-7):
Brustad, K., Batal, M., & Tūnisī, A. (2011). Al-Kitaab fii taʻallum al-ʻArabiyya = A textbook for beginning Arabic. (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. (ISBN: 9781589017368)
Cowan, J.M. The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (4th Edition, Arabic-English Dictionary). Spoken Language Services, Inc., Urbana, IL, 1994. (ISBN: 9780879500030)
This Level 4 Arabic class is a 10-week Novice-Mid (ACTFL) course on the language and culture of Arabic-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed Level 3 Arabic or with equivalent proficiency. This course emphasizes the development of the following linguistic skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing concurrently with the incorporation of Arabic culture. The topics at this level include hobbies and pastimes, daily routines and practices, studying, jobs and future careers, expressing feelings and desires, talking about hopes and wishes.
Communicative Competence: By the end of the course, learners will be able to talk about their studies and future plans, talk about their hobbies and pastimes. They will be able to describe their feelings in different situations, they will be able to talk about past, present and future events related to their lives. They will be able to react using suitable phrasing to different occasions, such as happy events, sad events, future agreed upon events, etc. They will be able to talk about their childhood, homes, and family. They will be able to describe places and their interiors. They will be able to answer questions about their plans, hopes, and wishes; and give their motives.
Grammatical competence: The students will continue to work with the ten measures of the Arabic verb. They will learn the gerund in the different forms of the Arabic verb; learning how to derive the gerund from the different verbs and how to use it correctly. They will also learn the dual and the superlative adjective form. They will continue to work with the nominal sentence and they will learn the fronted predicate. They will learn when to use a verbal sentence or a nominal sentence. The students will be exposed to the language structures necessary to advance to level 5.
Required Materials (Arabic 2-7):
Brustad, K., Batal, M., & Tūnisī, A. (2011). Al-Kitaab fii taʻallum al-ʻArabiyya = A textbook for beginning Arabic. (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. (ISBN: 9781589017368)
Cowan, J.M. The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (4th Edition, Arabic-English Dictionary). Spoken Language Services, Inc., Urbana, IL, 1994. (ISBN: 9780879500030)
This Level 5 Arabic class is a 10-week Novice-Mid (ACTFL) course on the language and culture of Arabic-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed Level 4 Arabic or with equivalent proficiency. This course emphasizes the development of the following linguistic skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing concurrently with the incorporation of Arabic culture. The topics at this level include biographies, applying for study programs and jobs, study abroad, memberships and affiliations, daily schedule and weekly activities.
Communicative Competence: By the end of the course, learners will be able to discuss their study and work experiences, as well as talk about their daily study and work schedule. They will be able to describe activities and programs that they participate in, and they will be able to talk about options for studying abroad. They will be able to arrange for meetings and make appointments. They will be able to tell and ask about time. They will be able to speak about events that happened recently in their family, at work, or at school. They will be able to discuss habits and practices.
Grammatical competence: The students will continue to work with the ten measures of the Arabic verb. They will learn how to extract the roots of the words correctly. They will also continue to work on the past tense conjugations. They will learn the negation of the past tense verb. They will learn how to use the Arabic Dictionary. The students will be exposed to the language structures necessary to advance to level 6.
Required Materials (Arabic 2-7):
Brustad, K., Batal, M., & Tūnisī, A. (2011). Al-Kitaab fii taʻallum al-ʻArabiyya = A textbook for beginning Arabic. (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. (ISBN: 9781589017368)
Cowan, J.M. The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (4th Edition, Arabic-English Dictionary). Spoken Language Services, Inc., Urbana, IL, 1994. (ISBN: 9780879500030)
This Level 6 Arabic class is a 10-week Novice-Mid (ACTFL) course on the language and culture of Arabic-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed Level 5 Arabic or with equivalent proficiency. This course emphasizes the development of the following linguistic skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing concurrently with the incorporation of Arabic culture. The topics at this level include extended family, friends and community, everyday life relations and activities and religious practices.
Communicative Competence: By the end of the course, learners will be able to talk about their extended family and community, as well as their friendships and other relationships. They will be able to describe religious activities and practices that they participate in, and they will be able to express their feelings about certain experiences related to personal or family life. They will be able to talk about a romantic story or film they liked. They will be able to describe their family and community and provide relevant details. They will be able to compare people or things that are very familiar to them. They will be able to ask and answer questions about issues and events happening in their extended family and community.
Grammatical competence: The students will continue to work on their dictionary usage skills. They will continue and expand their knowledge of the forms of the Arabic verb. They will also learn the comparatives, and they will be able to convert simple adjectives into comparative adjectives, and then use them correctly. They will learn the use of conditional phrases and sentences, as well as the subordinate verb “ المضارع المنصوب “. They will learn to describe people and things using a defining relative clause “ جملة الصفة “. The students will be exposed to the language structures necessary to advance to level 7.
Required Materials (Arabic 2-7):
Brustad, K., Batal, M., & Tūnisī, A. (2011). Al-Kitaab fii taʻallum al-ʻArabiyya = A textbook for beginning Arabic. (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. (ISBN: 9781589017368)
Cowan, J.M. The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (4th Edition, Arabic-English Dictionary). Spoken Language Services, Inc., Urbana, IL, 1994. (ISBN: 9780879500030)
This Level 7 Arabic class is a 10-week Novice-High (ACTFL) course on the language and culture of Arabic-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed Level 6 Arabic or with equivalent proficiency. This course emphasizes the development of the following linguistic skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing concurrently with the incorporation of Arabic culture. The topics at this level include travel, vacation time, study, work, living abroad, hopes, desires, and future plans.
Communicative Competence: By the end of the course, learners will be able to talk about their travels and trips, holidays and vacations; as well as their hopes and desires for a future home and where they plan to settle. They will be able to describe trips and visits they undertake. They will be able to talk about important decisions that they took in their lives, important events that happened, and their feelings on related issues. They will be able to talk about their plans for their future life, work and study. They will be able to discuss their dreams and how they will achieve them. They will be able to ask and answer questions related to study and work opportunities in another country.
Grammatical competence: The students will continue to work on their dictionary skills. They continue and expand their knowledge of the forms of the Arabic verb. They will also expand on the use of comparatives and superlatives. They will learn more about verb subject agreement. They will also learn how to negate the past, present and future. They will learn the different cases of “الاسم المنصوب “. They will learn the future tense and its negation in both standard and spoken Arabic. They will also learn the sentence complements “ أنَّ “ and “ إنَّ “. The students will be exposed to the language structures necessary to advance to level 7.
Required Materials (Arabic 2-7):
Brustad, K., Batal, M., & Tūnisī, A. (2011). Al-Kitaab fii taʻallum al-ʻArabiyya = A textbook for beginning Arabic. (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press. (ISBN: 9781589017368)
Cowan, J.M. The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (4th Edition, Arabic-English Dictionary). Spoken Language Services, Inc., Urbana, IL, 1994. (ISBN: 9780879500030)
This Level 8 Arabic class is a 10-week Novice-High (ACTFL) course on the language and culture of Arabic-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed Level 7 Arabic or with equivalent proficiency. This course emphasizes the development of the following linguistic skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing concurrently with the incorporation of Arabic culture. The topics at this level include marriage and establishing a new home and family, housing and lodging, extended family.
Communicative Competence: By the end of the course, learners will be able to talk about their dream home, housing and lodging; as well as talking about the housing market in their area and discussing their preferences regarding homes and locations. They will be able to describe their neighborhoods and compare between the different areas and neighborhoods in their city. They will be able to ask and answer questions related to the advantages and disadvantages of living in big cities vs small towns and rural areas. They will be able to talk about the challenges that the newlyweds face, discuss some common problems that face people around them, and possible solutions for those problems.
Grammatical competence: The students will continue to work on their dictionary skills. They continue to expand their knowledge of the forms of the Arabic verb. They will learn how to derive nouns related to places out of the roots, and they will learn the plural forms. They will also learn the indefinite idafah (the constructed phrase). They will expand their knowledge of the fronted predicate sentence. The students will be exposed to the language structures necessary to advance to level 9.
Required Materials (Arabic 8-13):
Brustad, K., Al-Batal, and M. Al-Tonsi, A. Al-Kitaab fii Ta’allum al-‘Arabiyya – A Textbook for Beginning Arabic: Part 2 (3rd Edition, with DVD + Website Access). Georgetown University Press. (ISBN: 9781626161238) (used for levels 8-13)
Cowan, J.M. The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (4th Edition, Arabic-English Dictionary). Spoken Language Services, Inc., Urbana, IL, 1994. (ISBN: 9780879500030)
This Level 9 Arabic class is a 10-week Novice-High (ACTFL) course on the language and culture of Arabic-speaking countries. It is intended for learners who have completed Level 8 Arabic or with equivalent proficiency. This course emphasizes the development of the following linguistic skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing concurrently with the incorporation of Arabic culture. The topics at this level include everyday life details, clothing, immigration, and different immigrant communities.
Communicative Competence: By the end of the course, learners will be able to talk about different clothing, and what they wear in different weathers and seasons. They will be able to discuss details about immigrant communities, including the reasons for their immigration and the challenges and difficulties that new immigrants face. They will be able to talk about their immigrant ancestors and share the stories of their success in their new homes. They will be able to talk, with some details, about different immigrant cultural communities in Seattle.
Grammatical competence: The students will continue to work on their dictionary skills. They will continue and expand their knowledge of the forms of the Arabic verb. They will learn how to derive the nouns that are related to the doer or active participle out of the present tense verb. They will also learn the relative clause and cardinal directions. They will expand their knowledge about negation, and they will learn how to negate in all tenses. The students will also learn to express similarity using (كـــ ، كما ، مثل ). The students will be exposed to the language structures necessary to advance to level 10.
Required Materials (Arabic 8-13):
Brustad, K., Al-Batal, and M. Al-Tonsi, A. Al-Kitaab fii Ta’allum al-‘Arabiyya – A Textbook for Beginning Arabic: Part 2 (3rd Edition, with DVD + Website Access). Georgetown University Press. (ISBN: 9781626161238) (used for levels 8-13)
Cowan, J.M. The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic (4th Edition, Arabic-English Dictionary). Spoken Language Services, Inc., Urbana, IL, 1994. (ISBN: 9780879500030)
Custom Programs may be contracted in 10-hour blocks. Meetings must be a minimum of two hours and meet once a week or more. Request a Custom Program here.
Communication is always key, especially in the world of business. Our experienced instructors are ready to come to your office with a tailored, industry-specific approach to language instruction. Program content is customized to meet the needs of individual companies.
Instruction requires a minimum of 10 hours total and a minimum of 1.5 hours per lesson. Programs are generally scheduled on weekdays. Meeting dates and times are flexible. Instruction can be delivered at corporate sites or at our downtown office.
Please contact us at 206-239-4789 or wal@cityu.edu for more information or to receive quote.
| Class Type | Cost |
| Evening & Day Classes | $400 (effective 7/1/2019) |
| Custom Programs | $700/10 hours (effective 7/1/2017) |
| Shared Custom Programs | $450/10 hours per person (2-3 students) |
| Specialized Programs | $750/10 hours |