Arabic
Today Arabic is the official language of 26 countries and spoken by 280 million people worldwide. A Semitic language with many dialects, it is considered to be one of the oldest languages in the world. The importance of Arabic has roots going back as far as the sixth century. It is part of a rich storytelling history that has produced remarkable tales such as the Arabian Nights, Ali Baba, and Aladdin. Arab people have also made significant contributions in such areas as mathematics, navigation, dance, astrology, and architecture.
Courses in Arabic
Arabic 101 Elementary Arabic l
Arabic Alphabet
In this content-based elementary language course, students will develop interpretive, interpersonal and presentational skills in spoken and classical Arabic. Participants develop mastery of the Arabic alphabet and sound system, learn to comprehend and compose novice-level written and visual texts, distinguish between formal and spoken forms, as well as some dialectal variation, and engage in person-to-person dialogue while developing an awareness of basic cultural aspects of social interaction in the Arab world. [H]
Arabic 102 Elementary Arabic ll
In this second semester content-based elementary language course, students will continue to develop interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational skills in spoken and classical Arabic. Participants learn to initiate and sustain person-to-person dialogue on a number of topics, narrate in present and past time frames, and produce accurate novice-level written expression. This course explores a variety of culturally relevant topics using authentic written and visual materials. [H, ESPL]
For information, please visit the Course Catalog.
Follow this link to see samples of student work and events in Arabic.