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desert date · Joined: 19 Jul 2006 Posts: 67 Location: Australia

I'm taking a year off from my job with effect from July next year and intend to spend my belated gap year in the Mid East learning Arabic and travelling aound the region in between courses.

Any recommendations for Arabic language schools in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon or even Yemen?

Eid Mubarak!

Dedicated · Joined: 18 May 2007 Posts: 972 Location: UK

I'm based at a UK university, and students studying Arabic are sent abroad for a year. They used to go to MECAS (Middle East Centre for Arabic Studies) in Shemlan, Lebanon, which became world famous, but I suspect may have closed due to civil strife. But check it out.

Now they seem to go to the French Institute (IFPO) in Damascus, but these are the most expensive classes in Syria, but undoubtedly offer the best facilities and teaching. Last year, from October to June, the cost was about 3,000 Euros for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. They have a summer programme in July for 700 Euros.

In Damascus, there is the Arabic Teaching Institute for Foreigners (the Ma'had) which offers classes November to May for $400 dollars, then summer, June to September $300.

I don't know which passport you have, but getting a visa in the current troubled times is problematic. However, students who study in Syria, where little English is spoken, come back very fluent and delighted with the country. Hope this helps a bit.

basiltherat · Joined: 04 Oct 2003 Posts: 952

i second what dedicated says. damascus is a great place for a year or so. its safe, very attractive with a fantastic old city. compared to countries in the gulf, it has a pretty affordable cost of living, alto it is rising due to influx of iraqi 'refugees'.
basil

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

Why do you put 'refugees' in quotation marks, Basil?

basiltherat · Joined: 04 Oct 2003 Posts: 952

mishmumkin · Joined: 01 Sep 2007 Posts: 929

Like Dedicated mentioned, I know of many students based in US universities that study at American University of Cairo. You should check out this blog: http://wanderingjordan.blogspot.com/ He may be able to give you some advice for learning arabic in Cairo.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

AUC has an established AFL department and students come from all over the world. When I was getting my MA there, a group of about 20 Japanese men arrived. But, I suspect that it is pricey.

One advantage that Cairo has is that so many Egyptians seem very comfortable with Arabic learners and even simplify/slow their speech to help you along. But, many people feel that Syrian Arabic is a more prestigious dialect to speak.

VS

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Damascene Arabic or Cairene ? Depends on who you want to sound like - Michel Aflaq or Adel Imam !

As for the school at Shemlan in Lebanon, it closed years ago. Despite (or maybe because of) its links with spooks in Whitehall it was a good school.

desert date · Joined: 19 Jul 2006 Posts: 67 Location: Australia

I'm leaning towards Syria at the moment. The French Institute is out as they don't take absolute beginners. The Ma'had and Damascus University seem to be viable options. I've been to Cairo and liked it there but the fees at the AUC are way too steep. VS, is AUC where all the rich kids go? It appears to be a posh set up.

Dedicated, I'm Australian.

Cheers for the suggestions - keep 'em coming.

kernow · Joined: 18 Apr 2005 Posts: 14 Location: Beirut

IH Cairo (ILI) also offer Arabic for foreigners. As it's not a university, maybe it's cheaper...

http://www.arabicegypt.com/index.php

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

ghost · Joined: 30 Jan 2003 Posts: 1693 Location: Saudi Arabia

I started at the Arabic Language Center at the University of Jordan in Amman. I switched to the Arabic Language center in Alexandria, Egypt, which I found to be a much more pleasant environment compared with Amman, which I found to be a concrete jungle with few redeeming features.

The tuition fees at both places were very reasonable and much cheaper than the American University in Beirut, Lebanon, which was my third choice. But the quality of life in Beirut, if you have cash, far surpasses that in Jordan and Egypt, in my opinion. Lebanon is a breath of air in the Arab world, and the mix of Muslim and Christians was stimulating at the time, but this was in 1996, long before the problems in Lebanon which happened two years ago. Of all the Arab people, I find the Lebanese to be the most pleasant (generally) to get along with. Many Lebanese Christians, told me in fact that they are not 'Arabs' but Phoenicians, descendants of the Greeks and other sea faring peoples. Lebanon is a bi-cultural type country, untypical in the region, but Syria also has some of that, with many Christians giving Damascus, Homs and Aleppo a different feel.

Ghost in Korea

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Not Arabs... yeah, they say that because many (most?) residents of the Levant or North African define the term differently than we do. They consider Arabs to those that live on the Arabian Peninsula, while in English the term Arab means someone whose first language is Arabic and lives in the Middle East - whatever borders one uses that term to cover. Both Christian and Muslim Egyptians were also always telling me that they weren't "Arabs" either.

VS

Cleopatra · Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:59 pm Post subject:

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I am surprised that no one has mentioned
The Bourguiba Institute of Modern Languages
University of Tunis
47 Avenue de la Liberte
1002 Tunis

Of course they are really Carthaginians - not Arabs !