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Learn to read, write and speak Arabic – ideal for total beginners. Progress over three terms with this dynamic and enjoyable evening course.

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Arabic Beginners (Full Syllabus) Course overview

Develop practical communication skills with our online Arabic Beginners course, taught over one year.

Arabic is one of today’s most relevant languages – and not as difficult to learn as you may think.

The course covers everything from the alphabet to grammatical structures, greetings to describing objects. We’ll introduce the Arabic script, letter by letter, to learn its unique sounds and develop listening and speaking skills.

Once you’ve mastered the basics, you’ll learn how to make polite requests and express likes and dislikes. We’ll also spend time exploring Arabic media and culture.

By the end of the course, you’ll understand the structure of Arabic and feel confident translating simple sentences, communicating at CEFR A1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for languages.

Who is it for?

We’ve designed this course for complete beginners, so don’t worry if you’ve never attempted Arabic before.

Find out more about our Arabic courses

Timetable

The full beginners syllabus includes 60 hours of learning and is taught across three terms, starting in October and finishing in July.

October–December (part 1)

One evening class per week (two-hour lessons) for 10 consecutive weeks.

Christmas Break

January–March (part 2)

One evening class per week (two-hour lessons) for 10 consecutive weeks.

Easter break

April/May–July (part 3)

One evening class per week (two-hour lessons) for 10 consecutive weeks.

Missed the October start date? We have other beginners options in January or in April/May.

Benefits

  • Develop a solid beginners knowledge and reach CEFR A1 in just 30 weeks
  • Interactive and engaging methods of teaching, including video clips, games and activities
  • Learn from qualified and native Arabic speakers
  • Awarded a free City, University of London certificate

What will I learn?

We’ve designed this course to help you understand the structure of Arabic. The three parts will help you learn to speak, read, write and listen to simple Arabic sentences.

Throughout the year, you’ll learn:

  • to write and read the alphabet and recognise sounds (phonetics)
  • some colloquial Arabic
  • greetings and introducing yourself
  • to describe everyday objects, surroundings, family, countries and people
  • to talk about daily routines, numbers and prices, telling time and weather
  • to discuss food, drink and activities
  • to discuss likes and dislikes
  • to handle simple daily conversation and request information
  • to talk about present, past and future events
  • Arabic culture including Arab countries and capitals, political system and media.

Grammatical structures

  • Subject and predicate
  • Pronouns: separate; attached
  • Expressing possession
  • The relative noun Nisba
  • Gender in Arabic nouns
  • Diacritical marks Shadda, madda, tanwin, sukun
  • Demonstrative pronouns; gender agreements
  • Contrast particles
  • Assimilating and non-assimilating sounds; sun and moon letters
  • Definite and indefinite nouns; idafa structure; dual nouns; plural of non-rational noun (non-human)
  • Arabic verbs; object of verbs
  • Negatives
  • Interrogative form
  • Ordinal numbers and number noun agreement
  • Preposition of place
  • Object of prepositions
  • Pronouns of separation
  • Present tense: conjugation; negation
  • Revisiting idafa structure
  • Imperative mood
  • Cardinal numbers 11-999
  • Expressing possessive using different particles
  • Attached pronouns suffixed to verbs
  • Adverbs of time
  • Past tense: conjugation; negation
  • Verbal nouns masder.

Assessment and certificates

If you attend over 70 per cent of your classes, you’ll receive an official City certificate. Our short courses are not accredited. Any assessment will be informal to help you evaluate your own progress.

Teaching

To practise your listening and speaking skills in authentic situations, you’ll learn through:

  • role-play
  • classroom discussion
  • pair and group work
  • pronunciation and intonation work
  • grammar in context
  • listening to audio clips and watching videos.

You’ll also be set more comprehensive grammar exercises and reading texts to improve your skills at home. Throughout the course, your tutor will provide feedback on your performance.

Eligibility

We’ve designed this course for complete beginners.

If you have some experience you may want to join part 2 or part 3 of the beginners syllabus.

More experienced? Take a look at our Arabic Intermediate course to work towards CERF A2.

English requirements

You will need a good level of spoken and written English to enrol on this course.

Tutors

  • Ahmed El-Shareif

    Ahmed EI-Shareif (online classes)

    Ahmed EI-Shareif is a native Arabic speaker from Egypt. He obtained his Master of Arts in Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language from SOAS, University of London. He also attended several workshops run by the Authors of Al-Kitaab in Texas University, USA and London.

    Ahmed currently teaches Arabic at City (Bayes Business School & LGP Modules) and SOAS. He previously taught at Suffolk College, Westminster University, International House London and Kings College London.

    Ahmed is an External Examiner for Pearson education, and Chartered Institute of Linguists. He also designs and runs training courses for the development of Arabic teachers abroad and in UK.

  • Sawsan Askoul

    Sawsan has an MA in Translation from the University of Westminster and an MA in Applied Linguistics and Communication from Birkbeck College, University of London. She is particularly interested in Arabic phonetics and phonology, bilingual translation and second language acquisition. Sawsan is an experienced teacher who has been teaching Arabic as a foreign language for the past 15 years.

    Publications

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