I have been studying and teaching Arabic in various institutes for nearly ten years now which have included both London based schools and establishments, as well as institutes in Egypt where I spent an extended period of time. During this time, I have witnessed an array of different approaches to teaching Arabic. These have included repetition, visual imagery, attentive listening, and a sundry of other methodologies.

One thing that I noticed when teaching Arabic grammar to students who had already learnt how to read Arabic was that in fact, they hadn’t actually learnt how to read Arabic correctly or fluently enough to be able to take on the more complicated grammar. They’d often make reading errors, struggled to keep up with the rules, couldn’t grasp many of the concepts, and simply lacked confidence in their studies. These were otherwise intelligent individuals and so their lack of progress really perplexed me.

So, I investigated further through questionnaires to students combined with solid research on resources and material available for Arabic and discovered that, when it comes to teaching students how to read Arabic, most if not all courses out there only really covered (and quite superficially at that) what we call the ‘Reading Rules’, and completely neglect what’s called here, ‘Reading Fluency’. This meant that students knew enough to read Arabic in a somewhat slow and disjointed fashion but didn’t really know enough to venture into learning grammar. It’s almost as if there needed to be a middle ground or transitional phase that facilitated their move from reading to grammar.

The course, ‘Learn to Read and Write Arabic’ really goes some way towards filling that gap that’s been holding students back and it is what I have spent every waking hour of the past year attempting to create. Not only does the course cover all the reading rules that you are ever likely to meet when learning to read Arabic, but explains in extensive detail all the fluency rules that will get you prepared to learn Arabic grammar. By the end of the course, you will be reading Arabic like a native and have real confidence in yourself as you approach grammar.

Abdul Wahid

Psychotherapist and Arabic Teacher

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