Modern Standard Arabic Fall 2023 - ערבית ספרותית מודרנית

Arabic is the language of 22 Member States of UNESCO, a language with more than 422 million speakers in the Arab world (World Arabic Language Day, UNESCO, 18th December, 2012).

All courses are taught using The Polis Method which immerses students in the target language from the very first class which allows learning in a more natural way. The Polis Method focuses on total immersion and speech fluency and we believe helps students acquire the language quicker than the traditional grammar translation method.

What is Arabic?

The Arabic language can be divided into three varieties:

• Classical Arabic: considered to be the language of pre-Islamic and Islamic period.
• Modern Standard Arabic (MSA): derived from the Classical Arabic ,this is the official Arabic language that is taught in schools, universities, used by the media, etc.
• Spoken Arabic: known also as Dialectal or Colloquial Arabic, constitutes the everyday spoken language with all its regional varieties.

Consequently, Arabic Language exists in a state of diglossia where its two separate registers (written and spoken) are used in different situations in life.

We offer both Spoken Arabic and MSA courses at Polis.

So where to start: MSA or Spoken Arabic?

The answer depends on the academic or practical needs of the student. Starting with MSA, for instance, won't help the student hold a conversation in the street, but will help the student to read texts in formal Arabic.

In fact, most of our students need Arabic for practical daily use, and attend the Spoken Arabic courses.