Starting something new, especially learning a new language is scary. We hope this interview with one of clients will provide you more of an idea about beginning at Arabius.
I started at Arabius in the summer of 2023 in the Summer Intensive Program
Why did you want to learn Arabic?
I grew up in Saudi Arabia and went to an English school so I never got the chance to learn Arabic. After I graduated university, I started seeing more and more how valuable it would be to speak the local language, especially with the exciting changes coming with Vision 2030. Better late than never!
Why did you choose Arabius?
I had been looking for a place to learn Arabic for a long time. I tried learning Arabic the traditional way but there aren’t many places that teach you spoken Arabic. I can read Arabic perfectly well, but could not understand it or speak it. I knew I didn’t want to feel like I was back in school with tests and homework and exams. That felt overwhelming. I heard about Arabius on a Facebook group. Someone was singing Arabius’ praises and said that it was the only program that helped them speak Arabic. That made me curious, so I followed them on Instagram to get a feel of their teaching method, and I liked what I saw. So when they posted about the Summer Intensive program, I signed up!
What was your first impression of Arabius? How did you learn without any translation?
I came in nervous the first day but I left very happy because it didn’t feel like a traditional classroom. I loved that the group size was small (5 people) because if you’re anything like me and have social anxiety, the thought of being in a room with 20 strangers feels very daunting. The size of the group also allowed the guide to give individual attention to everyone. She made sure I didn’t get lost.
From day one, our language guide Mashael greeted and interacted with us in Arabic only! I know this sounds impossible but through pictures, items, hand gestures, and many other methods, we were able to understand what she was saying without much difficulty. The guide would point at an object or picture and give it a name. It was amazing how many objects I was able to name in Arabic by the end of my first session. The puppets turned out to be indispensable to learning Arabic without translation. Ali and Noura (the puppets) would act out the verbs, interact with each other to model conversation, and respond to activities in the class. The process helped me not just understand Arabic but it also registered in my mind better because it’s hard to forget something like a puppet talking to you in Arabic.
Want to see what a class is like in Level 1. Watch this video on our instagram.