ARAB.F23

Intensive Second Year Arabic is designed for students who have already completed Intensive First Year Arabic, or its equivalent. We will continue with the methodology whereby students are trained, through the communicative method and audio/visual material, to speak, understand, read and write Modern Standard Arabic, the form of Arabic shared by educated people of all Arab countries. Classroom time is devoted to oral practice/conversation (drills, skits and discussions) as well as writing exercises. The class will be regularly introduced to authentic cultural materials derived from a variety of the living contexts of more than 400 million Arabic-speaking people. The aim is to advance students to a higher level of the language and proficiency.
The main textbooks we will be using during this semester comes with their own video/audio materials, which will help you continue to develop your listening, pronunciation, and comprehension skills, and will immensely help you in your studies and with your homework. Those audio/video segments are meant to supplement the textbook and add to its content. Closely learning the monologues and dialogues and trying to reproduce them will help you acquire more vocabulary and expression. al-Kitab II Companion Website, has some interactive drills as well.
No language can be studied in a vacuum. It has to be tied to the culture that utilizes it. Arabic is spoken in over twenty African and Asian countries. Even though the written language is standardized, mainly because of the Qur’ân, the spoken dialects vary from one country to another and even from one region to another within the same country. It is impossible to study all the dialects at once; still, we cannot limit ourselves solely to the study of the formal language. Thus, the audio/video components are based on the culture and speech of the Egyptian people as well as of Syria/Shami dialect. Therefore, in addition to MSA, you have the option to become familiar with one or two major dialects. You can study other dialects, especially as you travel overseas.

PREREQUISITES:
First Year Intensive Arabic or its equivalent. Students who have studied Arabic prior to enrolling at the College can test into this course.