It’s a classic story that repeats itself…
When we choose to learn Arabic online, our first reflex is to go and ask in the mosque or community groups.
We are determined, and we can already see ourselves comfortably reading the Arabic books bought two years ago and which are gathering dust in the library of the living room…
Who doesn’t? You know, those books you bought for “when I learn Arabic”… We’ve all done it…
Filled with determination, we go to registration, we take Arabic courses, and after 6 months, 1 year, even 2 years, we feel stagnant.
We can’t shake the feeling that we are going in circles and that the time required to have noticeable results is an open-ended sentence.
Why? Because most of the courses in the mosques and community groups are in English, with a basic program.
Most of the time, the goal is literacy. Learning the Arabic alphabet and learning to read Arabic is a priority.
But reaching a native level to understand religion, travel, or work in an Arabic-speaking country is not.
This is often due to a lack of time and means. We do not blame them, and their work is honorable.
But you want more. You want to speak Arabic, understand Arabic, and even dream of becoming an Arabic speaker.
So you’ve decided to broaden your search and switch to online Arabic courses.
Let’s now discover their advantages, their disadvantages and how to choose from among them.
Learn Arabic Online: What are the advantages?
There are several advantages to learn Arabic online.
One of the most evident and appreciable is not having to travel.
As a result, you can study comfortably at home in your slippers.
If you are mobile and travel frequently, your Arabic lessons will follow you everywhere. All you need is an internet connection.
That, in our opinion, is an incredible advantage. You won’t have to abandon your favorite teacher. Nor will you have to pause your learning when you are already well underway (the most challenging thing is to start, not to stop…)
This brings us to a second advantage which is the flexibility to learn Arabic easily.
Our lives are hectic. Each day and week is not the same. Nowadays, flexibility is an important point when choosing an online Arabic course.
Whether you are only free at 10 pm or 7 am, you should find Arabic classes at those times.
And finally, new technologies provide incredibly beneficial tools to learn Arabic easily and quickly.
Virtual classrooms have shrunk the world You can now speak Arabic instantly with your teacher, who is not even in the same time zone as you.
You may have classmates in all four corners of the world.
By choosing to learn Arabic online, you are no longer limited by your neighborhood, city, and country boundaries.
The disadvantages of online Arabic courses
Let’s face it, learn classical Arabic online does not just have advantages.
By not being physically present with your teacher, you may feel a sense of isolation.
You should choose online Arabic courses supervised by a team that will accompany you in your learning project. Otherwise, the feeling of loneliness will get the better of you, and you will most likely give up.
You also don’t want to run into teachers who are not trained in distance learning.
Teaching Arabic online requires an adaptation of the teaching method. It is not enough to simply copy face-to-face courses
This is especially true when it comes to Arabic courses for children…
And finally, if you are allergic to technique and complexity, you would not want to enroll in a center that does not provide any support.
It is essential to be supervised by a team experienced in these various issues to overcome the drawbacks of online Arabic courses.
Which pedagogical model is best for learning Arabic online?
It would be simplistic to think that you only need to be an Arabic speaker to be able to give Arabic online courses.
In that case, if you are reading this article, you are English speaking….
Can you teach English to non-English speakers?
Using only English to make yourself understood (without using the learner’s language)?
You may do well in teaching to read…
…but without a teaching model and training, you will have difficulty going beyond teaching the alphabet
We invite you to try it : )
Some teachers take the easy way out and use English to teach their students classical Arabic.
This keeps the student develops a pattern of reasoning through translation.
In their mind, the student forms the sentences they want to say first in their native language and then tries to convert it into Arabic before speaking.
Can you visualize the process?
Do you think you can become bilingual or even speak Arabic fluently with this methodology?
It is not natural for the brain. This learning pedagogy is limited.
To learn Arabic online effectively, you will need to immerse yourself in the Arabic language.
“Researchers at MIT have shown that immersion learning in the English language creates similar brain connections to native English speakers. However, the audio material must be authentic. In other words, you need to be in front of people for whom the language is native.“
Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience – M.I.T
In the past, immersion consisted of traveling to an Arabic-speaking country and exposing oneself as much as possible to different situations of daily life.
But traveling to an Arabic-speaking country is not enough.
Some people travel to a foreign country and limit themselves to frequenting the English-speaking community.
It is, therefore, necessary to consciously immerse oneself in the Arabic language.
With the internet, partial and voluntary immersion is more accessible.
You can visit websites in Arabic, watch videos in Arabic, listen to the news in Arabic, set up your phone and computer in Arabic…
The more exposure you get, the faster you will learn.
To learn Arabic online quickly and effectively, your criteria for choosing an online Arabic course model should therefore be voluntary immersion.
Which textbooks are best to learn Arabic online?
A good textbook for learning classical Arabic should cover all the basic language skills.
“Linguistic skills cover all the skills that enable one to express oneself in one’s mother tongue or in a foreign language. They are grouped according to the major functions ‘reading’, ‘writing,’ ‘speaking,’ ‘listening.'”
Wikipédia
To learn Arabic effectively, you will need to acquire these 4 skills in a balanced way.
If you start from scratch (learning the Arabic alphabet), you have no imbalance to fill.
But if, on the contrary, you have already taken Arabic courses, you will undoubtedly feel that you have a gap to fill in one of these 4 skills.
Most of the time, the two skills that are most lacking are:
- Speaking
- Listening
This is because of the Arabic courses that are taught in English.
The student does not have the opportunity to educate their ear to the speech of a native speaker. And they do not practice what they have learned by interacting with a native teacher.
So, to choose your textbook, you will first need to select your pedagogical model, as we said earlier, and then choose the book that supports that model.
At al Kunuz, we offer students the opportunity to learn classical Arabic using the materials we have developed during our 14 years of experience This covers all the skills of Arabic language acquisition.
Learn Arabic Online: How to make the right choice?
Do you know the paradox of choice?
“Too many choices is a source of anxiety, sometimes paralyzing, sometimes a cause of depression, harmful to our well-being and our pocketbook.”
Excerpt from “The Paradox of Choice” – Barry Schwartz
Making the wrong choice for your online Arabic course can be a source of anxiety.
Not only will this be a waste of money, but it will also be a waste of time.
It may take several months before you realize that the pedagogy you are using is not working.
The loss of time is worse than the loss of money… Time cannot be replaced; it is limited and cannot be acquired.
“The loss of time is worse than death, for the loss of time cuts you off from Allah and the final abode, while death only cuts you off from life and living beings.”
From “Al Fawaid” – Ibn Al Qayyim Al Jawziyya رحمه الله
We have reviewed the main criteria for effective online Arabic courses, now you need to make an informed choice.
First of all, you should not compare apples and oranges…
That is to say, we will not compare Arabic video lessons with online Arabic lessons with a teacher (live via a virtual room).
At al Kunuz, we use video lessons for inverted classes (preparing the lesson before the session with the teacher) and for review (before moving on to the next level).
But, used alone, Arabic video courses are not enough to learn classical Arabic efficiently (remember, you have to cover the 4 language skills: “reading,” “writing,” “speaking,” “listening”)
We will not compare Arabic immersion courses with Arabic courses in English.
As you now know, the immersion method is the most effective and natural way to learn a foreign language.
At al Kunuz, we have combined all of these fundamental criteria in our private Arabic courses and our group Arabic courses.
Flexibility and freedom:
With our private Arabic courses, you choose your schedule before you enroll.
You have the choice of only committing to a month with our monthly subscription.
Once you have been convinced, you can commit to a semester or a year with a preferential rate.
You will have access to a members’ area where you can manage your subscription independently:
- Cancel a course
- Reschedule a class
- Terminate your subscription
- etc…
A team and a community
Some students need to feel part of a community of like-minded members.
Our Arabic group courses create a learning dynamic that will push you to achieve your goals through mutual support and positive competition.
The email support is more than an “after-sales service.” The support members will support you, in English, in your learning objective throughout your course.
At the end of each course, your teacher will send you a course report so you can track your progress.
The correction service will correct your assignments within 24 hours. You can send in assignments requested by the teacher or assignments that you want to do voluntarily. There is no limit to the number of corrections you can have throughout your course.
Carefully selected teachers
Our recruitment process is composed of multiple steps.
Each teacher must go through each of them. Then they are put in a real situation with test students.
If they succeed in passing all these steps, they will then be able to teach the students who have trusted us.
We don’t stop here…
We provide mandatory continuing education for each teacher throughout their tenure at our school to ensure the quality of their teaching over time.
Immersion and a complete curriculum
The al Kunuz curriculum was created by our team of graduates in the Arabic language and pedagogy It is composed of 12 levels ranging from the absolute beginner (learn Arabic for beginner) to the most advanced level.
That is, from level A1 to level C2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages – CEFR.
It covers all areas of the language for balanced progression.
We also offer other materials to meet specific needs and fill the gaps in skills acquired in an unbalanced way.
To learn more about our private Arabic courses and our group Arabic courses, click here: