Arabic Language Courses in Palestine: “Arriving in Palestine, I effectively knew no Arabic, only what i had picked up from my guidebook and a few phrases from my muslim friends. Therefore, the arabic course was a very good way for me to further immerse myself in the culture, and really get to know the local people, as well as helping to get around Hebron with as little friction as possible. My first Arabic lesson took place a week after I had arrived at the Excellence Center. By this point I had already been out and about exploring the city and had picked up many handy words and phrases from the locals as well as the other friendly volunteers at the center.

I was put into a class with three other volunteers, two from Spain and another guy from England. They had arrived a few days after me so hadn’t picked up as much as I had by the first lesson, but it was useful to help them and therefore imbed by knowledge. By the second lesson we were all at the same level, so could help each other out where we were struggling, which is very useful.

The Arabic Language Courses in Palestine thus far has been structured very well, starting by focusing on the basics of greetings and introductions, before moving on to sentence structuring, adjectives and verbs. The course so far seems to be very logical, building on the knowledge acquired in the previous lesson and centred predominantly around usefulness in getting by on a day to day basis.

The Arabic Language Courses in Palestine has been taught in Arabizzi which is Arabic words spelt using the latin alphabet, to facilitate quick learning for the volunteers and ensure we can get out conversing as soon as possible. I believe this is a positive attribute, as by the time I would have been taught the arabic alphabet and how to read and write, my month in palestine would have nearly been up!

At the time of writing this, my arabic is now passable in basic introductory conversations, as well as simplistic interactions with taxi drivers and other service staff with whom i interact. It is my hope that by the end of the course, and my month in Palestine, I will be able to have full conversations with the locals about more complex topics, and be more confident in my speaking ability. I believe that the arabic course run by the center will fulfill this ambition, and will leave me with a good working knowledge of the Palestinian dialect, ready again for use whenever I wish to return.”  Olly from the UK