Meet our Arabic Teacher Doua: Doua has been working with The Excellence Center for 5 years now and she is one of the first teachers of Arabic for foreigners we have had. She is originally from the area around Hebron, and graduated in 2012 with a bachelor in Arabic Literature and Methods of Teaching from Alquds (Jerusalem) Open University. She expresses a big love for teaching, referring to it as “her life”, making the Center her home, where she has not only experienced her first ever job and the pillars of her professional career, but the building of a very close family of friends and colleagues. 

As we talk to her today she visits the center to meet with a previous students who has moved to Bethlehem and is here to meet with old colleagues. Doua has been on a short break from teaching at the Center and says that she feels like a part of her is missing, she can’t wait to go back to work! She says that she has a few online students at the moment as well as some other private students from TIPH (a local international organisation), but she hasn’t been at the Center as much as she usually is and she truly misses it.

This comes to no surprise as one of Doua’s favorite things about teaching at the Excellence Center is her colleagues, she mentions that some of the other teachers there have become her best friends and the atmosphere is so amicable that she truly enjoys herself. While being away, she says she has felt stuck at home, and even feels she has gotten a bit depressed, teaching has become a vital part of her life, one that gives her meaning.

Another favorite part of teaching with the Excellence Center is of course meeting all the foreign students. Doua is known for becoming close to her students and all the ones we have met at the center express enormous gratitude and satisfaction with her as a teacher. Charlotte from Germany was one of her intensive students, getting 3 hours every day for over a month she was able to truly develop her language skills. She especially liked Doua’s ability to have variation in her classes, mixing grammar with speaking and listening practice. Jason a volunteer from Australia also had some classes with her and mentions he appreciated her ability to  adapt the lessons to his level and needs. Tailoring and preparing specific classes to please her students is a sign of how much she enjoys her work. In addition to teaching students one-on-one Doua’ has been teaching online for a while as well, using different platforms, she mentions that she was even teaching one through whatsapp.

Doua tells us that she has gained a lot of experience while teaching at the Excellence Center. She confesses  that the methods of teaching she studied where more focused on teaching Arabic Literature to native speakers and that most of the methods for teaching to foreigners she has learned at work. She wishes to expand her knowledge of this field and is always looking for ways to develop her professional expertise in the topic. She is a fantastic teacher and an important addition to the Excellence Center team.