Why Palestine to Study Arabic?: 42 million people around the world speak Arabic, making it the 6th most widely spoken language in the world. Learning Arabic can open opportunities for an individual in almost any field. I have met graduates at the Excellence Center studying Arabic as they wish to be NGO’s, lawyers, or even because they have a partner who speaks Arabic.
The Excellence Center in Palestine is a great place to learn Arabic. The teachers at the center are very professional, friendly and approachable. They are trained and qualified teachers who are interested in your progress and success on a personal level.
The excellence center also arranges a host family for you to live with for the duration of your stay in Hebron. This allows you to be totally emerged in the new language which has been proven to speed up the process of becoming fluent. The host families are all vetted by the center and confirmed to be suitable hosts. They are all kind and welcoming, and are ready to help you with anything you need. Personally, I found it extremely useful to be able to take to content I had learnt in class, and practice this at home with real Palestinians. I even learnt some new words and vocabulary from the family outside of class (mainly unique dialect from the village they lived in).
My first week at the center consisted of 5 one to one Arabic classes with my teacher Abraham, which each lasted around 3 hours. These classes were enjoyable and informative. I found Abraham was a good teacher and very easy to get along with. He also gave me the opportunity to steer the lessons into whichever areas were of main interest to me which was great. For example, I wanted to focus on conversational/spoken Arabic more so than writing and reading, so most of the lessons were arranged and personalised around this. This freedom of focus makes the studies much more personalized and beneficial to the individual.
Finally, the main reason I am glad to have learnt Arabic in Palestine, rather than any other country, is that the situation in Palestine is unique. The conflict in Palestine has affected the country in many ways. Just as one example, the trading sanctions imposed by Israel are heavily affecting the commerce and therefore the economy. Tourism for this country is beneficial and just your being here can help to boost the economy.
Despite these struggles the Palestinians are facing, they remain resilient and good at heart. They have a unique culture which revolves heavily around family, generosity and kindness. They are welcoming of foreigners beyond belief, and are proud to share with you their traditions and there stories. To learn Palestinian Arabic is invaluable, as it allows you to communicate and connect with the people of the country on a much deeper level, in their mother tongue. We can all learn a lot from the strength of the Palestinians, and learning their language is one huge step you can take into their world”.