AHLAN WA SAHLAN
Learning Arabic - Overview
Arabic is the language spoken by over 200 million people throughout the Middle East and North Africa. It is one of the six official languages of the United Nations, the language of Islam and its holy book the Qur’an, and the language in which some of the world's greatest works of literature, science and history have been written. Many events of global importance take place in the Arab world, and the amount of foreign interest and involvement in the region is ever increasing making a knowledge of the region ever more valuable. Yet Arabic is not a widely-studied language in Europe and the West, and where it is studied it tends to be studied--and taught--badly. We believe there are two major reasons for this: 1. There are a number of fundamental misconceptions about the nature of Arabic and its teaching as a foreign language, both among Arabs and in the West; 2. There is a dreadful paucity of good, modern and interesting teaching and reference material at the disposal of students and teachers. One of the fundamental misconceptions is that Arabic is an impossibly difficult language. While it is true that Arabic is an Indo-European language and contains many features and complexities that speakers of European languages find alien and challenging, it is not nearly as unfathomable and mysterious as it is often made out to be. Arabic grammar is regular, the vocabulary has an inherent logic and ordering that often makes it possible to guess the meaning of a word. Furthermore, the script--however squiggly it may look--can be learnt in a few hours. Pronunciation is difficult, but is a matter of and practice: there is no intellectual barrier to be surmounted.
Welcome to Syria
Syria is land of sunshine, diversity, modernity, and history! Learn Arabic amongst a people whose native dialect is closest to classical Arabic, - hence most easily understood by all other speakers of Arabic. A member of the Semitic language family, Arabic stems from the Assyrians, who settled in Mesopotamia around the ninth century BC. Classical Arabic is known as the sacred language of the Q'ran and thus of Islam for Allah is said to have conveyed the Q'ran to the prophet Mohammed in Arabic. Arabic, one of the official languages of the United Nations, is spoken as a native language by millions of people in the Middle East and Africa as well as throughout the world. Spoken Arabic dialects vary greatly from region to region; however, Syrian colloquial Arabic is believed to be one of the closest dialects to Classical Arabic and thus, is most easily understood in other nations where Arabic is spoken. Often called the Cradle of Civilization and the Gateway to History, Syria has a lot to offer to the history and the development of the civilized man. Its marvelous monuments, the most important archaeological sites, impressive castles, citadels and dead cities bear witness to a rich blend of various civilizations and tell the glorious history of these ancient civilizations from the East and West.
About Damascus
Damascus, Syria's capital, is said to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. Once the capital of the Umayyad Dynasty, its main attractions guard the memory of this era. Very much like the rest of the country, Damascus has successfully undergone a series of modernization within recent years. Many Internet cafés can be found in Damascus, and sim-cards (Syriatel/MTN) for mobile phones are available at any mobile phone shop. There are also nightclubs along the ancient alleyways of Damascus, and cafés for students to pore over their books with an ?arguileh? (hubblebubble/shisha) and/or meet with friends to enjoy a lemon mint juice (Polo) and the mist of apple blossom that hovers over the cafés.
About Syrian Citizens
Syrians are renowned for their friendliness and warmth toward visitors; they have established some of the very earliest, successful civilizations and played host to later subsequent waves of immigrants. All of these have left remarkable monumental evidence of their presence.
Contrary to other Arab nations, Syrians will not necessarily use English in everyday situations on the streets, although English is widely used as a business language throughout Syria. This is of great advantage to foreign students learning Arabic since it allows them to practice the language outside the classroom/private lesson.
Private Teacher
Immerse yourself in the Arabic culture and language with the help of an experienced private teacher of Arabic and you will improve your language skills and cultural understanding in no time!
For further information, please, browse the website and contact Mr. Basel Nejem via
Email: baselnejem@yahoo.com
or
Phone: 00963-933-404-991.
