Beginning Arabic I

Maryait is a nice professor and keeps the class entertaining. I would take a course with her again as she is a nice grader and is patient with us. She does cold call and assignment a lot of homework everyday.

This course, for me, was not only a rich, thorough introduction to Arabic language and culture, but it also opened doors to a new world of academic interest, professional opportunity, and meaningful social experience. Ustadh Sam is an incredible instructor, his passion for the study is evident in the enthusiasm and expertise of his lectures. He guided us through the course material during class, explaining key concepts, reviewing vocabulary, facilitating group activities and dialogues, etc. It is important to note that for this particular course, Beginning Arabic I, students should expect to receive about 60-90 minutes of homework daily following each lecture. It seems tedious, but I can assure you that it is well worth the time and effort. In order to form a strong foundation in the language, you must have such consistent practice. Students should also expect a weekly quiz to assess knowledge of content taught through the previous week. There are also extracurricular components to the course; for instance, students must attend language tables each week and attend at least three cultural events during the semester. Of course, attending is a wonderful way to learn about culture across the Arab world. It also gives you the chance to get to know other faculty members, the teaching assistant, and students in the department. I highly recommend this course to students who are open and willing to make the commitment to this challenging yet exceptionally rewarding path of study.

This course, for me, was not only a rich, thorough introduction to Arabic language and culture, but it also opened doors to a new world of academic interest, professional opportunity, and meaningful social experience. Ustadh Sam is an incredible instructor, his passion for the study is evident in the enthusiasm and expertise of his l …Read more

Classroom environment is very engaging. You are able to directly interact with the language in every lesson. Ustaad Sam is very creative in lesson plans and has a good sense of humor. There is a lot of homework and memorization, but it is so worth it when you understand and begin to use it. Highly recommend.

Professor Khader is an amazing professor who is so kind and passionate about what she does. I was nervous about taking intro Arabic but because of her she has made learning Arabic such an enjoyable and welcoming experience. I also am not someone who is great with language acquisition but thought the course was very doable if you stay up to date with the work and put in the effort. The exams were also definitely tough at times but she makes the time to meet with you and go over them and you are able to get points back to show growth. Overall she is very accommodating and really just cares about the students learning the language. I have also become very close with my class and the class environment is something I look forward to every day. One of my favorite and most rewarding classes at Middlebury!

Professor Khader is an amazing professor who is so kind and passionate about what she does. I was nervous about taking intro Arabic but because of her she has made learning Arabic such an enjoyable and welcoming experience. I also am not someone who is great with language acquisition but thought the course was very doable if you stay …Read more

She was very helpful with accommodating me as I had previous experience in reading and writing being Muslim. She was enthusiastic in class, and would reference stories from her time in Jordan that would add to the overall loving environment she created. She is very understanding of each students' needs and makes a deliberate effort to accommodate everyone's different backgrounds.

I really appreciate Dima and her teaching style. She was a very kind but honest professor. She cares about personal relations with her students and created an exciting classroom environment. She is definitely intimidating which can be harmful but she will instill you with a good introductory background.

Professor Dima was amazing at teaching Arabic grammar. She went way beyond the textbook, breaking down grammar rules to show us their hidden depths. This approach greatly helped with my understanding and proficiency in Arabic grammar, laying a solid foundation for further learning. In terms of speaking, Professor Dima focuses more on Modern Standard Arabic rather than dialects.

Ustaadh Sam is amazing in teaching beginner Arabic, he's very accommodating and very relaxed in terms of allowing late homework, he's very enthusiastic about teaching and explains the reasoning behind difficult grammatical structures/writing systems/etc very well in comparison to other languages. The class environment is incredibly encouraging in terms of speaking even if you make mistakes, and I feel very comfortable presenting in the class. Sometimes he focuses a little bit too much on a US lens, but that's understandable.

Ustaadh Sam is amazing in teaching beginner Arabic, he's very accommodating and very relaxed in terms of allowing late homework, he's very enthusiastic about teaching and explains the reasoning behind difficult grammatical structures/writing systems/etc very well in comparison to other languages. The class environment is incredibly e …Read more

Greeley makes it exciting. He is a lot of energy (jumps on furniture) and inspired me to learn. There are moments when it is a lot, just in every direction, and it is difficult to connect the language concepts, but it all works out. He accommodated and identified my learning difficulties and was always supportive. Overall, a great introduction to the language.

Amazing professor, I'm sure everyone in the class would agree that he made learning Arabic fun, and having him as a professor convinced me to continue Arabic. I almost dropped the class because of how tough Arabic is but now I look forward to learning Arabic and feel good about completing the assignments. It is a tough class in terms of the work you have to put in outside of lecture hours, but I'm sure that's the case with every language class and the language learning process.

Amazing professor, I'm sure everyone in the class would agree that he made learning Arabic fun, and having him as a professor convinced me to continue Arabic. I almost dropped the class because of how tough Arabic is but now I look forward to learning Arabic and feel good about completing the assignments. It is a tough class in terms …Read more

Professor Greeley is one of the most amazing teachers. He made learning a hard language like Arabic all the more fun and exciting. His teaching style might not be for everyone as you have to constantly study outside of class to keep up with the class, but I would highly recommend taking any class with him.

Sam was a great teacher but can be a bit annoying at times when it came to accommodations. He is there for your success though and will give you opportunities to catch up, redo quizzes you did very poorly on, and more. Just make sure you know the material well this semester as the Arabic semester is tough!

Maryait is genuinely the kindest professor on campus, she has an enormous heart that makes the class such a safe and interactive environment. Obviously when the course itself is challenging, but Maryait has some much concern and care for her students and really wants everyone in the class to do the best that they can possibly do when learning arabic.

Arabic is hard but Dima is incredible, I would take any class with her. She's a bit intimidating but grades very generously, and cares a lot about students. The class is as fast-paced as one would except with languages here, but very good teaching and also very good community. There is nightly homework, but class only meets four times a week, and there's no drill at this level.

I would take any class if its with Maryait. She is the nicest, kindest professor you will ever have. She is always accommodating and she genuinely cares for your improvement in Arabic. She reviews homework and exams with you. She loves to speak and brings in treats sometimes to reward you. Exams are not hard if you study. Grading is super super easy. Highly reccomend

Prof. Ayoub is an incredibly warm and kind person. She's a fantastic beginning Arabic professor, and she cares deeply about each of her students. Our classroom environment was very engaging and I looked forward to class each afternoon. I feel incredibly lucky to have had such a joyful, though challenging, introduction to Arabic!

Greeley is a nice guy but not a very effective teacher. There was very little structure or clarity in the lessons. I would've really appreciated having a better framework to learn the rules of Arabic.

I really enjoyed this class with professor Greeley. I liked the fast paced teaching style, although at times felt it was disorganized, and genuinely had fun taking the class. Easy to get an A in the class as long as you participate and stay on top of the homework/tests.

I thought sam was not the best teacher, he assigned a lot of homework, but couldnt really teach the material. He also definitely has favorites, and if you are not one of the favorites, the class will be a much different experience for you