Arabic level I

This course is meant for complete beginners. We will start off with the Arabic Alphabetical System—no transliterations or phonetic writing will be used. This includes the correct articulation of Arabic consonants, long vowels, and short vowels and Arabic cursive writing, i.e., how letters are put together to form words. You will be led through this with a prolonged and extensive practice of pronunciation and cursive writing, vowelled and non-vowelled. Half way through the course, you should be able to read and write Arabic words and assign diacritics with ease. Concurrently, basic everyday conversations will be integrated. Later, as better ability of reading and writing is achieved, more authentic conversations, pronunciation rules, grammar, vocabulary and simple reading passages are incorporated and taught in a communicative/discovery learning approach that entails your involvement in the learning process. In a word, by the end of this course, you should be able to:

• Read and write Arabic.
  
• Use diacritics effectively to facilitate your speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills.
  
• Carry on simple everyday Arabic conversations, such as greetings, introductions, talking about family and friends, talking about oneself, talking about jobs and work, and alike and put into practice newly acquired vocabulary, expressions, and structures.
  
• Know some features of the spoken form of the language, such as assimilation, deletion, sycope and others.
  
• Know more about the Arab World and its culture.